Bible in 90 Days
The History and Future of Judah’s Wicked Kings
11 Open your gates, Lebanon,
so that the fire may consume your cedars.[a]
2 Howl, fir tree,
because the cedar has fallen;
the majestic trees have been destroyed.
Howl, oaks of Bashan,
because the impenetrable forest has fallen.
3 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.
4 The Lord my God says this: “Shepherd the flock set aside for slaughter. 5 Those who buy them[b] slaughter them and are not held guilty; those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be the Lord, for I am rich.’ Their own shepherds have no compassion for them. 6 Indeed, I will no longer have compassion on the people of the land,” says the Lord, “but instead I will turn every last person over to his neighbor and his king. They will devastate the land, and I will not deliver it from them.”
7 So I[c] began to shepherd the flock destined for slaughter, the most afflicted[d] of all the flock. Then I took two staffs,[e] calling one “Pleasantness”[f] and the other “Union,”[g] and I tended the flock. 8 Next I eradicated the three shepherds in one month,[h] for I ran out of patience with them and, indeed, they detested me as well. 9 I then said, “I will not shepherd you. What is to die, let it die, and what is to be eradicated, let it be eradicated. As for those who survive, let them eat each other’s flesh!”
10 Then I took my staff “Pleasantness” and cut it in two to annul my covenant that I had made with all the people. 11 So it was annulled that very day, and then the most afflicted of the flock who kept faith with me knew that it was the Lord’s message.
12 Then I[i] said to them, “If it seems good to you, pay me my wages, but if not, forget it.” So they weighed out my payment—thirty pieces of silver.[j] 13 The Lord then said to me, “Throw to the potter that exorbitant sum[k] at which they valued me!” So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter[l] at the temple[m] of the Lord. 14 Then I cut the second staff “Union” in two in order to annul the covenant of brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
15 Again the Lord said to me, “Take up once more the equipment of a foolish shepherd.[n] 16 Indeed, I am about to raise up a shepherd in the land who will not take heed of the sheep headed to slaughter, will not seek the scattered, and will not heal the injured.[o] Moreover, he will not nourish the one that is healthy, but instead will eat the meat of the fat sheep[p] and tear off their hooves.
17 “Woe to the worthless shepherd
who abandons the flock!
May a sword fall on his arm and his right eye!
May his arm wither completely away,
and his right eye become completely blind!”
The Repentance of Judah
12 This is an oracle,[q] the Lord’s message concerning Israel: The Lord—he who stretches out the heavens and lays the foundations of the earth, who forms the human spirit within a person[r]—says, 2 “I am about to make Jerusalem a cup that brings dizziness[s] to all the surrounding nations; indeed, Judah will also be included when Jerusalem is besieged. 3 Moreover, on that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy burden[t] for all the nations, and all who try to carry it will be seriously injured;[u] yet all the peoples of the earth will be assembled against it. 4 On that day,” says the Lord, “I will strike every horse with confusion and its rider with madness. I will pay close attention to the house of Judah, but will strike all the horses[v] of the nations[w] with blindness. 5 Then the leaders of Judah will say to themselves, ‘The inhabitants of Jerusalem are a means of strength to us through their God, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.’ 6 On that day[x] I will make the leaders of Judah like an igniter[y] among sticks and a burning torch among sheaves, and they will burn up all the surrounding nations right and left. Then the people of Jerusalem will settle once more in their place, the city of Jerusalem. 7 The Lord also will deliver the homes[z] of Judah first, so that the splendor of the kingship[aa] of David and of the people of Jerusalem may not exceed that of Judah. 8 On that day the Lord himself will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the weakest among them will be like mighty David, and the dynasty of David will be like God, like the angel of the Lord before them.[ab] 9 So on that day I will set out to destroy all the nations[ac] that come against Jerusalem.
