‘For there the seed will produce peace and prosperity; the vine will yield its fruit, and the ground will produce its increase, and the heavens will give their dew. And I will cause the remnant of this people to inherit and possess all these things.

For the Lord of Hosts says this: “As I resolved to treat you badly when your fathers provoked Me to anger, and I did not relent,” says the Lord of Hosts,

Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion!
Shout aloud, O Daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your King (Messianic King) is coming to you;
He is righteous and endowed with salvation,
Humble and unassuming [in submission to the will of the Father] and riding on a donkey,
Upon a colt, the foal of a donkey.

For I have bent Judah [as] my bow; I have set Ephraim [as an arrow]. I will set in motion your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Javan. I will wield you like the sword of a warrior.

Wail, cypress tree, for the cedar has fallen while the stately trees are destroyed. Wail, oak trees of Bashan, for the old growth forest has been cut down.

It was broken at that time so the oppressed of the flock who were observing me would know that it had been a message from the LORD.

Then will the chiefs of Judah say in their hearts, - A strength unto me, would be the inhabitants of Jerusalem, in Yahweh of hosts, their God.

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.

and rejected Esau. I turned Esau's mountains into a deserted wasteland and gave his territory to the wild jackals."

“When you present a blind animal for sacrifice, is it not wrong? And when you present a lame or sick animal, is it not wrong? Bring it to your governor! Would he be pleased with you or show you favor?” asks the Lord of Hosts.

Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for nought? neither do ye kindle fire on mine altar for nought. I have no pleasure in you, saith the LORD of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand.

“My covenant with Levi was [one of] life and peace, and I gave them to him as an object of reverence; so he [and the priests] feared Me and stood in reverent awe of My name.

Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the LORD, as in the days of old, and as in former years.

And Azor begat Sadoc; and Sadoc begat Achim; and Achim begat Eliud;

And Eliud begat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob;

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

So he assembled all the chief priests and scribes of the people and asked them where the Messiah would be born.

And, coming into the house, they saw the Child with Mary, His mother; and, falling down, they paid Him homage; and, having opened their treasures, they presented to Him gifts??old and frankincense and myrrh.

And he was there until the death of Herod, in order that what was said by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled, saying, "Out of Egypt I called my son."

Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men.

In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.

And he came [and] lived in a town called Nazareth, in order that what was said by the prophets would be fulfilled: "He will be called a Nazarene."

He it is who was spoken of through the Prophet Isaiah when he said, "The voice of one crying aloud, 'In the desert prepare ye a road for the Lord: make His highway straight.'"

And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey.

But John would have hindered him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?

And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.

in order that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah would be fulfilled, who said,

"You people are [like] salt on the earth. But if salt loses its flavoring ability, how will it ever get it back again? From then on it would be good for nothing except to be thrown out onto the roadway and walked on by people. [Note: This was mined salt which, when losing its "saltiness" due to exposure to the sun or rain, was simply disposed of by being dumped onto the roadway where people walked].

I have not come to set them aside but to fill them up to the brim. For I solemnly say to you, heaven and earth would sooner pass away than the dotting of an 'i' or the crossing of a 't' from the law, until it all becomes in force.

Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:

Truly do I say to thee, Thou wilt not come out thence, till thou hast paid the last farthing.

Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:

And if your right eye is what ensnares you into falling away [from God], gouge it out and throw it away from you. For it would be better for you to lose a part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. [Note: This is the word "Gehenna," and because of its Old Testament connotation of burning bodies, II Chron. 33:6, it is used figuratively here, and elsewhere, to describe the place of future, final punishment of the wicked].

And if your right hand is what ensnares you into falling away [from God], cut it off and throw it away from you. For it would be better for you to lose a part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.

And it was said, Whoever would put away his wife, let him give her a bill of divorcement.

Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths:

And if any man would go to law with thee, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also.

Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.

Take heed to your alms, that ye give it not in the sight of men, to the intent that ye would be seen of them: or else ye get no reward of your father which is in heaven.

And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues, and in the corners of the streets, because they would be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward.

Look at the wild birds--they neither sow, nor reap, nor gather into barns; and yet your heavenly Father feeds them! And are not you more precious than they?

And why be anxious about clothing? Learn a lesson from the wild lilies. Watch their growth. They neither toil nor spin,

And if God so clothes the wild herbage which to-day flourishes and to-morrow is thrown into the oven, is it not much more certain that He will clothe you, you men of little faith?

Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?

Hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine eye, and then thou wilt see clearly to cast out the mote out of the eye of thy brother.

