Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor, and do not plot evil in your hearts against one another.

But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder; they closed their ears so they could not hear.

They made their hearts like a rock so as not to obey the law or the words that the Lord of Hosts had sent by His Spirit through the earlier prophets. Therefore great anger came from the Lord of Hosts.

Just as He had called, and they would not listen, so when they called, I would not listen,” says the Lord of Hosts.

“I scattered them with a windstorm over all the nations that had not known them, and the land was left desolate behind them, with no one coming or going. They turned a pleasant land into a desolation.”

But now, I will not treat the remnant of this people as in the former days”—this is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts.

For the Lord of Hosts says this: “As I resolved to treat you badly when your fathers provoked Me to anger, and I did not relent,” says the Lord of Hosts,

Do not plot evil in your hearts against your neighbor, and do not love perjury, for I hate all this”—this is the Lord’s declaration.

I will bring them back from the land of Egypt
and gather them from Assyria.
I will bring them to the land of Gilead
and to Lebanon,
but it will not be enough for them.

Those who buy them slaughter them but are not punished. Those who sell them say: Praise the Lord because I have become rich! Even their own shepherds have no compassion for them.

Indeed, I will no longer have compassion on the inhabitants of the land”—this is the Lord’s declaration. “Instead, I will turn everyone over to his neighbor and his king. They will devastate the land, and I will not deliver it from them.”

Then I said to them, “If it seems right to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.” So they weighed my wages, 30 pieces of silver.

I am about to raise up a shepherd in the land who will not care for those who are going astray, and he will not seek the lost or heal the broken. He will not sustain the healthy, but he will devour the flesh of the fat sheep and tear off their hooves.

The Lord will save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of David’s house and the glory of Jerusalem’s residents may not be greater than that of Judah.

On that day every prophet will be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies; they will not put on a hairy cloak in order to deceive.

He will say: I am not a prophet; I work the land, for a man purchased me as a servant since my youth.

I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem for battle. The city will be captured, the houses looted, and the women raped. Half the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be removed from the city.

It will be a day known only to Yahweh, without day or night, but there will be light at evening.

Should any of the families of the earth not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, rain will not fall on them.

And if the people of Egypt will not go up and enter, then rain will not fall on them; this will be the plague the Lord inflicts on the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Festival of Booths.

This will be the punishment of Egypt and all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Festival of Booths.

“When you present a blind animal for sacrifice, is it not wrong? And when you present a lame or sick animal, is it not wrong? Bring it to your governor! Would he be pleased with you or show you favor?” asks the Lord of Hosts.

“I wish one of you would shut the temple doors, so you would no longer kindle a useless fire on My altar! I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord of Hosts, “and I will accept no offering from your hands.

If you don’t listen, and if you don’t take it to heart to honor My name,” says Yahweh of Hosts, “I will send a curse among you, and I will curse your blessings. In fact, I have already begun to curse them because you are not taking it to heart.

“So I in turn have made you despised and humiliated before all the people because you are not keeping My ways but are showing partiality in your instruction.”

Didn’t the one God make us with a remnant of His life-breath? And what does the One seek? A godly offspring. So watch yourselves carefully, and do not act treacherously against the wife of your youth.

“If he hates and divorces his wife,” says the Lord God of Israel, “he covers his garment with injustice,” says the Lord of Hosts. Therefore, watch yourselves carefully, and do not act treacherously.

“I will come to you in judgment, and I will be ready to witness against sorcerers and adulterers; against those who swear falsely; against those who oppress the widow and the fatherless, and cheat the wage earner; and against those who deny justice to the foreigner. They do not fear Me,” says the Lord of Hosts.

“Because I, Yahweh, have not changed, you descendants of Jacob have not been destroyed.

“Since the days of your fathers, you have turned from My statutes; you have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord of Hosts.

But you ask: “How can we return?”

“Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me!”

You ask: “How do we rob You?”

“By not making the payments of the tenth and the contributions.

Bring the full tenth into the storehouse so that there may be food in My house. Test Me in this way,” says the Lord of Hosts. “See if I will not open the floodgates of heaven and pour out a blessing for you without measure.

