and hast spoken unto him, saying: Thus spake Jehovah of Hosts, saying: Lo, a man! A Shoot -- is his name, And from his place he doth shoot up, And he hath built the temple of Jehovah.

And those who are far off will come and build the temple of Yahweh, and you will know that Yahweh of hosts has sent me to you. And it will happen if you will listen diligently to the voice of Yahweh your God."

Should you not hear the words which the LORD has cried by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and her cities round about her, when men inhabited the south and the lowland?

“Thus has the Lord of hosts said, ‘Dispense true justice and practice kindness and compassion, to each other;

Yea, they made their hearts as a flint stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the LORD of hosts has sent by his Spirit through the former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the LORD of hosts.

It has come to pass that, as he called, and they refused to listen, so they will call, and I will not listen," said Yahweh of Armies;

But I stormed them away on all the nations whom they did not know. And the land has been wasted behind them, from passing and from returning; for they made the land of desire a waste.

This is what the Lord has said: I have come back to Zion, and will make my living-place in Jerusalem: and Jerusalem will be named The town of good faith; and the mountain of the Lord of armies The holy mountain.

This is what the Lord of armies has said: There will again be old men and old women seated in the open spaces of Jerusalem, every man with his stick in his hand because he is so old.

This is what the Lord of armies has said: If this is a wonder to the rest of this people, is it a wonder to me? says the Lord of armies.

This is what the Lord of armies has said: See, I will be the saviour of my people from the east country, and from the west country;

This is what the Lord of armies has said: Let your hands be strong, you who are now hearing these words from the mouths of the prophets, that is to say, in the days when the base of the house of the Lord of armies has been put in place for the building of the house, that is the Temple.

For this is what the Lord of armies has said: As it was my purpose to do evil to you when your fathers made me angry, says the Lord of armies, and my purpose was not changed:

This is what the Lord of armies has said: The times of going without food in the fourth month and in the fifth and the seventh and the tenth months, will be for the people of Judah times of joy and happy meetings; so be lovers of good faith and of peace.

This is what the Lord of armies has said: It will again come about that when peoples and those living in great towns come,

This is what the Lord of armies has said: In those days, ten men from all the languages of the nations will put out their hands and take a grip of the skirt of him who is a Jew, saying, We will go with you, for it has come to our ears that God is with you.

The oracle (a burdensome message) of the word of the Lord is against the land of Hadrach [in Syria], with Damascus as its resting place (for the eyes of men, especially of all the tribes of Israel, are toward the Lord),

For Tyre built herself an [impregnable] stronghold [on an island offshore],
And she has heaped up silver like dust
And gold like the mire of the streets.

Ashkelon will see it and be afraid.
Gaza too will writhe in great pain;
Also Ekron, for her expectation has been confounded.
Moreover, the king will perish from Gaza,
And Ashkelon will not be inhabited.

Be full of joy, O daughter of Zion; give a glad cry, O daughter of Jerusalem: see, your king comes to you: he is upright and has overcome; gentle and seated on an ass, on a young ass.

“My anger is kindled against the shepherds [who are not true shepherds],
And I shall punish the male goats (leaders);
For the Lord of hosts has visited His flock, the house of Judah (the Southern Kingdom),
And will make them like His beautiful and majestic horse in the battle.

I will strengthen them in Yahweh,
and they will march in His name—
this is Yahweh’s declaration.

Wail, O cypress, for the cedar has fallen,
Because the magnificent trees have been destroyed;
Wail, O oaks of Bashan,
For the inaccessible forest [on the steep mountainside] has come down.

Listen to the howling of shepherds, because their magnificence has been destroyed. Listen to the roaring of young lions, because the thickets of the Jordan have been devastated.

This is what the Lord my God has said: Take care of the flock of death;

The word of the Lord about Israel. The Lord by whom the heavens are stretched out and the bases of the earth put in place, and the spirit of man formed inside him, has said:

And it hath been, when one prophesieth again, That said unto him have his father and his mother, his parents, 'Thou dost not live, For falsehood thou hast spoken in the name of Jehovah,' And pierced him through have his father and his mother, his parents, in his prophesying.

And it shall come to pass in that day, that the prophets shall be ashamed every one of his vision, when he has prophesied; neither shall they wear a robe of coarse hair to deceive:

but he will say, "I [am] not a prophet; I am a tiller of the soil, for a man has acquired me since my youth."

And it will be unbroken day, such as the Lord has knowledge of, without change of day and night, and even at nightfall it will be light.

I have loved you, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother? saith the LORD: yet I loved Jacob,

Though [impoverished] Edom says, “We have been beaten down, but we will return and build up the ruins.” Thus says the Lord of hosts, “They may build, but I will tear down; and men will call them the Wicked Territory, the people against whom the Lord is indignant forever.”

A son gives honour to his father, and a servant has fear of his master: if then I am a father, where is my honour? and if I am a master, where is the fear of me? says the Lord of armies to you, O priests, who give no value to my name. And you say, How have we not given value to your name?

“And now ask for God’s favor. Will He be gracious to us? Since this has come from your hands, will He show any of you favor?” asks the Lord of Hosts.

But you make it unholy by saying, The Lord's table has become unclean, and his food is of no value.

And you say, See, what a weariness it is! and you let out your breath at it, says the Lord of armies; and you have given what has been cut about by beasts, and what is damaged in its feet and ill; this is the offering you give: will this be pleasing to me from your hands? says the Lord.

