"Talk to everyone in the land, as well as to the priests. Ask them, "When you were fasting and mourning during the fifth and seventh months for the past seventy years, were you really fasting for me?

And when ye ate, and when ye drank, was it not you that were eating and drinking?

[Are] not [these] the words that Yahweh proclaimed {through} the former prophets, when Jerusalem and {its surrounding towns} were inhabited and at ease, and the Negev and the Shephelah were inhabited?'"

And I brought them, and they dwelt in the midst of Jerusalem: and they were to me for a people, and I will be to them for God, in truth and in justice.

"Thus says Yahweh of hosts: 'Let your hands be strong, you who are hearing in these days these words from the mouth of the prophets who [were present] on [the] day {the foundation was laid for the rebuilding of the temple, the house of Yahweh of hosts}.

For before these days there were no wages for man, nor any hire for beast; neither was there any peace to him that went out or came in because of the enemy: for I set all men every one against his neighbor.

{And then}, just as you were a curse among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so will I save you, and you will be a blessing. You must not be afraid; let your hands be strong!'"

I will take the blood from their mouths
And their detestable things from between their teeth [those repulsive, idolatrous sacrifices eaten with the blood].
Then they too will be a remnant for our God,
And be like a clan in Judah,
And Ekron will be like one of the Jebusites.

For I have bent Judah as if it were my bow, loading it with Ephraim. I raised up your sons, Zion, against your sons, Greece, wielding you like a mighty warrior's sword."

The LORD of Hosts shall defend them, they shall consume and devour, and subdue them with sling stones. They shall drink and rage, as it were through wine. They shall be filled like the basins, and as the horns of the altar.

For the idols have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie, and have told false dreams; they comfort in vain: therefore they went their way as a flock, they were troubled because there was no shepherd.

And they were as the strong treading down in the mud of the streets in the battle: and they waged war, for Jehovah was with them, and they riding horses were ashamed.

"I will comfort the house of Judah, and preserve the house of Joseph. I will turn them also, for I pity them: and they shall be like as they were, when I had not cast them off. For I the LORD am their God, and will hear them.

And they were as the strong one of Ephraim, and their heart rejoiced as from wine: and their sons shall see, and rejoice; their heart shall exult in Jehovah.

With the sound of the pipe I will get them together; for I have given the price to make them free: and they will be increased as they were increased.

Howl, O fir, for fallen hath the cedar, For their honourable ones were destroyed, Howl, ye oaks of Bashan, For come down hath the fenced forest,

And in one month I put an end to the three keepers of the flock; for my soul was tired of them, and their souls were disgusted with me.

And it was broken on that day. Then the afflicted of the flock, the [ones who were] watching me, knew that it [was] the word of Yahweh.

And it was in that day I will set Jerusalem a stone of burden to all peoples: all loading her, being out; shall be cut; and all the nations of the earth were gathered together against her..

And I gathered all the nations against Jerusalem for war; and the city was taken, and the houses were plundered, and the women shall be ravished; and half the city shall go forth into captivity, and the people being left shall not be cut off from the city.

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.'

Oh that there were one among you that would shut the doors, that ye might not kindle fire on mine altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, saith Jehovah of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand.

He taught what was true; sinful words were not found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and integrity, and he turned many people away from sin.

Yet you ask, "Why?" The Lord is testifying against you on behalf of the wife you married when you were young, to whom you have become unfaithful even though she is your companion and wife by law.

And he sat melting and cleansing silver: and he cleansed the sons of Levi, and he purified them as gold and as silver, and they were to Jehovah bringing near the sacrifice in justice.

And the sacrifice of Judah and of Jerusalem shall be delicious unto the LORD as in the old time and in the years that were at the beginning.

For I am Jehovah, I changed not; and ye the sons of Jacob were not finished.

Your words were strong against me, said Jehovah. And ye said, What did we speak against thee?

And now we pronounce the proud happy; also they working injustice were built up; also they tried Jehovah and they will be delivered.

Then those who respected the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord took notice. A scroll was prepared before him in which were recorded the names of those who respected the Lord and honored his name.

And they were to me, said Jehovah of armies, for the day which I make wealth; and I spared for them as a man will spare for the son serving him.

For behold, the day coming, burning as a furnace; and all the proud and all doing injustice were straw: and the day coming burnt them, said Jehovah of armies, that it shall not leave to them root and branch.

And ye tread down the unjust; for they were ashes under the soles of your feet in the day which I doing, said Jehovah of armies.

The son of Abraham was Isaac; and the son of Isaac was Jacob; and the sons of Jacob were Judah and his brothers;

And the sons of Judah were Perez and Zerah by Tamar; and the son of Perez was Hezron; and the son of Hezron was Ram;

Josiah begat Jechoniah and his brethren about the time they were carried away to Babylon.

And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechoniah begat Shealtiel: Shealtiel begat Zerubbabel;

All the generations, therefore, from Abraham to David were fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away of Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the carrying away of Babylon unto the Christ, fourteen generations.

Now these were the circumstances of the birth of Jesus Christ. Mary, his mother, was engaged to Joseph, but before they were married it was found that she was about to become a mother through the influence of the holy Spirit.

"Where is the one who was born to be king of the Jews? For we saw a star [signifying his birth while we were still] in the east, and have come here to worship him."

And when King Herod heard this, he and the entire city of Jerusalem were [very] upset.

