Well then, the Lord himself will give you a sign: a young woman who is pregnant will have a son and will name him 'Immanuel.'

A child is born to us! A son is given to us! And he will be our ruler. He will be called, "Wonderful Counselor," "Mighty God," "Eternal Father," "Prince of Peace."

I will overthrow all the nations, and their treasures will be brought here, and the Temple will be filled with wealth.

Rejoice, rejoice, people of Zion! Shout for joy, you people of Jerusalem! Look, your king is coming to you! He comes triumphant and victorious, but humble and riding on a donkey--- on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

The LORD Almighty answers, "I will send my messenger to prepare the way for me. Then the Lord you are looking for will suddenly come to his Temple. The messenger you long to see will come and proclaim my covenant."

"As for you, how fortunate you are! Your eyes see and your ears hear.

I assure you that many prophets and many of God's people wanted very much to see what you see, but they could not, and to hear what you hear, but they did not.

and had assured him that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's promised Messiah.

Simeon took the child in his arms and gave thanks to God:

With my own eyes I have seen your salvation,

A light to reveal your will to the Gentiles and bring glory to your people Israel."

Then Jesus turned to the disciples and said to them privately, "How fortunate you are to see the things you see!

I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see, but they could not, and to hear what you hear, but they did not."

No one can deny how great is the secret of our religion: He appeared in human form, was shown to be right by the Spirit, and was seen by angels. He was preached among the nations, was believed in throughout the world, and was taken up to heaven.

He purifies people from their sins, and both he and those who are made pure all have the same Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them his family.

He says to God, "I will tell my people what you have done; I will praise you in their meeting."

You will enjoy her prosperity, like a child at its mother's breast.

The LORD says, "I will bring you lasting prosperity; the wealth of the nations will flow to you like a river that never goes dry. You will be like a child that is nursed by its mother, carried in her arms, and treated with love.

But the heavenly Jerusalem is free, and she is our mother.

The Word became a human being and, full of grace and truth, lived among us. We saw his glory, the glory which he received as the Father's only Son.

And no one has ever gone up to heaven except the Son of Man, who came down from heaven."

Jesus said to them, "If God really were your Father, you would love me, because I came from God and now I am here. I did not come on my own authority, but he sent me.

Jesus knew that the Father had given him complete power; he knew that he had come from God and was going to God.

I did come from the Father, and I came into the world; and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father."

But we do see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, so that through God's grace he should die for everyone. We see him now crowned with glory and honor because of the death he suffered.

He purifies people from their sins, and both he and those who are made pure all have the same Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them his family.

He also says, "I will put my trust in God." And he also says, "Here I am with the children that God has given me."

for then he would have had to suffer many times ever since the creation of the world. Instead, now when all ages of time are nearing the end, he has appeared once and for all, to remove sin through the sacrifice of himself.

In the same manner Christ also was offered in sacrifice once to take away the sins of many. He will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are waiting for him.

Your lips cover me with kisses; your love is better than wine.

and bow down to him; or else his anger will be quickly aroused, and you will suddenly die. Happy are all who go to him for protection.

Bride of the king, listen to what I say--- forget your people and your relatives.

Your beauty will make the king desire you; he is your master, so you must obey him.

You did not welcome me with a kiss, but she has not stopped kissing my feet since I came.

I tell you, then, the great love she has shown proves that her many sins have been forgiven. But whoever has been forgiven little shows only a little love."

If you are ashamed of me and of my teaching, then the Son of Man will be ashamed of you when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

"I assure you that those who declare publicly that they belong to me, the Son of Man will do the same for them before the angels of God.

The guards answered, "Nobody has ever talked the way this man does!"

"Have you ever known one of the authorities or one Pharisee to believe in him?

One of the Pharisees there was Nicodemus, the man who had gone to see Jesus before. He said to the others,

"Well," they answered, "are you also from Galilee? Study the Scriptures and you will learn that no prophet ever comes from Galilee."

"I do not know if he is a sinner or not," the man replied. "One thing I do know: I was blind, and now I see."

"I have already told you," he answered, "and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Maybe you, too, would like to be his disciples?"

We know that God spoke to Moses; as for that fellow, however, we do not even know where he comes from!"

We know that God does not listen to sinners; he does listen to people who respect him and do what he wants them to do.

Unless this man came from God, he would not be able to do a thing."

When Jesus heard what had happened, he found the man and asked him, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?"

Jesus said to him, "You have already seen him, and he is the one who is talking with you now."

As for me, however, I will boast only about the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ; for by means of his cross the world is dead to me, and I am dead to the world.

It is we, not they, who have received the true circumcision, for we worship God by means of his Spirit and rejoice in our life in union with Christ Jesus. We do not put any trust in external ceremonies.

But all those things that I might count as profit I now reckon as loss for Christ's sake.

Not only those things; I reckon everything as complete loss for the sake of what is so much more valuable, the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have thrown everything away; I consider it all as mere garbage, so that I may gain Christ

My sacrifice is a humble spirit, O God; you will not reject a humble and repentant heart.

When the LORD rebuilds Zion, he will reveal his greatness.

He will hear his forsaken people and listen to their prayer.

then a poor widow came along and dropped in two little copper coins, worth about a penny.

For the others put in what they had to spare of their riches; but she, poor as she is, put in all she had---she gave all she had to live on."

But Jesus said, "Leave her alone! Why are you bothering her? She has done a fine and beautiful thing for me.

She did what she could; she poured perfume on my body to prepare it ahead of time for burial.

The descendants of those who oppressed you will come And bow low to show their respect. All who once despised you will worship at your feet. They will call you 'The City of the LORD,' 'Zion, the City of Israel's Holy God.'

Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me; and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me."

Jesus also told this parable to people who were sure of their own goodness and despised everybody else.

He chose what the world looks down on and despises and thinks is nothing, in order to destroy what the world thinks is important.