Judgment and Covenant Renewal

4 ^[a]“Surely the day is coming;^(A) it will burn like a furnace.^(B) All the arrogant^(C) and every evildoer will be stubble,^(D) and the day that is coming will set them on fire,^(E)” says the Lord Almighty. “Not a root or a branch^(F) will be left to them. ² But for you who revere my name,^(G) the sun of righteousness^(H) will rise with healing^(I) in its rays. And you will go out and frolic^(J) like well-fed calves. ³ Then you will trample^(K) on the wicked; they will be ashes^(L) under the soles of your feet on the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty.

⁴ “Remember the law^(M) of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb^(N) for all Israel.^(O)

⁵ “See, I will send the prophet Elijah^(P) to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes.^{(Q) 6} He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children,^(R) and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike^(S) the land with total destruction.”^(T)

² When John,^(A) who was in prison,^(B) heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples ³ to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come,^(C) or should we expect someone else?”

⁴ Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: ⁵ The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy^[a] are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.^{(D) 6} Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”^(E)

⁷ As John’s^(F) disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness^(G) to see? A reed swayed by the wind? ⁸ If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings’ palaces. ⁹ Then what did you go out to see? A prophet?^(H) Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. ¹⁰ This is the one about whom it is written:

¹¹ Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. ¹² From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence,^[c] and violent people have been raiding it. ¹³ For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John.^{(K) 14} And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come.^{(L) 15} Whoever has ears, let them hear.^(M)

¹⁶ “To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others:

¹⁸ For John came neither eating^(N) nor drinking,^(O) and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ ¹⁹ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’^(P) But wisdom is proved right by her deeds.”