Bible in 90 Days

The Doomed Flock

⁴ Thus says the Lord my God, “Pasture the flock doomed for slaughter, ⁵ whose buyers slay them and go unpunished, and those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be the Lord, for I have become rich!’ And their own shepherds have no pity on them nor protect them [from the wolves]. ⁶ For I will no longer have pity on the inhabitants of the land,” declares the Lord; “but behold, I will cause the men to fall, each into the hand of another and into the hands of his [foreign] king. And the enemy will strike the land, and I will not rescue the people from their hand.”

⁷ So I [Zechariah] pastured the flock doomed for slaughter, truly [as the name implies] the most miserable of sheep. And I took two [shepherd’s] staffs, the one I called Favor (Grace) and the other I called Union (Bonds); so I pastured the flock. ⁸ Then I eliminated the three [incompetent, unfit] shepherds [the civil rulers, the priests, and the prophets] in one month, for I was impatient with them, and they also were tired of me and despised me.^{(A) 9} So I said, “I will not pasture you. What is to die, let it die, and what is to be destroyed, let it be destroyed; and let the survivors devour one another’s flesh.” ¹⁰ I took my staff, Favor, and broke it in pieces, breaking the covenant which I had made with all the peoples. ¹¹ So the covenant was broken on that day, and thus the most wretched of the flock who were watching me realized that it was the word of the Lord. ¹² I said to them, “If it seems good to you, give me my wages; but if not, do not.” So they weighed out ^[a]thirty pieces of silver as my wages. ^13 [b]Then the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter [as if to the dogs]—that magnificent sum at which I am valued by them!” So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter in the house of the Lord.^{(B) 14} Then I broke my second staff, Union, into pieces to break the brotherhood between Judah (the Southern Kingdom) and Israel (the Northern Kingdom).

¹⁵ The Lord said to me, “Take again for yourself the equipment [of a shepherd, but this time] of a foolish shepherd.^{(C) 16} For behold, I am going to raise up a [false] shepherd in the land who will not care for the perishing, seek the scattered, heal the broken, or feed the healthy; but will eat the flesh of the fat ones and tear off their hoofs [to consume everything].

Jerusalem to Be Attacked

12 The ^[c]oracle (a burdensome message) of the word of the Lord concerning Israel.

Thus declares the Lord who stretches out the heavens and lays the foundation of the earth and forms the spirit of man within him: ² “Behold, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes reeling (staggering) to all the surrounding peoples; and when the siege is against Jerusalem, it will also be against Judah. ³ And in that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured. And all the nations of the earth will come and be gathered against it. ⁴ In that day,” declares the Lord, “I will strike every horse with panic and his rider with madness; but I will open My eyes and watch over the house of Judah, and will strike every horse of the [opposing] nations with blindness. ⁵ Then the clans of Judah will say in their hearts, ‘The inhabitants of Jerusalem are our strength in the Lord of hosts, their God.’

⁶ “In that day I will make the clans of Judah like a firepot in a woodpile, and like a flaming torch among sheaves [of grain]. They will devour all the surrounding peoples on the right hand and on the left; and the people of Jerusalem will again live [securely] in their own place, in Jerusalem. ⁷ The Lord shall save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem will not be magnified above Judah. ⁸ In that day the Lord will defend the people of Jerusalem, and the one who is impaired among them in that day [of persecution] will become [strong and noble] like David; and the house of David ^[d]will be like God, like the ^[e]Angel of the Lord [who is] before them. ⁹ And in that day I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

¹⁰ “I will pour out on the house of David and on the people of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace (unmerited favor) and supplication. And they will look at Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him as one who weeps bitterly over a firstborn.^{(E) 11} In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning of [the city of] Hadadrimmon in the Valley of ^[f]Megiddo [over beloved King ^[g]Josiah].^{(F) 12} The land will mourn, every family by itself; the [royal] family of the house of David by itself and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan [David’s son] by itself and their wives by themselves; ¹³ the [priestly] family of the house of Levi by itself and their wives by themselves; the family of Shimei [grandson of Levi] by itself and their wives by themselves; ¹⁴ all the families that remain, each by itself, and their wives by themselves [each with an overwhelming individual regret for having blindly rejected their Messiah].

