Ye grieve the LORD with your words, and yet ye say, 'Wherewithal have we grieved him?' In this, that ye say: 'All that do evil are good in the sight of God, and such please him.' Or else where is the God that punisheth?

"I will come to you in judgment. I will be quick to testify against those who practice divination, those who commit adultery, those who break promises, and those who exploit workers, widows, and orphans, who refuse to help the immigrant and in this way show they do not fear me," says the Lord who rules over all.

For I am Jehovah, I change not. Because of this you sons of Jacob are not destroyed.

Ye are cursed with a curse; and me ye rob, even this whole nation.

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}.

And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts.

This is the book of the generations of Jesus Christ: the son of David, the son also of Abraham.

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 just as this thought occurred to him, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, and said, "Joseph, descendant of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for it is through the influence of the Holy Spirit that she has become an expectant mother.

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

He made Mary his wife, but did not live with her as her husband until after the birth of her son; and to this son he gave the name Jesus.

When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the reign of king Herod, certain eastern Magi came to Jerusalem, with this enquiry,

Where is this king of the Jews who is now born? for we have seen his rising star, and are come to pay him homage.

When Herod the king had heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.

They told him, "At Bethlehem in Judea, for this is what the prophet wrote:

So he sent them to Bethlehem with this order, "Go and carefully search for the child, and when you find Him, bring back word to me, and I too may come and do Him homage."

when they observ'd this of the star, they were extreamly well pleas'd.

He remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”

When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the astrologer/sages, he was furious and sent out [his soldiers] to kill all the baby boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity. This was done to those from two years old and under, basing [their decision] on the exact time determined from the astrologer/sages.

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

[Jer. 31:15], "A voice was heard in [the town of] Ramah [Note: This was a village near Jerusalem, where Rachel was buried], with crying and deep mourning. It was Rachel crying for her children [Note: Initially this was a reference to the Israelites who were taken to Babylonian captivity. See Jer. 29-31]. She refused to be comforted because they were dead."

and came and lived in a city called Nazareth. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets: “He shall be called a Nazarene.”

About this time, John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the Judean wilderness,

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.'"

This John had his garment of camel's hair, and a girdle of a skin about his loins; his meat was locusts and wild honey.

His winnowing shovel [Note: This was a process whereby grain was tossed into the air so that the wind could blow the husks away, leaving only good grain on the ground] is in His hand and He will completely clear off His threshing floor [by removing all of the husks]. And He will gather His wheat into the barn, but will burn up the husks with a fire that will never go out."

But Jesus answered [and] said to him, "Permit [it] now, for in this way it is right for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he permitted him.

At this, he permitted him to be baptized. When Jesus had been baptized, he immediately came up out of the water. Suddenly, the heavens opened up for him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him.

And behold, [there was] a voice from heaven saying, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."

After this, Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil.

The devil took Him again, [this time] to a very high mountain and showed Him all the world's kingdoms, along with their splendor,

and said to Him, "Every bit of this I will give to you, if you will fall on your knees and worship me."

At this the devil left him, and angels came up and ministered to him.

After this, Jesus having heard that John was confined in prison, retired into Galilee.

This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:

From that time Jesus began to preach this message: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."

Jesus, to avoid this crowd of people, went to a mountain: and when he was set down, his disciples came to him.

Keep on rejoicing and leaping for ecstasy, for your reward will be rich in heaven; for this is the way they persecuted the prophets who lived before you.

"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].

In this way let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

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.

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].

Again, it was said, Whoever puts away his wife has to give her a statement in writing for this purpose:

But your way of speaking must be a simple 'Yes' or 'No.' Anything beyond this comes from the evil one.

For, if you love only those who love you, what reward will you have? Even the tax-gatherers do this!

And if ye only greet your friends, what do ye extra? Do not even the tax collectors this way?

"Therefore, when you give money to help poor people, do not blow a trumpet in front of you [i.e., to call attention to it] as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and streets. They do this in order to win praise from people. It is true when I say to you, they have [already] received their reward.

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

Give us this day our daily bread.

"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?

But if God dresses the grass of the field in this way, [although it] is [here] today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not [do so] much more [for] you, you of little faith?

For these are all things the heathen are in pursuit of, and your heavenly Father knows well that you need all this.

Therefore [in] all [things], whatever you want that people should do to you, thus also you do to them. For this is the law and the prophets.

and then will I make this declaration to them: I never knew you: depart from me ye that have practised iniquity.

