Now ¹  in those days Jesus came from Nazareth ²  in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan River. ³ 

He was in the wilderness forty days, ¹  enduring temptations from Satan. He ²  was with wild animals, and angels were ministering to his needs. ³ 

He goes to sleep and gets up, night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how.

Each night and every day among the tombs and in the mountains, he would cry out and cut himself with stones.

But ¹  a suitable day ²  came, when Herod gave a banquet on his birthday for his court officials, military commanders, and leaders of Galilee.

In those days there was another large crowd with nothing to eat. So ¹  Jesus ²  called his disciples and said to them,

“But in those days, after that suffering, ¹  the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light;

“But as for that day or hour no one knows it – neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son ¹  – except the Father.

Two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the chief priests and the experts in the law ¹  were trying to find a way ²  to arrest Jesus ³  by stealth and kill him.

Day after day I was with you, teaching in the temple courts, yet ¹  you did not arrest me. But this has happened so that ²  the scriptures would be fulfilled.”

“We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with hands and in three days build another not made with hands.’”

Those who passed by defamed him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! You who can destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days,

But they did not have a child, because Elizabeth was barren, ¹  and they were both very old. ² 

On ¹  the eighth day ²  they came to circumcise the child, and they wanted to name ³  him Zechariah after his father.

And the child kept growing ¹  and becoming strong ²  in spirit, and he was in the wilderness ³  until the day he was revealed ⁴  to Israel.

Now ¹  when the time came for their ²  purification according to the law of Moses, Joseph and Mary ³  brought Jesus ⁴  up to Jerusalem ⁵  to present him to the Lord

There was also a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old, ¹  having been married to her husband for seven years until his death.

She had lived as a widow since then for eighty-four years. ¹  She never left the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. ² 

But ¹  when the feast was over, ²  as they were returning home, ³  the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His ⁴  parents ⁵  did not know it,

but (because they assumed that he was in their group of travelers) ¹  they went a day’s journey. Then ²  they began to look for him among their relatives and acquaintances. ³