10 “I will pour out on the kingship[ad] of David and the population of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication so that they will look to me,[ae] the one they have pierced. They will lament for him as one laments for an only son, and there will be a bitter cry for him like the bitter cry for a firstborn.[af] 11 On that day the lamentation in Jerusalem will be as great as the lamentation at Hadad Rimmon[ag] in the plain of Megiddo. 12 The land will mourn, each clan by itself—the clan of the royal household of David by itself and their wives by themselves; the clan of the family of Nathan[ah] by itself and their wives by themselves; 13 the clan of the descendants of Levi by itself and their wives by themselves; and the clan of the Shimeites[ai] by itself and their wives by themselves; 14 all the clans that remain, each separately with their wives.
The Refinement of Judah
13 “In that day there will be a fountain opened up for the dynasty[aj] of David and the people of Jerusalem to cleanse them from sin and impurity.[ak] 2 And also on that day,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will remove[al] the names of the idols from the land and they will never again be remembered. Moreover, I will remove the prophets and the unclean spirit from the land. 3 Then, if anyone prophesies in spite of this, his father and mother to whom he was born will say to him, ‘You cannot live, for you lie in the name of the Lord.’ Then his father and mother to whom he was born will run him through with a sword when he prophesies.[am]
4 “Therefore, on that day each prophet will be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies and will no longer wear the hairy garment[an] of a prophet to deceive the people.[ao] 5 Instead he will say, ‘I am no prophet; indeed, I am a farmer, for a man has made me his indentured servant since my youth.’[ap] 6 Then someone will ask him, ‘What are these wounds on your chest?’[aq] and he will answer, ‘Some that I received in the house of my friends.’
7 “Awake, sword, against my shepherd,
against the man who is my associate,”
says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
“Strike the shepherd that the flock may be scattered;[ar]
I will turn my hand against the insignificant ones.
8 It will happen in all the land,” says the Lord,
“that two-thirds of the people[as] in it will be cut off and die,
but one-third will be left in it.[at]
9 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 our God.’”[au]
The Sovereignty of the Lord
14 A day of the Lord[av] is about to come when your possessions[aw] will be divided as plunder in your midst. 2 For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to wage war; the city will be taken, its houses plundered, and the women raped. Then half of the city will go into exile, but the remainder of the people will not be taken away.[ax]
3 Then the Lord will go to battle[ay] and fight against those nations, just as he fought battles in ancient days.[az] 4 On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives that lies to the east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in half from east to west, leaving a great valley. Half the mountain will move northward and the other half southward.[ba] 5 Then you will escape[bb] through my mountain valley, for the valley of the mountains will extend to Azal.[bc] Indeed, you will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of King Uzziah[bd] of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come with all his holy ones with him. 6 On that day there will be no light—the sources of light in the heavens will congeal.[be] 7 It will happen in one day—a day known to the Lord—not in the day or the night, but in the evening there will be light.[bf] 8 Moreover, on that day living waters will flow out from Jerusalem,[bg] half of them to the eastern sea[bh] and half of them to the western sea;[bi] it will happen both in summer and in winter.
9 The Lord will then be king over all the earth. In that day the Lord will be seen as one with a single name.[bj] 10 All the land will change[bk] and become like the rift valley[bl] from Geba to Rimmon,[bm] south of Jerusalem. Jerusalem will be raised up and will stay in its own place from the Benjamin Gate to the site of the First Gate[bn] and on to the Corner Gate,[bo] and from the Tower of Hananel to the royal winepresses.[bp] 11 And people will settle there, and there will no longer be the threat of divine extermination—Jerusalem will dwell in security.
12 But this will be the nature of the plague with which the Lord will strike all the nations that have fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh will decay while they stand on their feet, their eyes will rot away in their sockets, and their tongues will dissolve in their mouths. 13 On that day there will be great confusion from the Lord among them; they will seize each other and attack one another violently. 14 Moreover, Judah will fight at[bq] Jerusalem, and the wealth of all the surrounding nations will be gathered up[br]—gold, silver, and clothing in great abundance. 15 This is the kind of plague that will devastate horses, mules, camels, donkeys, and all the other animals in those camps.
16 Then all who survive from all the nations that came to attack Jerusalem will go up annually to worship the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, and to observe the Feast of Shelters.[bs] 17 But if any of the nations anywhere on earth refuse to go up to Jerusalem[bt] to worship the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, they will get no rain. 18 If the Egyptians will not do so, they will get no rain—instead there will be the kind of plague that the Lord inflicts on any nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Shelters. 19 This will be the punishment of Egypt and of all nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Shelters.