"Do not offer sacred things to dogs, and do not throw your pearls in front of [wild] pigs [i.e., to those who will not appreciate them], because they will probably trample on them with their feet and then turn around and attack you.

"There isn't a person among you who would give his son a stone if he asked for bread, is there?

Or if he asks for a fish, he wouldn't give him a snake, would he?

Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.

so every good tree doth yield good fruits, but the bad tree doth yield evil fruits.

A good tree is not able to yield evil fruits, nor a bad tree to yield good fruits.

Every tree which does not yield good fruit is cut down and thrown aside for burning.

And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.

while the natural heirs of the Kingdom will be driven out into the darkness outside: there will be the weeping aloud and the gnashing of teeth."

in order that what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah would be fulfilled, who said, "He himself took away our sicknesses, and carried away our diseases."

"Foxes have holes," answered Jesus, "and wild birds their roosting-places, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head."

They cried aloud, "What hast Thou to do with us, Thou Son of God? Hast Thou come here to torment us before the time?"

Now a large herd of [wild] hogs [i.e., about of them. See Mark 5:13] was grazing some distance away from them.

So, the evil spirits [in one of the men. See Mark 5:1ff] begged Jesus, saying, "If you are going to drive us out [of this man], send us away into that herd of [wild] hogs."

Jesus replied to them, "Go [ahead]." And they came out [of the man] and entered the [wild] hogs, and suddenly the entire herd rushed down the cliff into the lake and drowned in the water [below].

And, behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus: and when they saw him, they besought him that he would depart out of their coasts.

But I would have you know that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth." Then he said to the paralytic, "Get up, pick up your bed and go home!"

No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse.

Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.

And Jesus coming into the ruler's house, and seeing the minstrels and the croud who cried out aloud,

And, as Jesus, was passing aside from thence, there followed him, two blind men, crying aloud and saying, - Have mercy on us, O Son of David!

Beg ye, therefore, of the Lord of the harvest, - That he would thrust forth labourers, into his harvest.

no wallet for your journey, neither two coats, nor shoes, nor staff: for the laborer is worthy of his food.

“When they persecute you in one city [because of your faith in Me], flee to the next; for I assure you and most solemnly say to you, you will not finish going through all the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

But whoever would deny me before men, I also will deny him before my Father in the heavens.

he that would preserve his life, shall lose it: and he that exposeth his life for my sake, shall save it.

and say ‘We piped the flute for you [playing wedding], and you did not dance; we wailed sad dirges [playing funeral], and you did not mourn and cry aloud.’

Then he proceeded to upbraid the towns where his many miracles had been performed, because they would not repent.

Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.

And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.

But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.

"you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of man is Lord of the Sabbath."

He said to them, "Would not any one of you, if he had one sheep that fell into a pit on the Sabbath, take hold of it and lift it out?

And he chided them so that they would not make him known,

in order that what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah would be fulfilled, who said,

He shall not strive, nor cry aloud; Neither shall any one hear his voice in the streets.

For by thy words thou wilt be justified, and by thy words thou wilt be condemned.

Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee.

But, some, fell upon the good ground, and did yield fruit, - this, indeed a hundred fold, and, that, sixty, and, the other, thirty.

For the heart of this people has become dull, and with their ears they hear with difficulty, and they have shut their eyes, so that they would not see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them."

But he who has received the seed on good ground is he who hears and understands. Such hearers give a return, and yield one a hundred for one, another sixty, another thirty.")

But while the world was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed wild wheat seed in the midst of the good seed, and went away.

And when the wheat plants grew up and yielded their ripened grain, the wild wheat plants appeared too.

And the farmer's slaves came up to him and said, 'Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Then where did the wild wheat plants come from?'

He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?

But he said, ‘No; because as you pull out the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them.

Let them both grow together until harvest time, and at the harvest time I will order the reapers, "Gather first the wild wheat plants and tie them into bundles to be burned up, but get the wheat into my barn."'"

It is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest garden plant and becomes a tree, so that the wild birds come and nest in its branches."

Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables, and He would not speak anything to them without a parable,

in order that what was spoken through the prophet would be fulfilled, who said, "I will open my mouth in parables; I will proclaim what has been hidden since the creation."

Then He left the crowds and went into His house. And His disciples came up to Him and said, "Explain to us the story of the wild wheat in the field."

the field is the world; the good seed are the members of the kingdom; the wild wheat seed are the followers of the wicked one.

Just as the wild wheat plants are gathered and burned up, so it will be at the close of the age.

and these they will throw into the fiery furnace. There will be the weeping aloud and the gnashing of teeth.

and will throw them into the fiery furnace. There will be the weeping aloud and the gnashing of teeth."