Study Desk

"Then I will purify the speech of all people, so that everyone can worship the Lord together.

Open your doors, Lebanon, so that fire may devour your cedar forests.

"The Lord will give victory to the rest of Judah first, before Jerusalem, so that the people of Jerusalem and the royal line of David will not have greater honor than the rest of Judah.

"And on that day," says the Lord of Heaven's Armies, "I will erase idol worship throughout the land, so that even the names of the idols will be forgotten. I will remove from the land both the false prophets and the spirit of impurity that came with them.

"How I wish one of you would shut the Temple doors so that these worthless sacrifices could not be offered! I am not pleased with you," says the Lord of Heaven's Armies, "and I will not accept your offerings.

Then at last you will know it was I who sent you this warning so that my covenant with the Levites can continue," says the Lord of Heaven's Armies.

He will sit like a refiner of silver, burning away the dross. He will purify the Levites, refining them like gold and silver, so that they may once again offer acceptable sacrifices to the Lord .

Then he told them, "Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!"

In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.

"And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the old skins would burst from the pressure, spilling the wine and ruining the skins. New wine is stored in new wineskins so that both are preserved."

Then a demon-possessed man, who was blind and couldn't speak, was brought to Jesus. He healed the man so that he could both speak and see.

Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before. That will be the experience of this evil generation."

As the men watched, Jesus' appearance was transformed so that his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as light.

But if you are unsuccessful, take one or two others with you and go back again, so that everything you say may be confirmed by two or three witnesses.

And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come.

Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!"

so that the Scriptures might be fulfilled: ‘When they see what I do, they will learn nothing. When they hear what I say, they will not understand. Otherwise, they will turn to me and be forgiven.'"

But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too."

Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak."

He replied, "You are permitted to understand the secrets of the Kingdom of God. But I use parables to teach the others so that the Scriptures might be fulfilled: ‘When they look, they won't really see. When they hear, they won't understand.'