"Everyone, therefore, who listens to this teaching of mine and acts upon it, will be like a sensible man who built his house on rock.

And anyone who listens to this teaching of mine and does not act upon it, will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand.

When Jesus had closed this address, the result was that the crowds were dumbfounded at His teaching,

And Jesus said to him, See that you say nothing about this to anyone; but go and let the priest see you and make the offering which was ordered by Moses, for a witness to them.

For I also am a man under authority who has soldiers under me, and I say to this one, 'Go!' and he goes, and to another one, 'Come!' and he comes, and to my slave, 'Do this!' and he does [it]."

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.

After this Jesus went to Peter's house, where seeing his wife's mother lying sick of a fever,

This was in order to fulfill what was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, [Isa. 53:4], "[He] Himself took [care of] our [physical] weaknesses and carried [away] our diseases."

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

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."

[Upon seeing this happen] the men who were tending the herd ran away and went into the town [i.e., of Gadara, one of ten towns making up the province of Decapolis], and told the people everything, [including] what had happened to the men dominated by evil spirits.

And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, "This man is blaspheming!"

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

And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with tax-collectors and notorious sinners?"

But on hearing this he said, Those who are well have no need of a medical man, but those who are ill.

Go, learn what this means, 'It is mercy and not sacrifice that I want.' It is not upright but sinful people that I have come to invite."

As he spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler coming in did homage to him, saying, My daughter has by this died; but come and lay thy hand upon her and she shall live.

what she said to herself was this, "If I can only touch his robe, I will recover."

And this report went out into that whole region.

And [when he] came into the house, the blind men approached him, and Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" They said to him, "Yes, Lord."

And their eyes were opened. And Jesus strictly commanded them, saying, "See that no one knows about this."

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!"

and wherever ye go, make this proclamation: the kingdom of heaven is nigh.

or a traveling bag [for personal belongings], or a change of jackets or shoes, or [even] a walking stick [Note: By comparing this and the restriction in Matt. 10:10 with the permission given in Mark 6:8, the harmony seems to be "if you do not already have a walking stick, do not get one"]. For the worker deserves having his food provided.

And when you go in, say, May peace be on this house.

And whoever does not welcome you or listen to what you have to say, shake the dust off of your shoes as you leave that house or town. [Note: This was a Jewish custom showing disdain and intended to suggest unworthiness]

Yes, you will [even] be brought in front of governors and kings for being loyal to me. [This will give you an opportunity] for witnessing to them [as well] as to the [unconverted] Gentiles.

and you will be hated by everyone because of my name. But the one who endures to the end--this one will be saved.

And whenever they persecute you in this town, flee to another, for truly I say to you, you will never finish [going through] the towns of Israel until the Son of Man comes.

The person who finds [everything to satisfy him in] this life [here on earth] will lose [never ending life]. But the person who [is willing to] lose [the comforts and security of] this life [here on earth] for my sake [i.e., in loyal service to me] will find it [i.e., never ending life]. [See Mark 10:29-30]

When Jesus had closed this charge to His disciples, He left there to teach and preach in their towns.

Now when John in prison heard of the doings of the Christ, he sent this message by his disciples:

It is this man about whom it is written: 'Behold, I am sending my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.'

and from the days of John the baptist to this time, the kingdom of heaven is as it were forced into, and the most pressing seize upon it with eagerness.

For all of the prophets and the law of Moses prophesied [of this kingdom] up until the time of John.

And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, who is to come.

The person who has ears to hear with ought to listen [to this] carefully.

"But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces who call out to one another,

The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they exclaim, 'See this man! --given to gluttony and tippling, and a friend of tax-gatherers and notorious sinners!' And yet Wisdom is vindicated by her actions."

I tell you this, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you.

And thou, Capernaum, who hast been raised up to heaven, shalt be brought down even to hades. For if the works of power which have taken place in thee, had taken place in Sodom, it had remained until this day.

At that same time Jesus said, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for hiding all this from the learned and intelligent and revealing it to children.

Yea, Father, because this way it was done pleasing in thy sight.

About that time Jesus was walking through a grainfield on the Sabbath day. His disciples were hungry so began picking off some heads of grain to eat [the kernels]. [Note: It was an accepted practice for people in that day to be permitted to do this as they walked along paths bordering a grainfield].

But when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, "Look, your disciples are doing what is against the law of Moses to do on a Sabbath day."

But I say to you, that in this place is one greater than the temple.