This shall Ashkelon see, and be afraid. Gaza shall be very sorry, so shall Ekron also, because her hope is come of confusion. For the king of Gaza shall perish; and at Ashkelon shall no man dwell.

And a bastard shall dwell in Ashdod, and I will cut off the pride of the Philistines.

For the teraphim speak iniquity,
And the diviners see lying visions
And tell false dreams;
They comfort in vain.
Therefore the people wander like sheep,
They are afflicted, because there is no shepherd.

And I have made mighty the house of Judah, And the house of Joseph I do save, And I have caused them to dwell, for I have loved them, And they have been as if I had not cast them off, For I am Jehovah their God, And I answer them.

Therefore will I no more spare those that dwell in the land, sayeth the LORD. But lo, I will deliver the people, every man, into his neighbour's hand and into the hand of his king: that they may smite the land. And out of their hands will I not deliver them."

In that day will I make the chieftains of Judah like a pan of fire among wood, and like a flaming torch among sheaves; and they shall devour all the peoples round about, on the right hand and on the left; and they of Jerusalem shall yet again dwell in their own place, even in Jerusalem.

It will happen that, when anyone still prophesies, then his father and his mother who bore him will tell him, 'You must die, because you speak lies in the name of Yahweh;' and his father and his mother who bore him will stab him when he prophesies.

All the land shall be made like the Arabah, from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; and she shall be lifted up, and shall dwell in her place, from Benjamin's gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananel unto the king's wine-presses.

And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.

For, from the coming up of the sun till its going down, my name is great among the Gentiles; and in every place the smell of burning flesh is offered to my name, and a clean offering: for my name is great among the Gentiles, says the Lord of armies.

Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers?

And ye said, For what? For that Jehovah testified between thee and between the wife of thy youth, which thou didst deal faithlessly against her, and she thy companion and the wife of thy covenant

And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.

For the LORD, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away: for one covereth violence with his garment, saith the LORD of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously.

Bring the whole tithe into the treasure-house, that there may be food in my house, and prove me now herewith, saith Jehovah of hosts, if I open not to you the windows of the heavens, and pour you out a blessing, till there be no place for it.

Therefore may we say, that the proud are happy, and that they which deal with ungodliness, are set up: for they tempt God and yet escape.'

Therefore shall they be mine, saith Yahweh of hosts, in the day for which, I, am preparing treasure, - and I will deal tenderly with them, just as a man, dealeth tenderly, with his own son who is serving him.

For see, the day is coming, it is burning like an oven; all the men of pride and all who do evil will be dry stems of grass: and in the day which is coming they will be burned up, says the Lord of armies, till they have not a root or a branch.

So all the generations from Abraham till David are fourteen generations: and from David till the removal to Babylon are fourteen generations: and from the removal to Babylon till the Christ are fourteen generations.

The birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came to dwell together, she was found with child by the holy ghost.

And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.

and sent them to Bethlehem. He told them, "As you go, search carefully for the child. When you find him, tell me so that I, too, may go and worship him."

When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.

Now when they were departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I tell thee: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.

And he arose, and took the young child and his mother by night, and retired into Egypt, And continued there till the death of Herod;

and he was there till the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled that was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, 'Out of Egypt I did call My Son.'

but when he heard that Archelaus reigned in Judea, in the room of his father Herod, he was apprehensive of going thither, till having had a divine warning in a dream, he retired into the district of Galilee:

and went to dwell in a town called Nazareth, so that those words of one of the prophets were fulfill'd, "He shall be called a Nazarene."

and do not presume to say to yourselves [as a defense], ‘We have Abraham for our father [so our inheritance assures us of salvation]’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children (descendants) for Abraham.

Then the tempter approached Him and said, “If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

the people who dwell in darkness saw a great light, and to those who dwell in the region and shadow of death, light sprang up to them.

For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

“For I say to you that unless your righteousness (uprightness, moral essence) is more than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

But I tell you, everyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Fool!’ will be subject to the Sanhedrin. But whoever says, ‘You moron!’ will be subject to hellfire.

Come to terms without delay with your opponent while you are yet with him on the way to the court; for fear he should obtain judgement from the magistrate against you, and the magistrate should give you in custody to the officer and you be thrown into prison.

Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.

But I tell you, everyone who looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

but I say to you that whoever divorces his wife, except on grounds of sexual immorality, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who has been divorced commits adultery.

But I say to you, do not make an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God;

But I tell you, don’t resist an evildoer. On the contrary, if anyone slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.

But I say to you, love [that is, unselfishly seek the best or higher good for] your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

“So whenever you give to the poor and do acts of kindness, do not blow a trumpet before you [to advertise it], as the hypocrites do [like actors acting out a role] in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored and recognized and praised by men. I assure you and most solemnly say to you, they [already] have their reward in full.

