"This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "Just as I intended to bring harm to you when your ancestors angered me,' says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, "and I did not relent,

I will set a garrison around my Temple, to hinder those who might come and go, and to guard against oppressors who intend to invade; for I have taken note of this with my eyes."

I will bring them once again out of the land of Egypt, gathering them from Assyria. I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon, but there will not be enough space for them.

Therefore I will no longer show compassion upon those who live in the land," declares the LORD. "Look! I will deliver every single person into the control of his neighbor and into the control of the king. Even though they assault the land, I will not deliver it from their control."

"At that time," declares the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, "I will eliminate the names of the idols from the land, and they will not be remembered anymore. I will also force both prophet and demon to leave the land.

It will also come about that if any man would dare to prophesy, then his father and his mother who bore him will respond to him, "You will not live, because you are speaking lies in the name of the LORD.' Then his father and mother who bore him will stab him for prophesying.

I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem, to lay siege against it. The city will be captured, the houses will be ransacked, the women raped, and half of the city will go into exile, but the remaining people will not be cut off from the city.

If anyone from the families of the earth will not come to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, there will be no rain for them.

If the people of Egypt do not come to Jerusalem to take part, they will have no annual Nile overflow. A plague will come from the LORD to strike the nations who do not come to observe the Festival of Tents.

This will be the punishment for Egypt and all nations who do not come to observe the Festival of Tents."

"Was not Esau Jacob's brother?" declares the LORD, "yet I loved Jacob, hated Esau, turned his mountains into a wasteland, and gave his inheritance to desert jackals.

When you bring blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? And when you sacrifice crippled or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Offer that to your governor would he be pleased with you or receive you favorably?" asks the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.

"Oh, that one of you would shut the Temple doors and not light useless fires on the altar! I'm not pleased with you," says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, "and I'll accept no offerings from you.

True teachings were in his mouth, and falsehood was not found on his lips. He walked with me peacefully and righteously, and he turned many from sin.

Do we not have one father? Has not one God created us? Why does each of us act deceitfully, each man against his own brother, to profane the covenant of our ancestors?

Did he not make them one? And the vestige of the spirit remains in him. And why did he make them one? He was seeking godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and don't be unfaithful to the wife of your youth.

And I'll prevent the devourer from harming you, so that he does not destroy the crops of your land. Nor will the vines in your fields drop their fruit," says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.

Then those who feared the LORD talked with each other. The LORD listened and took note, and a scroll of remembrance was written in his presence about those who fear the LORD and honor His name.

When you return, you will see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, and between the one who serves God and the one who does not."

He did not have marital relations with her until she had given birth to a son; and he named him Jesus.

Having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they left for their own country by a different road.

So Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and left at night for Egypt.

I am baptizing you with water as evidence of repentance, but the one who is coming after me is stronger than I am, and I am not worthy to carry his sandals. It is he who will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

But John tried to stop him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and are you coming to me?"

But he answered, "It is written, "One must not live on bread alone, but on every word coming out of the mouth of God.'"

Jesus responded to him, "It is also written, "You must not tempt the Lord your God.'"

While Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers Simon (also called Peter) and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the sea, because they were fishermen.

"Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I didn't come to destroy them, but to fulfill them,

because I tell all of you with certainty that until heaven and earth disappear, not one letter or one stroke of a letter will disappear from the Law until everything has been accomplished.

"You have heard that it was told those who lived long ago, "You are not to commit murder,' and, "Whoever murders will be subject to punishment.'

I tell you with certainty, you will not get out of there until you pay back the last dollar!"

"You have heard that it was said, "You are not to commit adultery.'

"Again, you have heard that it was told those who lived long ago, "You must not swear an oath falsely,' but, "You must fulfill your oaths to the Lord.'

But I tell you not to swear at all, neither by heaven, because it is God's throne,

But I tell you not to resist an evildoer. On the contrary, whoever slaps you on the right cheek, turn the other to him as well.

Give to the person who asks you for something, and do not turn away from the person who wants to borrow something from you."

"Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of people in order to be noticed by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

Don't be like them, because your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

But if you do not forgive people their offenses, your Father will not forgive your offenses."

so that your fasting will not be noticed by others but by your Father who is in the hidden place. And your Father who watches from the hidden place will reward you."

But keep on storing up treasures for yourselves in heaven, where moths and rust do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal,

but I tell you that not even Solomon in all of his splendor was clothed like one of them.

because it is the unbelievers who are eager for all those things. Surely your heavenly Father knows that you need all of them!

