Proclaim this among the nations: {Prepare for war}! Stir up the mighty warriors; let them approach and come up; [let] all the men of war approach.

And I raised up some [of] your sons to [be] prophets and some [of] your young men to [be] Nazirites. Is it not so, O {people} of Israel? [This is] the declaration of Yahweh!

Even those who are strong of heart among the mighty will flee away naked from the city on that day. [This is] the declaration of Yahweh!"

Hear this word that Yahweh has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole clan that I brought up from the land of Egypt:

Hear this word, [you] cows of Bashan who [live] on the mountain of Samaria, who oppress the powerless, who crush the poor, who say to their husbands, "Bring [something] so that we may drink!"

"Therefore, thus I will do to you, Israel. Because I will do this to you, O Israel, prepare to meet your God!

Hear this word that I [am] going to intone over you [as] a lament, O house of Israel!

Alas, those who desire the day of Yahweh, why [is] this for you the day of Yahweh? It [will be] darkness and not light!

This is what my Lord Yahweh showed me, and look, [he] is going to form locusts at the beginning of the sprouting of the second crop, and look, after the mowings of the king.

Yahweh relented concerning this. "It will not be," said Yahweh.

This is what my Lord Yahweh showed me, and look, my Lord Yahweh was going to call for a legal case with fire, and it devoured the great deep and it ate up the plots of ground.

Yahweh also relented concerning this. "This also will not be," said my Lord Yahweh.

This is what he showed me: Behold, my Lord [was] standing beside a wall [built with] a plummet, and a plummet [was] in his hand.

For this Amos has said, 'Jeroboam will die by the sword and Israel will certainly go into exile [away] from his land.'"

But do not prophesy again at Bethel, because this [is] a sanctuary of a king and this [is] a temple of a kingdom."

Therefore, thus says Yahweh, 'Your wife will become a prostitute in the city and your sons and your daughters will fall by the sword and your land will be divided with a line, and you will die in an unclean land and Israel will surely go into exile from this land.'"

My Lord Yahweh showed me this, and there was a basket of summer fruit.

Hear this, those who trample on [the] poor and who annihilate the afflicted of [the] land,

On account of this, will not the land tremble and will not every living [thing] in it mourn? And all of it will rise like the Nile and it will be tossed about and subside like the Nile of Egypt.

Thus they may take possession of the remnant of Edom and all the nations {who are called by my name}," {declares} Yahweh, [who] does this.

And the exiles of this army of the people of Israel [will possess] Canaan up to Zarephath, and the exiles of Jerusalem who [are] in Sepharad will take possession of the cities of the Negev.

And they said {to one another}, "Come, let us cast lots so that we may know on whose account this disaster [has come] on us!" And they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.

So they said to him, "Please tell us whoever [is responsible that] this disaster [has come] upon us! What [is] your occupation? And from where do you come? What [is] your country? And from which people [are] you?"

Then the men {were greatly afraid}, and they said to him, "What [is] this you have done?" because they knew that he [was] fleeing {from the presence of} Yahweh (because he had told them).

And he said to them, "Pick me up and hurl me into the sea so that the sea may quiet down for you, because I know that on account of me this great storm [has come] upon you all."

So they cried out to Yahweh, and they said, "O Yahweh! Please do not let us perish because of this man's life, and {do not make us guilty of innocent blood}, because you, O Yahweh, did what you wanted."

And this {was greatly displeasing} to Jonah, and {he became furious}.

And he prayed to Yahweh and said, "O Yahweh, [was] this not {what I said} while I was in my homeland? Therefore {I originally fled} to Tarshish, because I knew that you [are] a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger {and having great steadfast love}, and one who relents concerning calamity.

All this [is] for the rebellion of Jacob, and for the sins of the house of Israel. What [is] the rebellion of Jacob? [Is it] not Samaria? And what [are] the high places of Judah? [Are they] not Jerusalem?

On account of this I will lament and wail. I will go about barefoot and naked. I will make a lamentation like the jackals, and a mourning ceremony like the {ostriches}.

Therefore, thus says Yahweh: Look! I am planning disaster against this family from which you will not be able to remove your necks. You will not walk proudly, for it [is] a time of disaster.

