Fear God, Wait for the Lord

11 For the Lord spoke thus to me ^ewith his strong hand upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: 12 “Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and ^fdo not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. 13 But the Lord of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. 14 And he will become a ^gsanctuary and ^ha ⁱstone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 15 And many shall ^jstumble on it. ^kThey shall ^lfall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.”

16 Bind up the testimony; ^mseal the teaching¹ among my disciples. 17 I will wait for the Lord, who is ⁿhiding his face from the house of Jacob, and ^oI will hope in him. 18 ^pBehold, I and the ^qchildren whom the Lord has given me ^rare signs and portents in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion. 19 And when they say to you, ^s“Inquire of the ^tmediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living? 20 To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn. 21 They will pass through the land,² greatly distressed and hungry. And when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will speak contemptuously against³ their king and their God, and turn their faces upward. 22 And they will look to the earth, but ^ubehold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into thick darkness.

The Authority of Jesus Challenged

1 ^dOne day, as Jesus¹ was teaching the people in the temple and ^epreaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up 2 and said to him, “Tell us by what ^fauthority you do these things, or who it is that gave you this authority.” 3 He answered them, “I also will ask you a question. Now tell me, 4 was the baptism of John from heaven or from man?” 5 And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why did you ^gnot believe him?’ 6 But if we say, ‘From man,’ all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was a ^hprophet.” 7 So they answered that they did not know where it came from. 8 And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

The Parable of the Wicked Tenants

9 ⁱAnd he began to tell the people this parable: ^j“A man planted a vineyard and let it out to tenants and ^kwent into another country for a long while. 10 When the time came, he sent a servant² to the tenants, so that they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. ^lBut the tenants ^mbeat him and sent him away empty-handed. 11 And he sent another servant. But they also beat and treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. 12 And he sent yet a third. This one also they wounded and cast out. 13 ⁿThen the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my ^obeloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’ 14 But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, ‘This is the ^pheir. Let us ^qkill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.’ 15 And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16 He will come and destroy those tenants and ^rgive the vineyard to others.” When they heard this, they said, “Surely not!” 17 But he looked directly at them and said, “What then is this that is written:

18 Everyone who ^ufalls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”

Jesus Presented at the Temple

22 And when the time came for their ^fpurification according to the Law of Moses, they ^gbrought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, ^h“Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, ⁱ“a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” 25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, ^jwaiting for the ^kconsolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen ^lthe Lord’s Christ. 27 And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, 28 he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,

33 And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. 34 And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed 35 (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

36 And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, 37 and then as a widow until she was eighty-four.² She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with ^pfasting and prayer ^qnight and day. 38 And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the ^rredemption of Jerusalem.

The Return to Nazareth

39 And when they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. 40 ^sAnd the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the ^tfavor of God was upon him.