20 On that day the bells of the horses will bear the inscription “Holy to the Lord.” The cooking pots in the Lord’s temple[bu] will be as holy as the bowls in front of the altar.[bv] 21 Every cooking pot in Jerusalem and Judah will become holy in the sight of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, so that all who offer sacrifices may come and use some of them to boil their sacrifices in them. On that day there will no longer be a Canaanite[bw] in the house of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
Introduction and God’s Election of Israel
1 This is an oracle,[bx] the Lord’s message to Israel through Malachi:[by]
2 “I have shown love to you,” says the Lord, but you say, “How have you shown love to us?”
“Esau was Jacob’s brother,” the Lord explains, “yet I chose Jacob 3 and rejected Esau.[bz] I turned Esau’s[ca] mountains into a deserted wasteland[cb] and gave his territory[cc] to the wild jackals.”[cd]
4 Edom[ce] says, “Though we are devastated, we will once again build the ruined places.” So the Lord of Heaven’s Armies[cf] responds, “They indeed may build, but I will overthrow. They will be known as[cg] the land of evil, the people with whom the Lord is permanently displeased. 5 Your eyes will see it, and then you will say, ‘May the Lord be magnified[ch] even beyond the border of Israel!’”
The Sacrilege of Priestly Service
6 “A son naturally honors his father and a slave respects[ci] his master. If I am your[cj] father, where is my honor? If I am your master, where is my respect? The Lord of Heaven’s Armies asks you this, you priests who make light of my name! But you reply, ‘How have we made light of your name?’ 7 You are offering improper sacrifices on my altar, yet you ask, ‘How have we offended you?’ By treating the table[ck] of the Lord as if it is of no importance. 8 For when you offer blind animals as a sacrifice, is that not wrong? And when you offer the lame and sick,[cl] is that not wrong as well? Indeed, try offering them[cm] to your governor! Will he be pleased with you[cn] or show you favor?” asks the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 9 “But now plead for God’s favor[co] that he might be gracious to us.”[cp] “With this kind of offering in your hands, how can he be pleased with you?” asks the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
10 “I wish that one of you would close the temple doors,[cq] so that you no longer would light useless fires on my altar. I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “and I will no longer accept an offering from you. 11 For from the east to the west my name will be great among the nations. Incense and pure offerings will be offered in my name everywhere, for my name will be great among the nations,”[cr] says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 12 “But you are profaning it by saying that the table of the Lord is common and its offerings[cs] despicable. 13 You also say, ‘How tiresome it is.’ You turn up your nose at it,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “and instead bring what is stolen, lame, or sick. You bring these things for an offering! Should I accept this from you?”[ct] asks the Lord. 14 “There will be harsh condemnation for the hypocrite who has a valuable male animal in his flock but vows and sacrifices something inferior to the Lord. For I am a great king,”[cu] says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “and my name is awesome among the nations.”
The Sacrilege of the Priestly Message
2 “Now, you priests, this commandment is for you. 2 If you do not listen and take seriously[cv] the need to honor my name,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will send judgment[cw] on you and turn your blessings into curses—indeed, I have already done so because you are not taking it to heart. 3 I am about to discipline your children[cx] and will spread offal[cy] on your faces,[cz] the very offal produced at your festivals, and you will be carried away along with it. 4 Then you will know that I sent this commandment to you so that my covenant[da] may continue to be with Levi,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 5 “My covenant with him was designed to bring life and peace. I gave its statutes to him to fill him with awe, and he indeed revered me and stood in awe before me. 6 He taught what was true;[db] sinful words were not found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and integrity, and he turned many people away from sin. 7 For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge of sacred things, and people should seek instruction from him[dc] because he is the messenger of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 8 You, however, have turned from the way. You have caused many to violate the law;[dd] you have corrupted the covenant with Levi,”[de] says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 9 “Therefore, I have caused you to be ignored and belittled before all people to the extent that you are not following after me and are showing partiality in your[df] instruction.”