Should [this] be said, O house of Jacob? Is the patience of Yahweh shortened? [Are] these his deeds? Are my words not pleasing to him who walks upright?

Arise and go, for this [is] no resting place, on account of uncleanness [that] destroys with painful destruction.

If a man walks about in a spirit of deception and lies, [saying] "I will preach to you of wine and strong drink," then he would be a preacher [for] this people!

Hear this, O rulers of the house of Jacob and leaders of the house of Israel, those detesting justice and perverting all that [is] right,

And this one will be peace. [As for] the Assyrian, when he comes into our land and when he treads on our fortresses, then we will raise up against him seven shepherds and eight leaders of men.

Yahweh says this: "Even though [they are] powerful and likewise many, even so they will be cut off and pass away. Though I have afflicted you, I will afflict you no longer.

"And I will stretch out my hand against Judah and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And I will cut off from this place the remnant of Baal, and the name of idolatrous priests with the priests,

This [shall be] for them in place of their pride because they mocked and boasted against the people of Yahweh of hosts.

This [is] the city of rejoicing that lived securely; the one saying in her heart, "{I am, and there is none besides me}." How she has become a desolation, a lair for wild animals! Everyone who passes by her hisses and shakes his fist.

"Thus says Yahweh of hosts: 'This people says, "{The time has not come to rebuild the temple of Yahweh}.'"

"[Is it] a time for you yourselves to dwell in your houses that have been paneled [while] this house [is] desolate?"

'Who among you [is] left that saw this house in its former glory? And how do you see it now? Does it seem like nothing {to you}?

I will shake all the nations so that the treasure of all the nations will come, and I will fill this house [with] glory,' says Yahweh of hosts.

'The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former,' says Yahweh of hosts, 'and in this place I will give peace' {declares} Yahweh of hosts.'"

And Haggai answered and said, " 'So [it is with] this people, and [with] this nation before me,' {declares} Yahweh, 'and so [it is with] every kind of work of their hands; and what they offer there [is] unclean.

But now, please {consider} from this day forward, before one stone was placed on another in the temple of Yahweh,

'{Please consider} from this day forward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth [month], from the day that the foundation of Yahweh's temple was laid, {consider}:

[Is there] still seed in the store chamber? Do the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree still produce nothing? From this day [forward] I will bless [you].'"

But Yahweh said to Satan, "Yahweh rebukes you, O Satan! Yahweh who has chosen Jerusalem rebukes you! [Is] this not a stick snatched from the fire?"

And he answered and said to me, "This [is] the word of Yahweh to Zerubbabel, saying, 'Not by strength and not by power, but [only] by my Spirit,' says Yahweh of hosts.

"The hands of Zerubbabel have founded this house, and his hands will finish it. And you will know that Yahweh of hosts has sent me to you.

And he said to me, "This [is] the curse going out over the surface of the whole earth. For everyone who steals has gone unpunished according to it, and [likewise] everyone who swears [falsely] has gone unpunished according to it.

And the angel who was speaking to me went out, and he said to me, "{Please look up}! See what this [is] going out."

And I asked, "What [is] it?" And he said, "This [is] a basket going out. And he said, "This [is] their iniquity throughout all the earth.

And he said, "This [is] Wickedness!" And he thrust her [back down] into the basket, and threw the lead cover on top of it.

Thus says Yahweh of hosts: '[Even] if it seems impossible {to the remnant} of this people in those days, should it also seem impossible {to me}?' {declares} Yahweh of hosts.

But now {I will not deal with the remnant of this people as in the former days},' {declares} Yahweh of hosts.

'For [there will be] a sowing of peace; the vine will give its fruit, and the soil will give its produce, and the heavens will give their dew. And I will cause the remnant of this people to inherit all these [things].

And Yahweh said to me, "Throw it to the potter," {this noble price} [at] which I was valued by them!" So I took the thirty silver [shekels] and I threw them to the potter [in] the house of Yahweh.

And this will be the plague [with] which Yahweh will strike all the peoples that fight against Jerusalem: their flesh will rot while they [are] standing on their feet; their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths.