False Prophets Ashamed

13 “In that day a fountain shall be opened for the house of David and for the people of Jerusalem for [cleansing from] sin and impurity.

² “In that day,” declares the Lord of hosts, “I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they will no longer be remembered. I will also remove the [false] prophets and the unclean spirit from the land. ³ And if anyone still [appears as a prophet and falsely] prophesies, then his father and his mother who gave birth to him will say to him, ‘You shall not live, for you have spoken lies in the name of the Lord’; and his father and his mother who gave birth to him shall pierce him through when he prophesies. ⁴ And in that day the [false] prophets will each be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies, and they will not wear a hairy robe [of true prophets] in order to deceive, ⁵ but he will [deny his identity and] say, ‘I am no prophet. I work the ground, because a man sold me as a slave in my youth.’ ⁶ And one will say to him, ‘What are these ^[h]wounds between your arms?’ Then he will answer, ‘Those wounds I received in the house of my friends.’

God Will Battle Jerusalem’s Foes

14 Behold, a day is coming for the Lord when the spoil taken from you (Jerusalem) will be divided in your midst. ² For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured and the houses plundered and the women ravished; and half of the city will be exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city. ³ Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle. ⁴ In that day His feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives, which lies before Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in half from the east to the west by a very large valley, and half of the mountain will move toward the north and half of it toward the south.^{(I) 5} You will flee by the valley of My mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azel; and you will flee just as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my ^[i]God will come, and all the holy ones (believers, angels) with Him.^(J)

⁶ In that day there will be no light; the glorious ones (heavenly bodies) shall be darkened. ⁷ But it will be a unique day which is known to the Lord—not day and not night, but at evening time there will be light.

⁸ And in that day living waters will flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea (Dead Sea) and half of them to the western sea (the Mediterranean); it will be in summer as well as in winter.

God Will Be King over All

⁹ And the Lord shall be king over all the earth; in that day the Lord shall be the only one [worshiped], and His name the only one.

¹⁰ All the land will be changed into a plain from Geba to Rimmon, [the Rimmon that is] south of Jerusalem; but Jerusalem will rise and remain [lifted up] on its site from Benjamin’s Gate to the place of the First Gate to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s wine presses. ¹¹ It will be inhabited, for there will no longer be a curse, for Jerusalem will dwell in security.^(K)

¹² Now this will be the plague with which the Lord shall strike all the peoples that have warred against Jerusalem: Their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongue will rot in their mouth. ¹³ In that day a great panic and dismay from the Lord will fall on them; and they will seize one another’s hand, and the hand of the one will be raised against the hand of the other. ¹⁴ Judah also will fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the surrounding nations will be gathered together—gold and silver and garments in great abundance. ¹⁵ So like this plague [on men] there will be the plague on the horses, mules, camels, donkeys, and all the livestock in those camps.

¹⁶ Then everyone who is left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and celebrate the Feast of Booths (Tabernacles). ¹⁷ And it will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, there will be no rain on them. ¹⁸ If the family of Egypt does not go up [to Jerusalem] and present themselves, then no rain will fall on them. It will be the plague with which the Lord will strike the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths (Tabernacles). ¹⁹ This will be the [consequent] punishment [for the sin] of Egypt, and the [consequent] punishment [for the sin] of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths (Tabernacles).

²⁰ In that day there will be written on the little bells on the horses, “^[j]HOLY TO The Lord.” And the cooking pots in the Lord’s house will be [holy to the Lord] like the bowls before the altar. ²¹ Every cooking pot in [all the houses in] Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to the Lord of hosts, and all who sacrifice will come and take them and boil [their sacrifices] in them. And in that day there will no longer be a Canaanite [that is, any godless or spiritually unclean person, whether Jew or Gentile] in the house of the Lord of hosts.^(L)

