“Learn this parable from the fig tree: Whenever its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near.

During the reign ¹  of Herod ²  king of Judea, there lived a priest named Zechariah who belonged to ³  the priestly division of Abijah, ⁴  and he had a wife named Elizabeth, ⁵  who was a descendant of Aaron. ⁶ 

Zechariah ¹  said to the angel, “How can I be sure of this? ²  For I am an old man, and my wife is old as well.” ³ 

When ¹  Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped ²  in her ³  womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. ⁴ 

And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in strips of cloth ¹  and laid him in a manger, ²  because there was no place for them in the inn. ³ 

Then ¹  he went down with them and came to Nazareth, ²  and was obedient ³  to them. But ⁴  his mother kept all these things ⁵  in her heart. ⁶ 

After Jesus left ¹  the synagogue, he entered Simon’s house. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Jesus ²  to help her. ³ 

As ¹  she stood ²  behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. She ³  wiped them with her hair, ⁴  kissed ⁵  them, ⁶  and anointed ⁷  them with the perfumed oil.

They will be divided, ¹  father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

For they all offered their gifts out of their wealth. ¹  But she, out of her poverty, put in everything she had to live on.” ² 

Now at that very moment his disciples came back. ¹  They were shocked ²  because he was speaking ³  with a woman. However, no one said, “What do you want?” ⁴  or “Why are you speaking with her?”

When Jesus heard this, he said, “This sickness will not lead to death, ¹  but to God’s glory, ²  so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” ³ 

Then the people ¹  who were with Mary ²  in the house consoling her saw her ³  get up quickly and go out. They followed her, because they thought she was going to the tomb to weep ⁴  there.

Then Mary took three quarters of a pound ¹  of expensive aromatic oil from pure nard ²  and anointed the feet of Jesus. She ³  then wiped his feet dry with her hair. (Now the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfumed oil.) ⁴ 

When a woman gives birth, she has distress ¹  because her time ²  has come, but when her child is born, she no longer remembers the suffering because of her joy that a human being ³  has been born into the world. ⁴ 

At once ¹  she collapsed at his feet and died. So when the young men came in, they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.

So ¹  he got up ²  and went. There ³  he met ⁴  an Ethiopian eunuch, ⁵  a court official of Candace, ⁶  queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasury. He ⁷  had come to Jerusalem to worship, ⁸ 

But Peter sent them all outside, ¹  knelt down, ²  and prayed. Turning ³  to the body, he said, “Tabitha, get up.” Then she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up. ⁴ 

The God of this people Israel ¹  chose our ancestors ²  and made the people great ³  during their stay as foreigners ⁴  in the country ⁵  of Egypt, and with uplifted arm ⁶  he led them out of it.

After she and her household were baptized, she urged us, ¹  “If ²  you consider me to be a believer in the Lord, ³  come and stay in my house.” And she persuaded ⁴  us.