[You are] presenting defiled food on my altar! But you ask, 'How have we defiled you?' By saying [that] the table of Yahweh is despised!

When you offer a blind [animal] for sacrifice, is that not wrong? And when you offer [the] lame and the one who is ill, is that not wrong? Present it, please, to your governor! Will he be pleased with you? {Will he show you favor}?" says Yahweh of hosts.

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.

"But you [are] profaning it by saying the table of the Lord [is] defiled, and its fruit--its food--is despised!

Look! I [am] going to rebuke {your offspring}, and I will scatter offal on your faces, [the] offal of your religious feasts, and you will be carried to it.

But you, you have turned from the way; you have caused many to stumble by [your] instruction; you have ruined the covenant of Levi," says Yahweh of hosts.

But you ask, "{For what reason}?" Because Yahweh stands as a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have been unfaithful, even though she [is] your marriage partner and {your wife by covenant}.

{Did not one God make them?} But a remnant of [the] spirit is his. And what does the one [God] desire? An offspring of God. {You must be attentive to} your spirit, and you must not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth.

"For hate divorce," says Yahweh, the God of Israel, "and he [who] covers his clothing [with] violence," says Yahweh of hosts. "{You must be attentive to} your spirit and you must not be unfaithful."

And the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to Yahweh, like [in the] days of old and like [in] former years.

"Then I will approach you for judgment, and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers and against the adulterers, and against those who swear {falsely}, and against the oppressors of [the] hired worker [with his] wages, [the] widow and [the] orphan, and {the abusers of} [the] alien, and [yet] do not fear me," says Yahweh of hosts.

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}.

I will rebuke the devourer for you; it will not destroy the fruit of your soil; your vine in the field will not be unfruitful," says Yahweh of hosts.

"And all the nations will call you blessed, because you will be {a land in which one takes joy}," says Yahweh of hosts.

"They will be mine," says Yahweh of hosts, "on the day that I [am] acting, [my] treasured possession. I will have compassion on them as a man has compassion on his son who serves him.

"For look! The day [is] about to come, burning like an oven, and all the arrogant and every {evildoer} will be stubble. The coming day will consume them," says Yahweh of hosts. "It will not leave behind for them root or branch.

You will trample down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day that I [am] going to act," says Yahweh of hosts.

and Judah became the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez became the father of Hezron, and Hezron became the father of Aram,

and Salmon became the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz became the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed became the father of Jesse,

and Jesse became the father of David the king. And David became the father of Solomon by the [wife] of Uriah,

and Jacob became the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary by whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.

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.

But [as] he was considering these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary [as] your wife, for what has been conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

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

and [after] calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired from them where the Christ was to be born.

So they said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet,

'And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah, for from you will go out a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.'"

And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they went back to their [own] country by another route.

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 had been deceived by the wise men, became very angry, and he sent [soldiers] [and] executed all the children in Bethlehem and in all the region [around] it from [the age of] two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined precisely from the wise men.

Then what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled, saying,

"A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping [for] her children, and she did not want to be comforted, because {they exist no longer}."

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."

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.'"

and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River [as they] confessed their sins.

Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John in order to be baptized by him.

But John tried to prevent him, saying, "{I need} to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?"

Then Jesus was led up into the wilderness by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil,

And leaving Nazareth, he went [and] lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali,

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

And a report about him went out {throughout} Syria, and they brought to him all those {who were sick} with various diseases and afflicted by torments, demon-possessed and epileptics and paralytics, and he healed them.

Blessed [are] the ones who mourn, because they will be comforted.

Blessed [are] the ones who hunger and thirst [for] righteousness, because they will be satisfied.

Blessed [are] the merciful, because they will be shown mercy.

Blessed [are] the peacemakers, because they will be called sons of God.

Rejoice and be glad, because your reward [is] great in heaven, for in the [same] way they persecuted the prophets before you.

"You are the salt of the earth. But if salt becomes tasteless, by what will it be made salty? It is good for nothing any longer except to be thrown outside [and] trampled under foot by people.

You are the light of the world. A city located on top of a hill cannot be hidden,

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.

"You have heard that it was said to the {people of old}, 'Do not commit murder,' and 'whoever commits murder will be subject to judgment.'

But I say to you that everyone who is angry at his brother will be subject to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, 'Stupid fool!' will be subject to the council, and whoever says, 'Obstinate fool!' will be subject to fiery hell.

leave your gift there before the altar and first go be reconciled to your brother, and then come [and] present your gift.

{Settle the case quickly with your accuser} while you are with him on the way, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison.

And if your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw [it] from you! For it is better for you that one of your members be destroyed than your whole body be thrown into hell.

And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw [it] from you! For it is better for you that one of your limbs be destroyed than your whole body go into hell.

But I say to you, do not swear at all, either by heaven, because it is the throne of God,

or by the earth, because it is the footstool of his feet, or by Jerusalem, because it is the city of the great king.

And do not swear by your head, because you are not able to make one hair white or black.

But let your statement be 'Yes, yes; no, no,' and anything beyond these is from the evil one.

in order that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven, because he causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust.

Therefore you be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.

"And take care not to practice your righteousness before people to be seen by them; {otherwise} you have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

Therefore whenever you practice charitable giving, do not sound a trumpet in front of you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, in order that they may be praised by people. Truly I say to you, they have received their reward in full!

in order that your charitable giving may be in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, because they love to stand [and] pray in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, in order that they may be seen by people. Truly I say to you, they have received their reward in full!

"But [when you] pray, do not babble repetitiously like the pagans, for they think that because of their many words they will be heard.

Therefore do not be like them, for your Father knows {what you need} before you ask him.

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

May your kingdom come, may your will be done on earth as [it is] in heaven.

"Whenever you fast, do not be sullen like the hypocrites, for they make their faces unrecognizable in order that they may be seen fasting by people. Truly I say to you, they have received their reward in full!

so that you will not be seen by people as fasting, but to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

"The eye is the lamp of the body. Therefore if your eye is sincere, your whole body will be full of light.

But if your eye is evil, your whole body will be dark. Therefore if the light in you is darkness, how great [is] the darkness!

"No one is able to serve two masters. For either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You are not able to serve God and money.

"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?

And who among you, [by] being anxious, is able to add one hour to his life span?

Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear?,'

But seek first his kingdom and righteousness, and all these [things] will be added to you.

Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow, because tomorrow will be anxious for itself. {Each day has enough trouble of its own.}

"Do not judge, so that you will not be judged.

For by what judgment you judge, you will be judged, and by what measure you measure out, it will be measured out to you.

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened for you.

For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

You will recognize them by their fruits: they do not gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles, [do they]?

As a result, you will recognize them by their fruits.

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.

And extending his hand he touched him, saying, "I am willing, be clean." And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

And the centurion answered [and] said, "Lord, I am not worthy that you should come in under my roof. But only say the word and my slave will be healed.

But I say to you that many will come from east and west and {be seated at the banquet} with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.

But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown out into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!"

And Jesus said to the centurion, "Go, as you have believed it will be done for you." And the slave was healed at that hour.

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."

And behold, a great storm arose on the sea, so that the boat was being inundated by the waves, but he himself was asleep.

And [when] he came to the other side, to the region of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men coming from among the tombs met him, very violent, so that no one was able to pass by along that road.

for she said to herself, "If only I touch his cloak I will be healed."

Then he touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith let it be done for you."

But the Pharisees were saying, "By the ruler of demons he expels the demons!"

Truly I say to you, it will be more bearable for the region of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town!