God’s Love for Jacob

1 The ^[k]oracle (burdensome message) of the word of the Lord to Israel through [My messenger] Malachi.

² “I have loved you,” says the Lord. ^[l]But you say, “How and in what way have You loved us?” “Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I loved Jacob (Israel); ³ but [in comparison with My love for Jacob] I have hated Esau (Edom), and I have made his mountains a wasteland, and have given his inheritance to the jackals of the wilderness.”^{(M) 4} 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.” ⁵ Your own eyes will see this and you will say, “The Lord is great and shall be magnified beyond the border of Israel!”^(N)

Sin of the Priests

⁶ “‘A son honors his father, and a servant his master. Then if I am a Father, where is My honor? And if I am a Master, where is the [reverent] fear and respect due Me?’ says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests, who despise My name. But you say, ‘How and in what way have we despised Your name?’ ⁷ You are presenting defiled food upon My altar. But you say, ‘How have we defiled You?’ By thinking that the table of the Lord is contemptible and may be despised. ⁸ When you [priests] present the ^[m]blind [animals] for sacrifice, is it not evil? And when you present the lame and the sick, is it not evil? Offer such a thing [as a blind or lame or sick animal] to your governor [as a gift or as payment for your taxes]. Would he be pleased with you? Or would he receive you graciously?” says the Lord of hosts. ⁹ “But now will you not entreat God’s favor, that He may be gracious to us? With such an offering from your hand [as an imperfect animal for sacrifice], will He show favor to any of you?” says the Lord of hosts. ¹⁰ “Oh, that there were even one among you [whose duty it is to minister to Me] who would shut the gates, so that you would not kindle fire on My altar uselessly [with an empty, worthless pretense]! I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord of hosts, “nor will I accept an offering from your hand. ¹¹ For ^[n]from the rising of the sun, even to its setting, My name shall be great among the nations. In every place incense is going to be offered to My name, and a grain offering that is pure; for My name shall be great among the nations,” says the Lord of hosts. ¹² “But you [priests] profane it when you say, ‘The table of the Lord is defiled, and as for its fruit, its food is to be despised.’ ¹³ You also say, ‘How tiresome this is!’ And you disdainfully sniff at it,” says the Lord of hosts, “and you bring what was taken by robbery, and the lame or the sick [animals]; this you bring as an offering! Should I receive it with pleasure from your hand?” says the Lord.^{(O) 14} “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.”

Priests to Be Disciplined

2 “Now, O priests, this commandment is for you. ² If you do not listen, and if you do not take it to heart to honor My name,” says the Lord of hosts, “then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings [on the people]. Indeed, I have cursed them already, because you are not taking it to heart. ³ Behold, I am going to rebuke your seed, and I will spread the refuse on your faces, the refuse from the festival offerings; and you will be taken away with it [in disgrace]. ⁴ Then you will know [without any doubt] that I have sent this [new] commandment to you (priests), that My covenant may continue with Levi [the priestly tribe],” says the Lord of hosts. ⁵ “My covenant with Levi was [one of] life and peace, and I gave them to him as an object of reverence; so he [and the priests] feared Me and stood in reverent awe of My name. ⁶ True instruction was in Levi’s mouth and injustice was not found on his lips. He walked with Me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many from wickedness. ⁷ For the lips of the priest should guard and preserve knowledge [of My law], and the people should seek instruction from his mouth; for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. ⁸ But as for you [priests], you have turned from the way and you have caused many to stumble by your instruction [in the law]. You have violated the covenant of Levi,” says the Lord of hosts. ⁹ “So I have also made you despised and abased before all the people, just as you are not keeping My ways but are showing partiality [to people] in [your administration of] the law.”

Sin in the Family

¹⁰ 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]? ¹¹ 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.^{(P) 12} As for the man who does this, may the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob to the last man those who do this [evil thing], awake and aware, even the one who brings an offering to the Lord of hosts.

¹³ This is another thing you do: you cover the altar of the Lord with tears, with [your own] weeping and sighing, because the Lord no longer regards your offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. ¹⁴ But you say, “Why [does He reject it]?” Because the Lord has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously. Yet she is your marriage companion and the wife of your covenant [made by your vows]. ¹⁵ But not one has done so who has a remnant of the Spirit. And what did that one do while seeking a godly offspring? Take heed then to your spirit, and let no one deal treacherously against the wife of your youth. ¹⁶ “For I hate ^[o]divorce,” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “and him who covers his garment with wrong and violence,” says the Lord of hosts. “Therefore keep watch on your spirit, so that you do not deal treacherously [with your wife].”