I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not ruin the produce of your land and your vine in your field will not fail to produce fruit,” says the Lord of Hosts.

So now we consider the arrogant to be fortunate. Not only do those who commit wickedness prosper, they even test God and escape.”

So you will again see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him.

“For indeed, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and everyone who commits wickedness will become stubble. The coming day will consume them,” says the Lord of Hosts, “not leaving them root or branches.

So her husband Joseph, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her secretly.

but did not know her intimately until she gave birth to a son. And he named Him Jesus.

And being warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their own country by another route.

So he got up, took the child and His mother during the night, and escaped to Egypt.

“I baptize you with water for repentance, but the One who is coming after me is more powerful than I. I am not worthy to remove His sandals. He Himself will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

But John tried to stop Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and yet You come to me?”

But He answered, “It is written:

Man must not live on bread alone
but on every word that comes
from the mouth of God.”

and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written:

He will give His angels orders concerning you,
and they will support you with their hands
so that you will not strike
your foot against a stone.”

Jesus told him, “It is also written: Do not test the Lord your God.”

As He was walking along the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon, who was called Peter, and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the sea, since they were fishermen.

“Don’t assume that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.

For I assure you: Until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or one stroke of a letter will pass from the law until all things are accomplished.

“You have heard that it was said to our ancestors, Do not murder, and whoever murders will be subject to judgment.

“You have heard that it was said, Do not commit adultery.

“Again, you have heard that it was said to our ancestors, You must not break your oath, but you must keep your oaths to the Lord.

“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of people, to be seen by them. Otherwise, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

“Whenever you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by people. I assure you: They’ve got their reward!

Don’t be like them, because your Father knows the things you need before you ask Him.

And do not bring us into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
[For Yours is the kingdom and the power
and the glory forever. Amen.]

But if you don’t forgive people, your Father will not forgive your wrongdoing.

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.

“Do not judge, so that you won’t be judged.

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of My Father in heaven.

because He was teaching them like one who had authority, and not like their scribes.

“Lord,” the centurion replied, “I am not worthy to have You come under my roof. But only say the word, and my servant will be cured.

Hearing this, Jesus was amazed and said to those following Him, “I assure you: I have not found anyone in Israel with so great a faith!

But when He heard this, He said, “Those who are well don’t need a doctor, but the sick do.

Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice. For I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Then John’s disciples came to Him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?”

If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that house or town.

because you are not speaking, but the Spirit of your Father is speaking through you.

When they persecute you in one town, escape to another. For I assure you: You will not have covered the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

A disciple is not above his teacher, or a slave above his master.

Don’t fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul; rather, fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Aren’t two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s consent.

Don’t assume that I came to bring peace on the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.

The person who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; the person who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.

And whoever doesn’t take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me.

And if anyone is not offended because of Me, he is blessed.”

For John did not come eating or drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon!’

Then He proceeded to denounce the towns where most of His miracles were done, because they did not repent:

But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!”

how he entered the house of God, and they ate the sacred bread, which is not lawful for him or for those with him to eat, but only for the priests?

If you had known what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the innocent.

He warned them not to make Him known,

He will not argue or shout,
and no one will hear His voice in the streets.

He will not break a bruised reed,
and He will not put out a smoldering wick,
until He has led justice to victory.

Anyone who is not with Me is against Me, and anyone who does not gather with Me scatters.

Because of this, I tell you, people will be forgiven every sin and blasphemy, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.

Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him. But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the one to come.

He answered them, “Because the secrets of the kingdom of heaven have been given for you to know, but it has not been given to them.

For whoever has, more will be given to him, and he will have more than enough. But whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.

For this reason I speak to them in parables, because looking they do not see, and hearing they do not listen or understand.

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

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a large net thrown into the sea. It collected every kind of fish,

And they were offended by Him.

But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his household.”

And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.

since John had been telling him, “It’s not lawful for you to have her!”

“They don’t need to go away,” Jesus told them. “You give them something to eat.”

he does not have to honor his father.’ In this way, you have revoked God’s word because of your tradition.

It’s not what goes into the mouth that defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.”

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

Yet He did not say a word to her. So His disciples approached Him and urged Him, “Send her away because she cries out after us.”