"Woe to the one who says to a tree, "Wake up!' or "Arise!' to a speechless stone. Idols like this can't teach, can they? Look, even though it is overlaid with gold and silver, there's no breath in it at all."

When the mountains looked upon you, they trembled; the overflowing water passed by, the ocean shouted, and its waves surged upward.

The sun and moon stand still in their orbits; at the glint of your arrows they speed along, even at the gleam of your flashing spear.

I'll wipe out those who worship the stars that they view from their housetops, those who bow down and swear to the LORD and who also swear by Milcom,

Therefore their possessions will be seized as plunder and their homes left in ruins. They may build houses, but they won't live in them. They may plant vineyards, but they won't drink their wine."

"And I'll bring so much distress to people that they will walk around like the blind. Because they have sinned against the LORD, their blood will be poured out like dust and their intestines will spill out like manure.

The survivors of Judah will find pasture on it; at twilight they will lie down in the houses of Ashkelon, for the LORD their God will visit them, restoring their prosperity."

"I've heard Moab's insults and the curses from those Ammonites by which they defame my people and boast about their territory.

This they will have in lieu of their pride, because they have insulted and mocked the people of the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.

The LORD will incite them to terror, because he will cause all the gods of the earth to waste away. They will worship him, every person in his own home, including even the coastlands of the nations."

Its prophets are arrogant and treacherous. Its priests have contaminated the sanctuary. They give perverse interpretations of the Law.

I have said, "If only you would fear me, if only you would take my instructions to heart.' Then their houses would not have been torn down. I have chastened them, but they were eager to corrupt everything they were doing."

Indeed, then I will return my people to a pure language so that they all may call upon the name of the LORD, serving him with a united will.

I will keep a humble and gentle people among you, and they will trust in the name of the LORD.

The survivors of Israel will not practice lawlessness nor tell lies, nor will a deceitful message be found in their mouths, because they will eat and rest, with no one to cause fear."

"Watch how I deal with everyone who oppresses you! At that time I will rescue the one who is lame, and I will draw to me the one who has been driven away. I will honor them with praise and with a good reputation in every land where they have been put to shame.

Then the LORD revitalized the spirit of Shealtiel's son Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, the spirit of Jehozadak's son Joshua the high priest, and the spirit of all the rest of the people, so they came and began to work on the house of their God, the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.

So Haggai responded, "If someone who is unclean because of contact with a dead body were to touch any of these things, would they become unclean?" The priests responded, "They would be unclean."

Then Haggai answered, ""That's how I look at this people and this nation,' declares the LORD. "And that's how it is with everything they undertake and with what they offer there it is unclean.

Don't be like your ancestors, to whom the former prophets proclaimed: "This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "It's time to turn from your evil lifestyles and from your evil actions," "but they would neither listen nor pay attention to me,'" declares the LORD.'

"Your ancestors where are they? And the prophets do they live forever?

But my words and my statutes that I gave as commands to my servants the prophets did they not overwhelm your ancestors? And they returned to me: "The LORD of the Heavenly Armies acted toward us just as he planned to do in keeping with our lifestyles and in keeping with our actions.'"

Then they reported to the angel of the LORD who stood among the myrtle trees, "We have wandered throughout the earth and look! the entire earth is at rest. Everything is quiet and peaceful."

I am deeply angry with the nations who are complacent, with whom I was only a little displeased but they made things worse!"

Then I asked, "What have they come to do?" He answered, "Those horns that dispersed Judah so that no one could lift up his head those artisans are coming to disrupt the power of nations, tearing them down now that they've come to power and dispersed the land of Judah."

And look, I will shake my fist over them, and they will become plunder for their former slaves. And you will know that the LORD of the Heavenly Armies sent me."'"

Then I said, "Let them place a pure diadem on his head." So they placed the pure diadem on his head and clothed him with fine garments while the angel of the LORD was standing beside them.

For who has despised the time of insignificant things? They will rejoice to see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. These seven lights represent the eyes of the LORD, which are looking throughout all of the earth."

Then I looked up to see two women coming forward with the wind filling their wings. (They had wings like those of a stork.) They took up the basket, holding it between the earth and sky.

So I asked the angel who was talking to me, "Where are they taking the basket?"

He answered me, "To the land of Shinar, so they can build a temple to the woman in the basket. Then when its preparations are complete, the basket will be set there in its place."

Then the gray horses went out. They were eager to go out on patrol throughout the earth, so the angel said, "Go patrol the earth." So they went out on patrol throughout the earth.

But they refused to pay attention, turned their backs, and stopped listening.

They made their hearts hard like a diamond, to keep from obeying the Law and the messages that the LORD of the Heavenly Armies sent by his Spirit through the former prophets.

Therefore, just as when I cried out and they would not listen, so also they will cry out, and I will not listen,' says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.

"I will scatter them to all of the nations, which they have not known.'" Now the earth was left desolate after them. As a result, no one came or went because they had turned a pleasant land into a desert.

The city parks will be filled with boys and girls. They will play in the city's open parks.'

I will also bring them back to live in the midst of Jerusalem. They will be my people and I will truly be their righteous God.'"

and they will travel from one place to another place and say, "Let's go quickly to pray in the presence of the LORD and to inquire of the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.' And I will go, too.

Also Hamath, which borders on it along with Tyre and Sidon indeed they are very wise.

The LORD of the Heavenly Armies will defend them; they will devour and conquer those who sling stones. They will drink and be boisterous like those who are drunk. They will be filled to the brim with blood, like the corners of the altar.

The LORD their God will save them at that time as his very own flock of people, because they are his crown jewels, exalted throughout his land.

Truly the family idols talk nonsense and the diviners discern lies, describing delusional dreams. Since their comfort is vacuous, they wander off on their own like sheep, because there is no shepherd.

They will be like mighty soldiers who trample mud in the streets during battle. They will fight because the LORD is with them, and the opposing horsemen will be confused.

"I will fortify the house of Judah, and the house of Joseph I will save. I will surely bring them back, because I care about them. They will be as if I had never cast them away. Since I am the LORD their God, I will answer them.

"The people of Ephraim will become like mighty soldiers; they will be glad, like those who have wine. Their children will see this and rejoice; their hearts will find joy in the Lord.

I will whistle for them, gathering them together, because I have redeemed them, and they will multiply as they were before.

I will scatter them among the nations, and so they will remember me in distant countries. They will rear their children, and they will return.

They will pass through the sea of affliction, and they will strike the waves in that sea. All of the depths of the Nile will evaporate, Assyria's arrogance will be brought down low, and the ruling power of Egypt will disappear.

"I will strengthen them in the LORD, and they will march here and there in his name," declares the LORD.

Their buyers slaughter them without being punished, continuing to sell them as they say, "Bless the LORD!' and, "I'm rich!' Meanwhile, their shepherds show them no compassion.

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."

In a single month I got rid of three shepherds because I grew tired of them, and they despised me.

I told them, "If it's alright with you, pay me what I've earned. But if it isn't, don't." So they paid out what I had earned 30 pieces of silver.

Then the LORD told me, "Throw the money into the treasury that magnificent value they placed on me!"

"Look, I am making Jerusalem an unstable cup toward all of its surrounding armies when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem.

"At that time, I will make the leaders of Judah like a brazier filled with blazing wood, or like a torch setting fire to harvested grain. They will devour all the invading armies, both on the right hand and on the left. As a result, Jerusalem will again be inhabited in its rightful place as the real Jerusalem.'"

I will pour out on the house of David and on the residents of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and of supplications, and they will look to me the one whom they pierced.'"

Then they will mourn for him, as for an only son. They will grieve bitterly for him, as for a firstborn son. At that time, Jerusalem will mourn deeply, like the mourning about Hadad-rimmon that took place in the plain of Megiddo.