{Like this plague} will be the plague on the horse, the mule, the camel, and the donkey, and every kind of animal in those camps.

This will be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths.

If Edom says, "We are shattered, but we will return and rebuild [the] ruins," Yahweh of hosts says this: "They may build, but I will tear down; and they will be called a territory of wickedness, and the people [with] whom Yahweh is angry forever."

Your eyes will see [this], and you will say, "Yahweh is great beyond the borders of Israel."

So then, {implore the favor of God} so that he will be gracious to us. "{This is what you have done}. {Will he show favor to any of you}?" says Yahweh of hosts.

And you say, 'Look! [This is] a weariness,' and you sniff [with disdain] at it," says Yahweh of hosts. "And you bring [the] stolen, the lame, and the one that is sick--[this] you bring as the offering! Should I {accept it} from your hand?" says Yahweh.

"And so then, O priests, this command [is] for you:

"Then you will know that I have sent to you this command, that my covenant with Levi {continues}," says Yahweh of hosts.

"My covenant with him was [one of] life and peace, and I gave them to him. [This required] reverence, and he revered me and stood in awe {before} my name.

May Yahweh cut off from the tents of Jacob the man who does this, [the] one who is awake and [who] answers, and [the one who] brings an offering to Yahweh of hosts!

And this you do {as well}: [you] cover the altar of Yahweh [with] tears, [with] weeping and [with] groaning, because he {no longer regards the offering} or accepts [it] [with] favor from your hand.

Bring the whole tithe to {the storehouse}, so that there will be food in my house, and test me please in this," says Yahweh of hosts, "if I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and pour forth for you {an overflowing blessing}.

Now the birth of Jesus Christ occurred in this way. His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, [but] before they came together, she was found {to be pregnant} by the Holy Spirit.

Now all this happened in order that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled, saying,

For this is the one who was spoken about by the prophet Isaiah, saying, "The voice of one crying out in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.'"

But Jesus answered [and] said to him, "Permit [it] now, for in this way it is right for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he permitted him.

And behold, [there was] a voice from heaven saying, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."

Therefore whoever abolishes one of the least of these commandments and teaches people to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever keeps [them] and teaches [them], this person will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Therefore you pray in this way: "Our Father who is in heaven, may your name be treated as holy.

"For this [reason] I say to you, do not be anxious for your life, what you will eat, and not for your body, what you will wear. Is your life not more than food and your body [more than] clothing?

But if God dresses the grass of the field in this way, [although it] is [here] today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not [do so] much more [for] you, you of little faith?

Therefore [in] all [things], whatever you want that people should do to you, thus also you do to them. For this is the law and the prophets.

For I also am a man under authority who has soldiers under me, and I say to this one, 'Go!' and he goes, and to another one, 'Come!' and he comes, and to my slave, 'Do this!' and he does [it]."

Now [when] Jesus heard [this], he was astonished, and said to those who were following [him], "Truly I say to you, I have found such great faith with no one in Israel.

And the men were astonished, saying, "What sort of [man] is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?"

And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, "This man is blaspheming!"

But [when] the crowds saw [this], they were afraid and glorified God who had given such authority to men.

And this report went out into that whole region.

And [when he] came into the house, the blind men approached him, and Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" They said to him, "Yes, Lord."

And [after] the demon had been expelled, the one who had been mute spoke, and the crowds were astonished, saying, "{This has never been seen before} in Israel!"

and you will be hated by everyone because of my name. But the one who endures to the end--this one will be saved.

And whenever they persecute you in this town, flee to another, for truly I say to you, you will never finish [going through] the towns of Israel until the Son of Man comes.

It is this man about whom it is written: 'Behold, I am sending my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.'

"But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces who call out to one another,

But he said to them, "What man will there be among you who will have one sheep and if this one fell into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift [it] out?

And all the crowds were amazed and began saying, "Perhaps this one is the Son of David!"

But the Pharisees, [when they] heard [it], said, "This man does not expel demons except by Beelzebul the ruler of demons!"

And if I expel demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons expel [them]? For this [reason] they will be your judges!

For this [reason] I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven!