Then I heard the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river. He raised both his hands toward heaven and swore by Him who lives eternally that it would be for a time, times, and half a time. When the power of the holy people is shattered, all these things will be completed.

I heard but did not understand. So I asked, “My lord, what will be the outcome of these things?”

I will devastate her vines and fig trees.
She thinks that these are her wages
that her lovers have given her.
I will turn them into a thicket,
and the wild animals will eat them.

Let whoever is wise understand these things,
and whoever is insightful recognize them.
For the ways of the Lord are right,
and the righteous walk in them,
but the rebellious stumble in them.

Cross over to Calneh and see;
go from there to great Hamath;
then go down to Gath of the Philistines.
Are you better than these kingdoms?
Is their territory larger than yours?

“Quit your preaching,” they preach.
“They should not preach these things;
shame will not overtake us.”

House of Jacob, should it be asked,
“Is the Spirit of the Lord impatient?
Are these the things He does?”
Don’t My words bring good
to the one who walks uprightly?

Therefore, it will be night for you—
without visions;
it will grow dark for you—
without divination.
The sun will set on these prophets,
and the daylight will turn black over them.

That is why they sacrifice to their dragnet
and burn incense to their fishing net,
for by these things their portion is rich
and their food plentiful.

Won’t all of these take up a taunt against him,
with mockery and riddles about him?
They will say:

Woe to him who amasses what is not his—
how much longer?—
and loads himself with goods taken in pledge.

Lord, I have heard the report about You;
Lord, I stand in awe of Your deeds.
Revive Your work in these years;
make it known in these years.
In Your wrath remember mercy!

“The Lord of Hosts says this: These people say: The time has not come for the house of the Lord to be rebuilt.”

Then Haggai asked, “If someone defiled by contact with a corpse touches any of these, does it become defiled?”

The priests answered, “It becomes defiled.”

I asked, “What are these, my lord?”

The angel who was talking to me replied, “I will show you what they are.”

Then the Angel of the Lord responded, “How long, Lord of Hosts, will You withhold mercy from Jerusalem and the cities of Judah that You have been angry with these 70 years?”

So I asked the angel who was speaking with me, “What are these?”

And he said to me, “These are the horns that scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.”

I asked, “What are they coming to do?”

He replied, “These are the horns that scattered Judah so no one could raise his head. These craftsmen have come to terrify them, to cut off the horns of the nations that raised their horns against the land of Judah to scatter it.”

“This is what the Lord of Hosts says: If you walk in My ways and keep My instructions, you will both rule My house and take care of My courts; I will also grant you access among these who are standing here.

“Listen, Joshua the high priest, you and your colleagues sitting before you; indeed, these men are a sign that I am about to bring My servant, the Branch.

Then I asked the angel who was speaking with me, “What are these, my lord?”

For who scorns the day of small things? These seven eyes of the Lord, which scan throughout the whole earth, will rejoice when they see the plumb line in Zerubbabel’s hand.”

Then he inquired of me, “Don’t you know what these are?”

“No, my lord,” I replied.

“These are the two anointed ones,” he said, “who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.”

So I inquired of the angel who was speaking with me, “What are these, my lord?”

The angel told me, “These are the four spirits of heaven going out after presenting themselves to the Lord of the whole earth.

by asking the priests who were at the house of the Lord of Hosts as well as the prophets, “Should we mourn and fast in the fifth month as we have done these many years?”

“Ask all the people of the land and the priests: When you fasted and lamented in the fifth and in the seventh months for these 70 years, did you really fast for Me?

Aren’t these the words that the Lord proclaimed through the earlier prophets when Jerusalem was inhabited and secure, along with its surrounding cities, and when the southern region and the Judean foothills were inhabited?”

The Lord of Hosts says this: “Let your hands be strong, you who now hear these words that the prophets spoke when the foundations were laid for the rebuilding of the temple, the house of the Lord of Hosts.

“For they will sow in peace: the vine will yield its fruit, the land will yield its produce, and the skies will yield their dew. I will give the remnant of this people all these things as an inheritance.

“so I have resolved again in these days to do what is good to Jerusalem and the house of Judah. Don’t be afraid.

These are the things you must do: Speak truth to one another; make true and sound decisions within your gates.

If someone asks him: What are these wounds on your chest?—then he will answer: I received the wounds in the house of my friends.

“My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave these to him; it called for reverence, and he revered Me and stood in awe of My name.

But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is by the Holy Spirit.

And don’t presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones!

Then the tempter approached Him and said, “If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

And he said to Him, “I will give You all these things if You will fall down and worship me.”

Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commands and teaches people to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these!

For the idolaters eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.

“Therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them will be like a sensible man who built his house on the rock.

But everyone who hears these words of Mine and doesn’t act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.

As He was telling them these things, suddenly one of the leaders came and knelt down before Him, saying, “My daughter is near death, but come and lay Your hand on her, and she will live.”

These are the names of the 12 apostles:

First, Simon, who is called Peter,
and Andrew his brother;
James the son of Zebedee,
and John his brother;

Jesus sent out these 12 after giving them instructions: “Don’t take the road leading to other nations, and don’t enter any Samaritan town.

And whoever gives just a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a disciple—I assure you: He will never lose his reward!”

As these men went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swaying in the wind?

At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned and revealed them to infants.

Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables, and He would not speak anything to them without a parable,

the field is the world; and the good seed—these are the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one,

“Have you understood all these things?”

“Yes,” they told Him.

When Jesus had finished these parables, He left there.

He went to His hometown and began to teach them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, “How did this wisdom and these miracles come to Him?

And His sisters, aren’t they all with us? So where does He get all these things?”

These people honor Me with their lips,
but their heart is far from Me.

These are the things that defile a man, but eating with unwashed hands does not defile a man.”

“But whoever causes the downfall of one of these little ones who believe in Me—it would be better for him if a heavy millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned in the depths of the sea!

“See that you don’t look down on one of these little ones, because I tell you that in heaven their angels continually view the face of My Father in heaven.

In the same way, it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones perish.

“I have kept all these,” the young man told Him. “What do I still lack?”

‘These last men put in one hour, and you made them equal to us who bore the burden of the day and the burning heat!’

“What do you want?” He asked her.

“Promise,” she said to Him, “that these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right and the other on Your left, in Your kingdom.”

and said to Him, “Do You hear what these children are saying?”

“Yes,” Jesus told them. “Have you never read:

You have prepared praise
from the mouths of children and nursing infants?”

When He entered the temple complex, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to Him as He was teaching and said, “By what authority are You doing these things? Who gave You this authority?”

Jesus answered them, “I will also ask you one question, and if you answer it for Me, then I will tell you by what authority I do these things.

So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”

And He said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.”

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You pay a tenth of mint, dill, and cumin, yet you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. These things should have been done without neglecting the others.

I assure you: All these things will come on this generation!

Then He replied to them, “Don’t you see all these things? I assure you: Not one stone will be left here on another that will not be thrown down!”

While He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples approached Him privately and said, “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what is the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?”

You are going to hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, because these things must take place, but the end is not yet.

All these events are the beginning of birth pains.

In the same way, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near—at the door!

I assure you: This generation will certainly not pass away until all these things take place.

“And the King will answer them, ‘I assure you: Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.’

“Then He will answer them, ‘I assure you: Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me either.’

The high priest then stood up and said to Him, “Don’t You have an answer to what these men are testifying against You?”

Right away Jesus understood in His spirit that they were thinking like this within themselves and said to them, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts?

These are the ones along the path where the word is sown: when they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word sown in them.

And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: when they hear the word, immediately they receive it with joy.

Others are sown among thorns; these are the ones who hear the word,

He would speak the word to them with many parables like these, as they were able to understand.

When the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard Him were astonished. “Where did this man get these things?” they said. “What is this wisdom given to Him, and how are these miracles performed by His hands?

He answered them, “Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites, as it is written:

These people honor Me with their lips,
but their heart is far from Me.

All these evil things come from within and defile a person.”

His disciples answered Him, “Where can anyone get enough bread here in this desolate place to fill these people?”

They also had a few small fish, and when He had blessed them, He said these were to be served as well.

“But whoever causes the downfall of one of these little ones who believe in Me—it would be better for him if a heavy millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.

When Jesus saw it, He was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to Me. Don’t stop them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

He said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept all these from my youth.”

and asked Him, “By what authority are You doing these things? Who gave You this authority to do these things?”

Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; then answer Me, and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”

And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

“The second is: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other command greater than these.”

They devour widows’ houses and say long prayers just for show. These will receive harsher punishment.”

Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here on another that will not be thrown down!”

“Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign when all these things are about to take place?”