¹⁷ You have wearied the Lord with your words. But you say, “In what way have we wearied Him?” In that you say, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and He delights in them,” or [by asking], “Where is the God of justice?”

The Purifier

3 “Behold, I am going to send My ^[p]messenger, and he will prepare and clear the way before Me. And the Lord [the Messiah], whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; the ^[q]Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the Lord of hosts.^{(Q) 2} But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like launderer’s soap [which removes impurities and uncleanness].^{(R) 3} He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi [the priests], and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the Lord [grain] offerings in righteousness. ⁴ Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in ancient years.

⁵ “Then I will come near you for judgment; I will be a swift witness against sorcerers, against adulterers, against perjurers, and against those who oppress the laborer in his wages and widows and the fatherless, and against those who turn away the alien [from his right], and those who do not fear Me [with awe-filled reverence],” says the Lord of hosts.^{(S) 6} “For I am the Lord, I do not change [but remain faithful to My covenant with you]; that is why you, O sons of Jacob, have not come to an end.

⁷ “Yet from the days of your fathers you have turned away from My statutes and ordinances and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord of hosts. “But you say, ‘How shall we return?’

You Have Robbed God

⁸ “Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings [you have withheld]. ⁹ You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me, this whole nation!^{(T) 10} Bring all the tithes (the tenth) into the ^[r]storehouse, so that there may be ^[s]food in My house, and test Me now in this,” says the Lord of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you [so great] a blessing until there is no more room to receive it.^{(U) 11} Then I will rebuke the ^[t]devourer (insects, plague) for your sake and he will not destroy the fruits of the ground, nor will your vine in the field drop its grapes [before harvest],” says the Lord of hosts. ¹² “All nations shall call you happy and blessed, for you shall be a land of delight,” says the Lord of hosts.

¹³ “Your words have been harsh against Me,” says the Lord. “But you say, ‘What have we spoken against You?’ ¹⁴ You have said, ‘It is useless to serve God. What profit is it if we keep His ordinances, and walk around like mourners before the Lord of hosts? ¹⁵ So now we call the arrogant happy and blessed. Evildoers are exalted and prosper; and when they test God, they escape [unpunished].’”

The Book of Remembrance

¹⁶ Then those who feared the Lord [with awe-filled reverence] spoke to one another; and the Lord paid attention and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him of those who fear the Lord [with an attitude of reverence and respect] and who esteem His name. ¹⁷ “They will be Mine,” says the Lord of hosts, “on that day when I publicly recognize them and openly declare them to be My own possession [that is, My very special treasure]. And I will have compassion on them and spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.” ¹⁸ Then you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between the one who serves God and the one who does not serve Him.

Final Admonition

4 “For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, and all the arrogant (proud, self-righteous, haughty), and every evildoer shall be stubble; and the day that is coming shall set them on fire,” says the Lord of hosts, “so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.^{(V) 2} But for you who fear My name [with awe-filled reverence] the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go forward and leap [joyfully] like calves [released] from the stall. ³ You will trample the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day that I do this,” says the Lord of hosts.

⁴ “Remember [with thoughtful concern] the Law of Moses My servant, the statutes and the ordinances which I commanded him on [Mount] Horeb [to give] to all Israel.

⁵ “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord.^{(W) 6} He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers [a reconciliation produced by repentance], so that I will not come and strike the land with a curse [of complete destruction].”^(X)

The Genealogy of Jesus the Messiah

1 The record of the genealogy of ^[u]Jesus the ^[v]Messiah, the son (descendant) of ^[w]David, the son (descendant) of Abraham:^(Y)

² Abraham ^[x]was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of ^[y]Judah and his brothers [who became the twelve tribes of Israel]. ³ Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez was the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram. ⁴ Ram was the father of Aminadab, Aminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon. ⁵ Salmon was the father of Boaz by ^[z]Rahab, Boaz was the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse. ⁶ Jesse was the father of ^[aa]David the king.