“Also, when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to pray [publicly] standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets so that they may be seen by men. I assure you and most solemnly say to you, they [already] have their reward in full.

"Moreover when you fast, don't be like the hypocrites, with sad faces. For they disfigure their faces, that they may be seen by men to be fasting. Most certainly I tell you, they have received their reward.

“Therefore I tell you, stop being worried or anxious (perpetually uneasy, distracted) about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, as to what you will wear. Is life not more than food, and the body more than clothing?

And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:

yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory and splendor dressed himself like one of these.

For just as you [hypocritically] judge others [when you are sinful and unrepentant], so will you be judged; and in accordance with your standard of measure [used to pass out judgment], judgment will be measured to you.

Or how will you tell your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye;' and behold, the beam is in your own eye?

Then you must practice dealing with others as you would like for them to deal with you, for this is the summing up of the law and the prophets.

You can tell them by their fruit. Do people pick grapes off thorns, or figs off thistles?

So you can tell them by their fruit.

Many will tell me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, didn't we prophesy in your name, in your name cast out demons, and in your name do many mighty works?'

Then I will tell them, 'I never knew you. Depart from me, you who work iniquity.'

And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.

For I am also a man under authority, having under myself soldiers. I tell this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and tell another, 'Come,' and he comes; and tell my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."

When Jesus heard this, He was amazed and said to those who were following Him, “I tell you truthfully, I have not found such great faith [as this] with anyone in Israel.

I say to you that many [Gentiles] will come from east and west, and will sit down [to feast at the table, and enjoy God’s promises] with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven [because they accepted Me as Savior],

Another of the disciples said to Him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father (collect my inheritance).”

And as Jesus passed by from thence, he saw a man, called Matthew, sitting at the place of toll: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him.

Then the disciples of John came up to him and said, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast a great deal, and your disciples do not fast?"

And Jesus passing on thence, two blind men followed him, calling and saying, 'Deal kindly with us, Son of David.'

And preach as you go, tell men, 'The Reign of heaven is near.'

And into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter, inquire who in it is worthy; and there abide till ye go thence.

I assure you and most solemnly say to you, it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that city [since it rejected the Messiah’s messenger].

But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.

What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops.

Whoever gives one of these little ones just a cup of cold water to drink in the name of a disciple, most certainly I tell you he will in no way lose his reward."

And Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and tell John the things which ye hear and see:

And when they were going away, Jesus, talking of John, said to all the people, What went you out into the waste land to see? a tall stem moving in the wind?

"What did you go out into the desert to behold?" he asked; "A reed shaken by the wind? If not, what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, those who wear soft raiment dwell in kings' palaces!

But what did you [really] go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and one [more eminent, more remarkable, and] far more than a prophet [who foretells the future].

I assure you and most solemnly say to you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater [in privilege] than he.

'And, from the days of John the Baptist till now, the reign of the heavens doth suffer violence, and violent men do take it by force,

for all the prophets and the law till John did prophesy,

Nevertheless I say to you, it will be more tolerable for [the pagan cities of] Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you.

And thou, Capernaum, that hast been exalted to heaven, shalt be brought down to hades. For if the mighty works which have been done in thee had been done in Sodom, it would have remained till this day.

But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment, than for you.”

Come unto me! all ye that toil and are burdened, and, I, will give you rest:

But I tell you that something greater than the temple is here.

and warned them not to tell who He was.

A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory.

How, again, can any one get into a strong man's house and carry off his goods, without first securing him? And not till then will he plunder his house.

“Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy [every evil, abusive, injurious speaking, or indignity against sacred things] will be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the [Holy] Spirit will not be forgiven.

But I tell you, on the day of judgment people will have to give an accounting for every careless or useless word they speak.

Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.

Then he began to tell them many things in parables. He said, "Listen! A farmer went out to sow.

For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

I assure you and most solemnly say to you, many prophets and righteous men [who were honorable and in right standing with God] longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

suffer both to grow together till the harvest, and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather up first the darnel, and bind it in bundles, to burn it, and the wheat gather up into my storehouse.'

Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.

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

and went to his native place, where he taught the people in the synagogue till they were astounded. They said, "Where did he get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?

upon which, his disciples came to take away the body, and having buried it, they went to tell Jesus what had happened.

And straightway he constrained the disciples to enter into the boat, and to go before him unto the other side, till he should send the multitudes away.

and when he had dismiss'd them, he retired by himself to a mountain to pray: where he stay'd all alone till the latter part of the evening.

And Peter answered Him and said, LORD, if it is You, tell me to come to You on the water.

But you say, 'Whoever may tell his father or his mother, "Whatever help you might otherwise have gotten from me is a gift devoted to God,"

then Peter said to him, tell us the meaning of that expression.

And He said, “Are you still so dull [and unable to put things together]?