When they saw the star they were marvelously glad;

And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.

And after they were warned of God in a dream that they should not go again to Herod, they returned into their own country another way.

When they were departed, Behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream saying,. "Arise, and take the child and his mother, and fly into Egypt, and abide there till I bring thee word: For Herod will seek the child to destroy him."

Then Herod, seeing that he had been mocked by the magi, was greatly enraged; and sent and slew all the boys which were in Bethlehem, and in all its borders, from two years and under, according to the time which he had accurately inquired from the magi.

Then were fulfilled the words spoken through Jeremiah, the prophet, saying,

"On the hills was a voice heard, mourning, weeping and great lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they were not."

saying, "Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the life of the child are dead."

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."

Now this same John had clothing made of camel’s hair and a [wide] leather band around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.

Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the district around the Jordan were going out to him,

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

But when John saw that many of the Pharisees and Sadducees were coming for baptism, he said: "O brood of vipers! Who has warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

And Jesus, having been baptised, went up straightway from the water, and lo, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon him:

Then doth the Devil leave him, and lo, messengers came and were ministering to him.

The people that were living in darkness have seen a great light, and on those that were living in the land of the shadow of death; a light has dawned."

Now [as he] was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew, throwing a casting net into the sea (for they were fishermen).

Going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who were in a bark with Zebedee their father, mending their nets: and Jesus having called them,

And Jesus went about in all Galilee, teaching in their Synagogues and preaching the good news of the kingdom, and making well those who were ill with any disease among the people.

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.

Rejoice and exult, for your reward is great in the heavens; for thus have they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Therefore whoever relaxes a single one of these commands, were it even one of the least, and teaches men so, he will be ranked least in the Realm of heaven; but whoever obeys them and teaches them, he will be ranked great in the Realm of heaven.)

"You have heard that the men of old were told 'You shall not murder,' and 'Whoever murders will have to answer to the court.'

"You have heard that men were told 'You shall not commit adultery.'

"They were told, 'Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.'

"Again, you have heard that the men of old were told, 'You shall not swear falsely, but you must fulfil your oaths to the Lord.'

"You have heard that they were told, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.'

Whoever requires you to go one mile, [be willing to] go with him two miles. [Note: The Romans were permitted by law to require a Jew to carry their burden for one mile only].

"You have heard that they were told, 'You must love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'

For if you love [only] those who love you, what reward will you get for that? Do not even the publicans [Note: These were people with a bad reputation for their dishonest tax collecting activities] do that much?

For after all these things the heathen were seeking; for your heavenly Father knoweth that you need all these things.

A great number will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, were we not prophets in your name, and did we not by your name send out evil spirits, and by your name do works of power?

And the rain came down and there was a rush of waters and the winds were driving against that house, but it was not moved; because it was based on the rock.

And the rain came down and there was a rush of waters and the winds were driving against that house; and it came down and great was its fall.

And it happened when Jesus finished these words the crowds were amazed at his teaching,

Now [when] Jesus heard [this], he was astonished, and said to those who were following [him], "Truly I say to you, I have found such great faith with no one in Israel.

Now [when it] was evening, they brought to him many who were demon-possessed, and he expelled the spirits with a word. And he healed all {those who were sick},

And the men were astonished, saying, "What sort of [man] is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?"

And when he was come to the other side, into the country of the Gergesites, there met him two possessed of devils, which came out of the graves, and were out of measure fierce, so that no man might go by that way.

Now at some distance from them a vast herd of swine were feeding.

and the demons were calling on him, saying, 'If thou dost cast us forth, permit us to go away to the herd of the swine;'

and Jesus bad them go, accordingly they came out, and went into the herd of swine: and immediately the herd of swine ran furiously down a precipice into the sea, where they were all drown'd.

Then the herdsmen fled and went their ways into the city, and told everything, and what had fortuned unto them that were possessed of the devils.

and lo, they were bringing to him a paralytic, laid upon a couch, and Jesus having seen their faith, said to the paralytic, 'Be of good courage, child, thy sins have been forgiven thee.'

Knowing what they were thinking, Jesus said, "Why are you having such evil thoughts in your minds?

But [when] the crowds saw [this], they were afraid and glorified God who had given such authority to men.

And when Jesus was going from there, he saw a man whose name was Matthew, seated at the place where taxes were taken; and he said to him, Come after me. And he got up and went after him.

And it happened [as] he {was dining} in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners were coming [and] {dining} with Jesus and his disciples.

Now when Jesus reached the official's house and saw the flute-players and the din the crowd were making,

he saith to them, 'Withdraw, for the damsel did not die, but doth sleep,' and they were deriding him;

As soon as the people were put forth adoors, he went in and took her by the hand, and the maid arose.

Now as Jesus moved on from there, two blind men followed Him [i.e., probably being led by sighted persons]. They were shouting, "Have pity on us, son of David!"

Then he touched their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it done unto you: and their eyes were opened.

And their eyes were opened, and Jesus sternly warned them, saying, "See [that] no one finds out."

But they, when they were gone out, spread his name abroad in all that land.

Now [as] they were going away, behold, they brought to him a demon-possessed man [who was] unable to speak.

And [after] the demon had been expelled, the one who had been mute spoke, and the crowds were astonished, saying, "{This has never been seen before} in Israel!"

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

And [when he] saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were weary and dejected, like sheep that did not have a shepherd.