At that time, a fountain will be opened for the house of David and for those who live in Jerusalem so they can be cleansed from sin and ceremonial impurity.

"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.

Furthermore, it will come about at that time that every prophet will become ashamed of his vision as he prophesies. They will wear no rough garments intended to deceive others."

And I will bring that surviving third through, testing them as if through fire, purifying them like silver, assaying them like gold. They will call on my name, and I will answer them. I will say, "This is my people,' and they will say, "The LORD is my God.'"

"This will be the plague with which the LORD inflicts all of the people who have attacked Jerusalem: he will cause their flesh to rot away, even while they're standing on their feet. He will cause their eyes to rot away in their sockets, and their tongues to rot away in their mouths.

At that time, they will be stricken with a terrible panic from the LORD. Everyone will attack each other.

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.

Even though Edom may claim, "We were crushed, but we will return and rebuild the ruins,' this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "They may rebuild, but I'll demolish. People will call them, "The Wicked Land,' and, "The People With Whom the LORD is Forever Angry.'

he will sit refining and purifying silver, purifying the descendants of Levi, refining them like gold and silver. Then they'll bring a righteous offering to the LORD.

"They'll be mine," says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, "in the day when I prepare my treasured possession. I'll spare them, just as a man spares his own son who serves him.

and trample down the wicked. Indeed, they will become ashes under the soles of your feet on the day I do this," says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.

Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah happened in this way. When his mother Mary was engaged to Joseph, before they lived together she was discovered to be pregnant by the Holy Spirit.

"See, a virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name him Immanuel,"

They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, because that is what was written by the prophet:

After listening to the king, they set out, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it came and stopped over the place where the child was.

When they saw the star, they were ecstatic with joy.

After they went into the house and saw the child with his mother Mary, they fell down and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasure sacks and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

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

After they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt," he said. "Stay there until I tell you, because Herod intends to search for the child and kill him."

"A voice was heard in Ramah: wailing and great mourning. Rachel was crying for her children. She refused to be comforted, because they no longer existed."

being baptized by him in the Jordan River while they confessed their sins.

He told Jesus, "Since you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, because it is written, "God will put his angels in charge of you,' and, "With their hands they will hold you up, so that you will never hit your foot against a rock.'"

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.

So at once they left their nets and followed him.

Going on from there he saw two other brothers James, son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee repairing their nets. When he called them,

they immediately left the boat and their father and followed him.

"How blessed are those who mourn, because it is they who will be comforted!

"How blessed are those who are humble, because it is they who will inherit the earth!

"How blessed are those who are hungry and thirsty for righteousness, because it is they who will be satisfied!

"How blessed are those who are merciful, because it is they who will receive mercy!

"How blessed are those who are pure in heart, because it is they who will see God!

"How blessed are those who make peace, because it is they who will be called God's children!

Rejoice and be extremely glad, because your reward in heaven is great! That's how they persecuted the prophets who came before you."

In the same way, let your light shine before people in such a way that they will see your good actions and glorify your Father in heaven."

If you love those who love you, what reward will you have? Even the tax collectors do the same, don't they?

And if you greet only your relatives, that's no great thing you're doing, is it? Even the unbelievers do the same, don't they?

So whenever you give to the poor, don't blow a trumpet before you like the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets so that they will be praised by people. I tell all of you with certainty, they have their full reward!

"And whenever you pray, don't be like the hypocrites who love to stand in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they will be seen by people. I tell all of you with certainty, they have their full reward!

"When you are praying, don't say meaningless things like the unbelievers do, because they think they will be heard by being so wordy.

"Whenever you fast, don't be gloomy like the hypocrites, because they put on sad faces to show others they are fasting. I tell all of you with certainty, they have their full reward!

Look at the birds in the sky. They don't plant or harvest or gather food into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. You are more valuable than they are, aren't you?