The Rebellion of the People
10 Do we not all have one father?[dg] Did not one God create us? Why do we betray one another, thus making light of the covenant of our ancestors? 11 Judah has become disloyal, and unspeakable sins have been committed in Israel and Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned[dh] the holy things that the Lord loves and has turned to a foreign god![di] 12 May the Lord cut off from the community[dj] of Jacob every last person who does this,[dk] as well as the person who presents improper offerings to the Lord of Heaven’s Armies!
13 You also do this: You cover the altar of the Lord with tears[dl] as you weep and groan, because he no longer pays any attention to the offering nor accepts it favorably from you. 14 Yet you ask, “Why?” The Lord is testifying against you on behalf of the wife you married when you were young,[dm] to whom you have become unfaithful even though she is your companion and wife by law.[dn] 15 No one who has even a small portion of the Spirit in him does this.[do] What did our ancestor[dp] 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.[dq] 16 “I hate divorce,”[dr] says the Lord God of Israel, “and the one who is guilty of violence,”[ds] says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “Pay attention to your conscience, and do not be unfaithful.”
Resistance to the Lord through Self-deceit
17 You have wearied the Lord with your words. But you say, “How have we wearied him?” Because you say, “Everyone who does evil is good in the Lord’s opinion,[dt] and he delights in them,” or, “Where is the God of justice?” 3 1 “I am about to send my messenger,[du] who will clear the way before me. Indeed, the Lord[dv] you are seeking will suddenly come to his temple, and the messenger[dw] of the covenant, whom you long for, is certainly coming,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
2 Who can endure the day of his coming? Who can keep standing when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire,[dx] like a launderer’s soap. 3 He will act like a refiner and purifier of silver and will cleanse the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then they will offer the Lord a proper offering. 4 The offerings[dy] of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in former times and years past.
5 “I[dz] 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;[ea] and those who exploit workers, widows, and orphans,[eb] who refuse to help[ec] the resident foreigner[ed] and in this way show they do not fear me,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
Resistance to the Lord through Selfishness
6 “Since, I, the Lord, do not go back on my promises,[ee] you, sons of Jacob, have not perished. 7 From the days of your ancestors you have ignored[ef] my commandments[eg] and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “But you say, ‘How should we return?’ 8 Can a person rob[eh] God? You are indeed robbing me, but you say, ‘How are we robbing you?’ In tithes and contributions![ei] 9 You are bound for judgment[ej] because you are robbing me—this whole nation is guilty.[ek]
10 “Bring the entire tithe into the storehouse[el] so that there may be food in my temple. Test me in this matter,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “to see if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out blessing for you until there is no room for it all. 11 Then I will stop the plague[em] from ruining your crops,[en] and the vine will not lose its fruit before harvest,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 12 “All nations will call you blessed, for you indeed will live in[eo] a delightful land,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
Resistance to the Lord through Self-sufficiency
13 “You have criticized me sharply,”[ep] says the Lord, “but you ask, ‘How have we criticized you?’ 14 You have said, ‘It is useless to serve God. How have we been helped[eq] by keeping his requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord of Heaven’s Armies?[er] 15 So now we consider the arrogant to be blessed; indeed, those who practice evil are successful.[es] In fact, those who challenge[et] God escape!’”
16 Then those who respected[eu] the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord took notice.[ev] A scroll[ew] was prepared before him in which were recorded the names of those who respected the Lord and honored his name. 17 “They will belong to me,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “in the day when I prepare my own special property.[ex] I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. 18 Then once more you will see that I make a distinction between[ey] the righteous and the wicked, between the one who serves God and the one who does not.