David was the father of Solomon by ^[ab]Bathsheba who had been the wife of Uriah.^{(Z) 7} Solomon was the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asa. ⁸ Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah. ⁹ Uzziah was the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah. ¹⁰ Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, and Amon the father of Josiah. ¹¹ Josiah became the father of Jeconiah [also called Coniah and Jehoiachin] and his brothers, at the time of the deportation (exile) to Babylon.^(AA)

¹² After the deportation to Babylon: Jeconiah became the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel. ¹³ Zerubbabel was the father of Abihud, Abihud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor. ¹⁴ Azor was the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud. ¹⁵ Eliud was the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob. ¹⁶ Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, by ^[ac]whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah (Christ).

¹⁷ So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen; from David to the Babylonian deportation (exile), fourteen generations; and from the Babylonian deportation to the Messiah, fourteen generations.

Conception and Birth of Jesus

¹⁸ Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been ^[ad]betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by [the power of] the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ And Joseph her [promised] husband, being a just and righteous man and not wanting to expose her publicly to shame, planned to send her away and divorce her quietly. ²⁰ But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, descendant of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the Child who has been ^[ae]conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will give birth to a Son, and you shall name Him Jesus (The Lord is salvation), for He will ^[af]save His people from their sins.” ²² All this happened in order to fulfill what the Lord had spoken through the ^[ag]prophet [Isaiah]: ²³ “Behold, the ^[ah]virgin shall be with child and give birth to a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel”—which, when translated, means, “God with us.”^{(AB) 24} Then Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him, and he took Mary [to his home] as his wife, ²⁵ but he kept her a virgin until she had given birth to a Son [her firstborn child]; and he named Him Jesus (The Lord is salvation).

The Visit of the Magi

2 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of ^[ai]Herod the king (Herod the Great), ^[aj]magi (wise men) from the east came to Jerusalem, asking, ² “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star ^[ak]in the east and have come to worship Him.”^{(AC) 3} When Herod the king heard this, he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴ So he called together all the chief priests and ^[al]scribes of the people and [anxiously] asked them where the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed) was to be born. ⁵ They replied to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for this is what has been written by the prophet [Micah]:

⁷ Then Herod secretly sent for the magi and learned from them ^[am]the [exact] time the star [had first] appeared. ⁸ Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search carefully for the Child; and when you have found Him, report to me, so that I too may come and worship Him.” ⁹ After hearing the king, they went their way; and behold, the star, which they had seen in the east, went on before them [continually leading the way] until it came and stood over the place where the young Child was. ¹⁰ When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. ¹¹ And after entering the house, they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell down and worshiped Him. Then, after opening their treasure chests, they presented to Him gifts [fit for a king, gifts] of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. ¹² And having been warned [by God] in a dream not to go back to Herod, the magi left for their own country by another way.

The Flight to Egypt

¹³ Now when they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod intends to search for the Child in order to destroy Him.”

¹⁴ So Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt. ¹⁵ He remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet [Hosea]: “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”^(AE)

Herod Slaughters the Babies

¹⁶ Then Herod, when he realized that he had been tricked by the magi, was extremely angry, and he sent [soldiers] and put to death all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that area who were two years old and under, according to the date which he had learned from the magi. ¹⁷ Then what had been spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled:

¹⁹ But when ^[ap]Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, and said, ²⁰ “Get up! Take the Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel; for those who sought the Child’s life are dead.” ²¹ Then Joseph got up, and took the Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel. ²² But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea ^[aq]in place of his father Herod [the Great], he was afraid to go there. Then being warned by God in a dream, he left for the region of Galilee, ²³ and went and settled in a city called Nazareth. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets: “He shall be called a ^[ar]Nazarene.”