“But cursed is the swindler who has a male in his flock and vows [to offer] it, but sacrifices to the Lord a blemished or diseased thing! For I am a great King,” says the Lord of hosts, “and My name is to be [reverently and greatly] feared among the nations.”

Do we not all have one Father? Has not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously with one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers [with God]?

Judah has been treacherous (disloyal), and an repulsive act has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the Lord which He loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god.

Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the LORD hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant.

No one who has even a small portion of the Spirit in him does this. What did our ancestor do when seeking a child from God? Be attentive, then, to your own spirit, for one should not be disloyal to the wife he took in his youth.

You have made the Lord tired with your words. And still you say, How have we made him tired? By your saying, Everyone who does evil is good in the eyes of the Lord, and he has delight in them; or, Where is God the judge?

"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.

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 has happened, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying,

Where is the king of the Jews that has been born? for we have seen his star in the east, and have come to do him homage.

They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written by the prophet:

A voice has been heard in Rama, weeping, and great lamentation: Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.

and saying, Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn nigh.

For this is he who has been spoken of through Esaias the prophet, saying, Voice of him that crieth in the wilderness: prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.

But seeing many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, Offspring of vipers, who has forewarned you to flee from the coming wrath?

But Jesus replied, “It is written and forever remains written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God.’”

and says to Him; If thou art the Son of God, cast thyself down; for it has been written, That He will give His angels charge concerning thee, and upon their hand they will bear thee, lest thou mayest dash thy foot against a stone.

Jesus said to him; Again it has been written, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

Then Jesus said to him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written and forever remains written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’”

the people sitting in darkness has seen a great light, and to those sitting in the country and shadow of death, to them has light sprung up.

From that time began Jesus to preach and to say, Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn nigh.

“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has lost its taste (purpose), how can it be made salty? It is no longer good for anything, but to be thrown out and walked on by people [when the walkways are wet and slippery].

Solemnly I tell you that until Heaven and earth pass away, not one iota or smallest detail will pass away from the Law until all has taken place.

Ye have heard that it has been said to the antients, "Thou shalt not kill: and whosoever shall kill, shall be punish'd by the tribunal."

If therefore thou shouldest offer thy gift at the altar, and there shouldest remember that thy brother has something against thee,

Come to an agreement quickly with him who has a cause against you at law, while you are with him on the way, for fear that he may give you up to the judge and the judge may give you to the police and you may be put into prison.

Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.

Ye have heard that it has been said, Thou shalt not commit adultery.

But I say unto you, that every one who looks upon a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

It has been said too, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a letter of divorce.

but I say to you that whoever divorces his wife, except on grounds of sexual immorality, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who has been divorced commits adultery.

Again, ye have heard that it has been said to the ancients, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt render to the Lord what thou hast sworn.

Ye have heard that it has been said, Eye for eye and tooth for tooth.

Ye have heard that it has been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour and hate thine enemy.

Take care not to perform your religious duties in public in order to be seen by others; if you do, your Father who is in Heaven has no reward for you.

But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

So be not like them; because your Father has knowledge of your needs even before you make your requests to him.

But if your eye is evil, your whole body will be full of darkness. Therefore, if the light within you has turned into darkness, how great is that darkness!"

Because the Gentiles go in search of all these things: for your Father in heaven has knowledge that you have need of all these things:

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

For it is always he who asks that receives, he who seeks that finds, and he who knocks that has the door opened to him.

and saying, "Lord, my boy has been prostrated in my house, a paralytic, fearfully afflicted."

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]."

And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.

And Jesus says to him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the heaven roosting-places; but the Son of man has not where he may lay his head.

And behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Son of God? hast thou come here before the time to torment us?

And some of the scribes said among themselves, This man has no respect for God.

But that ye may know that the Son of man has power on earth to forgive sins, (then he says to the paralytic,) Rise up, take up thy bed and go to thy house.

"Can the bridegroom's party mourn," He replied, "as long as the bridegroom is with them? But other days will come (when the Bridegroom has been taken from them)

But no one puts a piece of unshrunk (new) cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and a worse tear results.

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.

But Jesus turning and seeing her, said, Be of good courage, daughter; thy faith has healed thee. And the woman was healed from that hour.

he said, "Go away! The young lady hasn't died, but is sleeping." But they ridiculed him with laughter.

And the demon having been cast out, the dumb spake. And the crowds were astonished, saying, It has never been seen thus in Israel.

And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of the heavens has drawn nigh.

Make well those who are ill, give life to the dead, make lepers clean, send evil spirits out of men; freely it has been given to you, freely give.

Take no bag for your journey and do not take two coats or shoes or a stick: for the workman has a right to his food.

and ye shall be hated of all on account of my name. But he that has endured to the end, he shall be saved.

But when they persecute you in this city, flee into the next, for most certainly I tell you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel, until the Son of Man has come.

It is enough for a scholar to be treated like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If the head of the house has been called Baal-zebub, how much more the members of his household!

Fear them not, therefore; for nothing has been covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known.

And have no fear of those who put to death the body, but are not able to put to death the soul. But have fear of him who has power to give soul and body to destruction in hell.

God even knows the number of hairs on your head [Note: The average full head of hair has approximately 25,000 hairs].

But if anyone says before men that he has no knowledge of me, I will say that I have no knowledge of him before my Father in heaven.