4 (3:19)[ez] “For indeed the day[fa] is coming, burning like a furnace, and all the arrogant evildoers will be chaff. The coming day will burn them up,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “It[fb] will not leave them even a root or branch. 2 But for you who respect my name, the sun of vindication[fc] will rise with healing wings,[fd] and you will skip about[fe] like calves released from the stall. 3 You will trample on the wicked, for they will be like ashes under the soles of your feet on the day that I am preparing,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
Restoration through the Lord
4 “Remember the law of my servant Moses, to whom at Horeb[ff] I gave rules and regulations for all Israel to obey.[fg] 5 Look, I will send you Elijah[fh] the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord arrives. 6 He will encourage fathers and their children to return to me,[fi] so that I will not come and strike the earth with judgment.”[fj]
The Genealogy of Jesus Christ
1 This is the record of the genealogy[fk] of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
2 Abraham was the father[fl] of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, 3 Judah the father of Perez and Zerah (by Tamar), Perez the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, 4 Ram the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, 5 Salmon the father of Boaz (by Rahab), Boaz the father of Obed (by Ruth), Obed the father of Jesse, 6 and Jesse the father of David the king.
David was the father of Solomon (by the wife of Uriah[fm]), 7 Solomon the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asa,[fn] 8 Asa the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, Joram the father of Uzziah, 9 Uzziah the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, 10 Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon,[fo] Amon the father of Josiah, 11 and Josiah[fp] the father of Jeconiah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.
12 After[fq] the deportation to Babylon, Jeconiah became the father of Shealtiel,[fr] Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, 13 Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, Abiud the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor, 14 Azor the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Achim, Achim the father of Eliud, 15 Eliud the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob, 16 and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, by whom[fs] Jesus was born, who is called Christ.[ft]
17 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,[fu] fourteen generations.
The Birth of Jesus Christ
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ happened this way. While his mother Mary was engaged to Joseph, but before they came together,[fv] she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph, her husband to be,[fw] was a righteous man, and because he did not want to disgrace her, he intended to divorce her[fx] privately. 20 When he had contemplated this, an[fy] angel of the Lord[fz] appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son and you will name him[ga] Jesus,[gb] because he will save his people from their sins.” 22 This all happened so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled: 23 “Look! The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will name him[gc] Emmanuel,”[gd] which means[ge] “God with us.”[gf] 24 When Joseph awoke from sleep he did what the angel of the Lord[gg] told him. He took his wife, 25 but did not have marital relations[gh] with her until she gave birth to a son, whom he named[gi] Jesus.
The Visit of the Wise Men
2 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, in the time[gj] of King Herod,[gk] wise men[gl] from the East came to Jerusalem 2 saying, “Where is the one who is born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose[gm] and have come to worship him.” 3 When King Herod[gn] heard this he was alarmed, and all Jerusalem[go] with him. 4 After assembling all the chief priests and experts in the law,[gp] he asked them where the Christ[gq] was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem of Judea,” they said, “for it is written this way by the prophet:
6 ‘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.’”[gr]
7 Then Herod[gs] privately summoned the wise men and determined from them when the star had appeared. 8 He[gt] sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and look carefully for the child. When you find him, inform me so that I can go and worship him as well.” 9 After listening to the king they left, and once again[gu] the star they saw when it rose[gv] led them until it stopped above the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star they shouted joyfully.[gw] 11 As they came into the house and saw the child with Mary his mother, they bowed down[gx] and worshiped him. They opened their treasure boxes and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense,[gy] and myrrh.[gz] 12 After being warned in a dream not to return to Herod,[ha] they went back by another route to their own country.
The Escape to Egypt
13 After they had gone, an[hb] angel of the Lord[hc] appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, for Herod[hd] is going to look for the child to kill him.” 14 Then he got up, took the child and his mother during[he] the night, and went to Egypt. 15 He stayed there until Herod[hf] died. In this way what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet was fulfilled: “I called my Son out of Egypt.”[hg]
16 When Herod[hh] saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he became enraged. He sent men[hi] to kill all the children in Bethlehem and throughout the surrounding region from the age of two and under, according to the time he had learned from the wise men. 17 Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled:
18 “A voice was heard in Ramah,
weeping and loud wailing,[hj]
Rachel weeping for her children,
and she did not want to be comforted, because they were[hk] gone.”[hl]
The Return to Nazareth
19 After Herod[hm] had died, an[hn] angel of the Lord[ho] appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt 20 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.” 21 So[hp] he got up and took the child and his mother and returned to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus[hq] was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod,[hr] he was afraid to go there. After being warned in a dream, he went to the regions of Galilee. 23 He came to a town called Nazareth[hs] and lived there. Then what had been spoken by the prophets was fulfilled, that Jesus[ht] would be called a Nazarene.[hu]
The Ministry of John the Baptist
3 In those days John the Baptist came into the wilderness[hv] of Judea proclaiming, 2 “Repent,[hw] for the kingdom of heaven is near.” 3 For he is the one about whom the prophet Isaiah had spoken:[hx]
“The voice[hy] of one shouting in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make[hz] his paths straight.’”[ia]
4 Now John wore clothing made from camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his diet consisted of locusts and wild honey.[ib] 5 Then people from Jerusalem,[ic] as well as all Judea and all the region around the Jordan, were going out to him, 6 and he was baptizing them[id] in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins.