"Not everyone who keeps saying to me, "Lord, Lord,' will get into the kingdom from heaven, but only the person who keeps doing the will of my Father in heaven.

The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, but it did not collapse because its foundation was on the rock.

because he was teaching them like a person who had authority, and not like their scribes.

The centurion replied, "Sir, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed,

When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and told those who were following him, "I tell all of you with certainty, not even in Israel have I found this kind of faith!

When Jesus heard that, he said, "Healthy people don't need a physician, but sick people do.

Go and learn what this means: "I want mercy and not sacrifice,' because I did not come to call righteous people, but sinners."

So when they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, because I tell all of you with certainty that you will not have gone through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

"A disciple is not above his teacher, and a slave is not above his master.

"So never be afraid of them, because there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing secret that will not be made known.

"Two sparrows are sold for a penny, aren't they? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father's permission.

"Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword!

How blessed is anyone who is not offended by me!"

"A wedding song we played for you, the dance you all did scorn. A woeful dirge we chanted, too, but then you would not mourn.'

When the Pharisees saw this, they told him, "Look! Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!"

How is it that he went into the house of God and ate the Bread of the Presence, which was not lawful for him and his companions to eat but was reserved for the priests?

If you had known what "I want mercy and not sacrifice' means, you would not have condemned the innocent,

ordering them not to make him known.

He will not quarrel or shout, and no one will hear him shouting in the streets.

He will not snap off a broken reed or snuff out a smoldering wick until he has brought justice through to victory.

He knew what they were thinking and told them, "Every kingdom divided against itself is destroyed, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.

So I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.

Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the one to come."

Other seeds fell on stony ground, where they did not have a lot of soil. They sprouted at once because the soil wasn't deep.

But when the sun came up, they were scorched. Since they did not have any roots, they dried up.

for this people's heart has become dull, and their ears are hard of hearing. They have shut their eyes so that they might not see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.'

I tell all of you with certainty, many prophets and righteous people longed to see the things you see but did not see them, and to hear the things you hear but did not hear them."

Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables. He did not tell them anything without using a parable.

"Again, the kingdom from heaven is like a large net thrown into the sea that gathered all kinds of fish.

But Jesus told them, "A prophet is without honor only in his hometown and in his own home." He did not perform many miracles there because of their unbelief.

John had been telling him, "It is not lawful for you to have her."

But Jesus told them, "They don't need to go away. You give them something to eat."

does not have to honor his father.' Because of your tradition, then, you have disregarded the authority of God's word.

It is not what goes into the mouth that makes a person unclean. It is what comes out of the mouth that makes a person unclean."

He replied, "Every plant that my heavenly Father did not plant will be pulled up by the roots.

He replied, "It's not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the puppies."

He replied to them, "You say, "Red sky at night, what a delight!

Then they understood that he did not say to beware of the yeast used in bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Then Jesus told him, "How blessed you are, Simon son of Jonah, since flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, though my Father in heaven has.

I tell you that you are Peter, and it is on this rock that I will build my congregation, and the powers of hell will not conquer it.

Then he strictly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

But Jesus turned and told Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are an offense to me, because you are not thinking God's thoughts but human thoughts!"

I tell all of you with certainty, some people standing here will not experience death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom."

But I tell you that Elijah has already come, yet people did not recognize him and treated him just as they pleased. In the same way, the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands."

But this kind does not come out except by prayer and fasting."

"See to it that you do not despise one of these little ones, because I tell you, their angels in heaven always have access to my Father in heaven.

In the same way, it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost."

Jesus told him, "I tell you, not just seven times, but 77 times!

He told them, "It was because of your hardness of heart that Moses allowed you to divorce your wives. But from the beginning it was not this way.

His disciples asked him, "If that is the relationship of a man with his wife, it's not worth getting married!"

"Not everyone can accept this saying," he replied, "except those to whom celibacy has been granted,

Jesus said, ""You must not murder, you must not commit adultery, you must not steal, you must not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,' and, "you must love your neighbor as yourself.'"

"But he told one of them, "Friend, I'm not treating you unfairly. You did agree with me for a denarius, didn't you?

I am allowed to do what I want with my own money, am I not? Or are you envious because I'm generous?'

He told them, "You will indeed drink from my cup. But it's not up to me to grant you a seat at my right hand or at my left. These positions have already been prepared for others by my Father."

That's not the way it should be among you. Instead, whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant,

That's the way it is with the Son of Man. He did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many people."