Then I will bring the remaining third into the fire; I will refine them like silver is refined and will test them like gold is tested. They will call on my name and I will answer; I will say, 'These are my people,' and they will say, 'The Lord is my God.'"

Edom says, "Though we are devastated, we will once again build the ruined places." So the Lord who rules over all responds, "They indeed may build, but I will overthrow. They will be known as the land of evil, the people with whom the Lord is permanently displeased.

You are offering improper sacrifices on my altar, yet you ask, 'How have we offended you?' By treating the table of the Lord as if it is of no importance!

"But you are profaning it by saying that the table of the Lord is common and its offerings despicable.

If you do not listen and take seriously the need to honor my name," says the Lord who rules over all, "I will send judgment on you and turn your blessings into curses -- indeed, I have already done so because you are not taking it to heart.

"Therefore, I have caused you to be ignored and belittled before all people to the extent to which you are not following after me and are showing partiality in your instruction."

"I am about to send my messenger, who will clear the way before me. Indeed, the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his temple, and the messenger of the covenant, whom you long for, is certainly coming," says the Lord who rules over all.

Can a person rob God? You indeed are robbing me, but you say, 'How are we robbing you?' In tithes and contributions!

You are bound for judgment because you are robbing me -- this whole nation is guilty.

So now we consider the arrogant to be happy; indeed, those who practice evil are successful. In fact, those who challenge God escape!'"

So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to Christ, fourteen generations.

And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are in no way least among the rulers of Judah, for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.'"

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

The tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become bread."

and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written, 'He will command his angels concerning you' and 'with their hands they will lift you up, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'"

Jesus said to him, "Once again it is written: 'You are not to put the Lord your God to the test.'"

Then Jesus said to him, "Go away, Satan! For it is written: 'You are to worship the Lord your God and serve only him.'"

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them.

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

"Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.

"Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God.

"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them.

"Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and say all kinds of evil things about you falsely on account of me.

"You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its flavor, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled on by people.

You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill cannot be hidden.

Do not take an oath by your head, because you are not able to make one hair white or black.

so that it will not be obvious to others when you are fasting, but only to your Father who is in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.

Look at the birds in the sky: They do not sow, or reap, or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren't you more valuable than they are?

If you then, although you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

"Enter through the narrow gate, because the gate is wide and the way is spacious that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.

But the gate is narrow and the way is difficult that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

"Watch out for false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are voracious wolves.

You will recognize them by their fruit. Grapes are not gathered from thorns or figs from thistles, are they?

And a leper approached, and bowed low before him, saying, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean."

So they came and woke him up saying, "Lord, save us! We are about to die!"

But he said to them, "Why are you cowardly, you people of little faith?" Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it was dead calm.

Just then some people brought to him a paralytic lying on a stretcher. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Have courage, son! Your sins are forgiven."

Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven' or to say, 'Stand up and walk'?

When Jesus heard this he said, "Those who are healthy don't need a physician, but those who are sick do.

Jesus said to them, "The wedding guests cannot mourn while the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days are coming when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and then they will fast.

And no one pours new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the skins burst and the wine is spilled out and the skins are destroyed. Instead they put new wine into new wineskins and both are preserved."

Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.

Now these are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (called Peter), and Andrew his brother; James son of Zebedee and John his brother;

Aren't two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father's will.

Even all the hairs on your head are numbered.

So do not be afraid; you are more valuable than many sparrows.

"Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?"

The blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news proclaimed to them.

What did you go out to see? A man dressed in fancy clothes? Look, those who wear fancy clothes are in the homes of kings!

And if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah, who is to come.

"To what should I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces who call out to one another,

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

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

Or have you not read in the law that the priests in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are not guilty?

Offspring of vipers! How are you able to say anything good, since you are evil? For the mouth speaks from what fills the heart.

Someone told him, "Look, your mother and your brothers are standing outside wanting to speak to you."

To the one who had said this, Jesus replied, "Who is my mother and who are my brothers?"

And pointing toward his disciples he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers!

For the heart of this people has become dull; they are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes, so that they would not see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.'

"But your eyes are blessed because they see, and your ears because they hear.

The field is the world and the good seed are the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one,

and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels.

As the weeds are collected and burned with fire, so it will be at the end of the age.

Isn't this the carpenter's son? Isn't his mother named Mary? And aren't his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas?

And aren't all his sisters here with us? Where did he get all this?"

and he said to his servants, "This is John the Baptist. He has been raised from the dead! And because of this, miraculous powers are at work in him."

Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."

When the people there recognized him, they sent word into all the surrounding area, and they brought all their sick to him.

Leave them! They are blind guides. If someone who is blind leads another who is blind, both will fall into a pit."

Jesus said, "Even after all this, are you still so foolish?

These are the things that defile a person; it is not eating with unwashed hands that defiles a person."

A Canaanite woman from that area came and cried out, "Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is horribly demon-possessed!"

When Jesus learned of this, he said, "You who have such little faith! Why are you arguing among yourselves about having no bread?

When Jesus came to the area of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?"

Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

And Jesus answered him, "You are blessed, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven!

And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.

But he turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me, because you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but on man's."

I tell you the truth, there are some standing here who will not experience death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom."

After he said, "From foreigners," Jesus said to him, "Then the sons are free.

"If your brother sins, go and show him his fault when the two of you are alone. If he listens to you, you have regained your brother.

For where two or three are assembled in my name, I am there among them."

So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate."

For there are some eunuchs who were that way from birth, and some who were made eunuchs by others, and some who became eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who is able to accept this should accept it."

Jesus looked at them and replied, "This is impossible for mere humans, but for God all things are possible."

Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth: In the age when all things are renewed, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

But many who are first will be last, and the last first.

And about five o'clock that afternoon he went out and found others standing around, and said to them, 'Why are you standing here all day without work?'

Am I not permitted to do what I want with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?'

"Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the experts in the law. They will condemn him to death,

Jesus answered, "You don't know what you are asking! Are you able to drink the cup I am about to drink?" They said to him, "We are able."

If anyone says anything to you, you are to say, 'The Lord needs them,' and he will send them at once."

Then Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all those who were selling and buying in the temple courts, and turned over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves.

And he said to them, "It is written, 'My house will be called a house of prayer,' but you are turning it into a den of robbers!"

and said to him, "Do you hear what they are saying?" Jesus said to them, "Yes. Have you never read, 'Out of the mouths of children and nursing infants you have prepared praise for yourself'?"

Now after Jesus entered the temple courts, the chief priests and elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching and said, "By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?"

For many are called, but few are chosen."