7 But when he saw many Pharisees[ie] and Sadducees[if] coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You offspring of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Therefore produce fruit[ig] that proves your[ih] repentance, 9 and don’t think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’[ii] For I tell you that God can raise up children for Abraham from these stones! 10 Even now the ax is laid at[ij] the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
11 “I baptize you with water, for repentance, but the one coming after me is more powerful than I am—I am not worthy[ik] to carry his sandals! He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.[il] 12 His winnowing fork[im] is in his hand, and he will clean out his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the storehouse,[in] but the chaff he will burn up with inextinguishable fire!”[io]
The Baptism of Jesus
13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John to be baptized by him in the Jordan River.[ip] 14 But John[iq] tried to prevent[ir] him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you come to me?” 15 So Jesus replied[is] to him, “Let it happen now,[it] for it is right for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John[iu] yielded[iv] to him. 16 After[iw] Jesus was baptized, just as he was coming up out of the water, the[ix] heavens[iy] opened[iz] and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove[ja] and coming to rest[jb] on him. 17 And[jc] a voice from heaven said,[jd] “This is my one dear Son;[je] in him[jf] I take great delight.”[jg]
The Temptation of Jesus
4 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness[jh] to be tempted by the devil. 2 After he fasted forty days and forty nights he was famished.[ji] 3 The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become bread.”[jj] 4 But he answered,[jk] “It is written, ‘Man[jl] does not live[jm] by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”[jn] 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city,[jo] had him stand[jp] on the highest point[jq] of the temple, 6 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’[jr] and ‘with their hands they will lift you up, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”[js] 7 Jesus said to him, “Once again it is written: ‘You are not to put the Lord your God to the test.’”[jt] 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their grandeur.[ju] 9 And he said to him, “I will give you all these things if you throw yourself to the ground and worship[jv] me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Go away,[jw] Satan! For it is written: ‘You are to worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’”[jx] 11 Then the devil left him, and angels[jy] came and began ministering to his needs.
Preaching in Galilee
12 Now when Jesus[jz] heard that John[ka] had been imprisoned,[kb] he went into Galilee. 13 While in Galilee, he moved from Nazareth to make his home in Capernaum[kc] by the sea,[kd] in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah would be fulfilled:[ke]
15 “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
the way[kf] by the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—
16 the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light,
and on those who sit in the region and shadow of death a light has dawned.”[kg]
17 From that time Jesus began to preach this message:[kh] “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near!”
The Call of the Disciples
18 As[ki] he was walking by the Sea of Galilee he saw two brothers, Simon (called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea (for they were fishermen).[kj] 19 He said to them, “Follow me, and I will turn you into fishers of people!”[kk] 20 They[kl] left their nets immediately and followed him.[km] 21 Going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and his brother John, in a boat[kn] with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. Then[ko] he called them. 22 They[kp] immediately left the boat and their father and followed him.
Jesus’ Healing Ministry
23 Jesus[kq] went throughout all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues,[kr] preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and sickness[ks] among the people. 24 So a report about him spread throughout Syria. People[kt] brought to him all who suffered with various illnesses and afflictions, those who had seizures,[ku] paralytics, and those possessed by demons,[kv] and he healed them. 25 And large crowds followed him from Galilee, the Decapolis,[kw] Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan River.[kx]
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