The Preaching of John the Baptist

3 In those days ^[as]John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the Wilderness of Judea [along the western side of the Dead Sea] and saying, ² “^[at]Repent [change your inner self—your old way of thinking, regret past sins, live your life in a way that proves repentance; seek God’s purpose for your life], for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” ³ This is the one who was mentioned by the prophet Isaiah when he said,

⁴ Now this same John had clothing made of camel’s hair and a [wide] leather ^[av]band around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.^{(AH) 5} At that time Jerusalem was going out to him, and all Judea and all the district around the Jordan; ⁶ and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.

⁷ But when he saw many of the ^[aw]Pharisees and ^[ax]Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the [divine] wrath and judgment to come? ⁸ So produce fruit that is consistent with repentance [demonstrating new behavior that proves a change of heart, and a conscious decision to turn away from sin]; ⁹ and do not presume to say to yourselves [as a defense], ‘We have Abraham for our father [so our inheritance assures us of salvation]’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children (descendants) for Abraham.^{(AI) 10} And already the axe [of God’s judgment] is ^[ay]swinging toward the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

¹¹ “As for me, I baptize you ^[az]with water because of [your] repentance [that is, because you are willing to change your inner self—your old way of thinking, regret your sin and live a changed life], but He (the Messiah) who is coming after me is mightier [more powerful, more noble] than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to remove [even as His slave]; He will baptize you [who truly repent] with the Holy Spirit and [you who remain unrepentant] with ^[ba]fire (judgment).^{(AJ) 12} His ^[bb]winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear out His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat (believers) into His barn (kingdom), but He will burn up the chaff (the unrepentant) with unquenchable fire.”

The Baptism of Jesus

¹³ Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan [River], to be baptized by him.^{(AK) 14} But John tried to prevent Him [vigorously protesting], saying, “It is I who need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?” ¹⁵ But Jesus replied to him, “Permit it just now; for this is the fitting way for us ^[bc]to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John permitted [it and baptized] Him. ¹⁶ After Jesus was baptized, He came up immediately out of the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he (John) saw the ^[bd]Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him (Jesus),^{(AL) 17} and behold, a ^[be]voice from heaven said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased and delighted!”^(AM)

The Temptation of Jesus

4 Then Jesus was led by the [Holy] Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.^{(AN) 2} After He had gone without food for forty days and forty nights, He became hungry.^{(AO) 3} And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” ⁴ 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.’”^(AP)

⁵ Then the devil took Him into the holy city [Jerusalem] and placed Him on the pinnacle (highest point) of the temple.^{(AQ) 6} And he said [mockingly] to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written,

and

⁷ Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written and forever remains written, ‘You shall not test the Lord your God.’”^(AS)

⁸ Again, the devil took Him up on a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory [splendor, magnificence, and excellence] of them; ⁹ and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.” ¹⁰ 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.’”^{(AT) 11} Then the devil left Him; and angels came and ministered to Him [bringing Him food and serving Him].

Jesus Begins His Ministry

¹² Now when Jesus heard that John [the Baptist] had been arrested and put in prison, He left for Galilee. ¹³ And leaving Nazareth, He went and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the country of Zebulun and Naphtali.^{(AU) 14} This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah:

¹⁷ From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “^[bf]Repent [change your inner self—your old way of thinking, regret past sins, live your life in a way that proves repentance; seek God’s purpose for your life], for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

The First Disciples

¹⁸ As Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He noticed two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. ¹⁹ And He said to them, “^[bg]Follow Me [as My disciples, accepting Me as your Master and Teacher and walking the same path of life that I walk], and I will make you fishers of men.” ²⁰ Immediately they left their nets and followed Him [becoming His disciples, believing and trusting in Him and following His example]. ²¹ And going on [further] from there He noticed two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and his brother John, in the boat with their father ^[bh]Zebedee, mending their nets; and He called them [to follow Him as His disciples]. ²² Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him [becoming His disciples, believing and trusting in Him and following His example].

Ministry in Galilee

²³ And He went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the good news (gospel) of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people [demonstrating and revealing that He was indeed the promised Messiah].

²⁴ So the news about Him spread throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all who were sick, those suffering with various diseases and pains, those under the power of demons, and epileptics, paralytics; and He healed them. ²⁵ Large crowds followed Him from Galilee and the ^[bi]Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and the other side of the Jordan.