It is the duty of priests to teach the true knowledge of God. People should go to them to learn my will, because they are the messengers of the LORD Almighty.

"But before the great and terrible day of the LORD comes, I will send you the prophet Elijah.

For John is the one of whom the scripture says: 'God said, I will send my messenger ahead of you to open the way for you.'

I assure you that John the Baptist is greater than anyone who has ever lived. But the one who is least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than John.

It began as the prophet Isaiah had written: "God said, 'I will send my messenger ahead of you to open the way for you.'

Someone is shouting in the desert, 'Get the road ready for the Lord; make a straight path for him to travel!' "

"You, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High God. You will go ahead of the Lord to prepare his road for him,

Tell me, what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes indeed, but you saw much more than a prophet.

I tell you," Jesus added, "John is greater than anyone who has ever lived. But the one who is least in the Kingdom of God is greater than John."

God sent his messenger, a man named John,

who came to tell people about the light, so that all should hear the message and believe.

A voice cries out, "Prepare in the wilderness a road for the LORD! Clear the way in the desert for our God!

Then the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all people will see it. The LORD himself has promised this."

At that time John the Baptist came to the desert of Judea and started preaching.

John was the man the prophet Isaiah was talking about when he said, "Someone is shouting in the desert, 'Prepare a road for the Lord; make a straight path for him to travel!' "

Then the disciples asked Jesus, "Why do the teachers of the Law say that Elijah has to come first?"

But I tell you that Elijah has already come and people did not recognize him, but treated him just as they pleased. In the same way they will also mistreat the Son of Man."

and he will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God.

He will go ahead of the Lord, strong and mighty like the prophet Elijah. He will bring fathers and children together again; he will turn disobedient people back to the way of thinking of the righteous; he will get the Lord's people ready for him."

So John went throughout the whole territory of the Jordan River, preaching, "Turn away from your sins and be baptized, and God will forgive your sins."

Every valley must be filled up, every hill and mountain leveled off. The winding roads must be made straight, and the rough paths made smooth.

John spoke about him. He cried out, "This is the one I was talking about when I said, 'He comes after me, but he is greater than I am, because he existed before I was born.' "

God gave the Law through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

The Jewish authorities in Jerusalem sent some priests and Levites to John to ask him, "Who are you?"

"Who are you, then?" they asked. "Are you Elijah?" "No, I am not," John answered. "Are you the Prophet?" they asked. "No," he replied.

John answered by quoting the prophet Isaiah: "I am 'the voice of someone shouting in the desert: Make a straight path for the Lord to travel!' "

You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, 'I am not the Messiah, but I have been sent ahead of him.'

He must become more important while I become less important."

Before Jesus began his work, John preached to all the people of Israel that they should turn from their sins and be baptized.

And as John was about to finish his mission, he said to the people, 'Who do you think I am? I am not the one you are waiting for. But listen! He is coming after me, and I am not good enough to take his sandals off his feet.'

Paul said, "The baptism of John was for those who turned from their sins; and he told the people of Israel to believe in the one who was coming after him---that is, in Jesus."

The LORD said to my lord, "Sit here at my right side until I put your enemies under your feet."

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.

The new Temple will be more splendid than the old one, and there I will give my people prosperity and peace." The LORD Almighty has spoken.

This very day in David's town your Savior was born---Christ the Lord!

A week later, when the time came for the baby to be circumcised, he was named Jesus, the name which the angel had given him before he had been conceived.

as it is written in the law of the Lord: "Every first-born male is to be dedicated to the Lord."

At that time there was a man named Simeon living in Jerusalem. He was a good, God-fearing man and was waiting for Israel to be saved. The Holy Spirit was with him

Led by the Spirit, Simeon went into the Temple. When the parents brought the child Jesus into the Temple to do for him what the Law required,

"Now, Lord, you have kept your promise, and you may let your servant go in peace.

which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples:

and sent them to the Lord to ask him, "Are you the one John said was going to come, or should we expect someone else?"

When they came to Jesus, they said, "John the Baptist sent us to ask if you are the one he said was going to come, or should we expect someone else?"

Every day Jesus taught in the Temple. The chief priests, the teachers of the Law, and the leaders of the people wanted to kill him,

There in the Temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and pigeons, and also the moneychangers sitting at their tables.

and he ordered those who sold the pigeons, "Take them out of here! Stop making my Father's house a marketplace!"

Then he blessed Joseph: "May God, whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac served, bless these boys! May God, who has led me to this very day, bless them!

May the angel, who has rescued me from all harm, bless them! May my name and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac live on through these boys! May they have many children, many descendants!"

"I will send an angel ahead of you to protect you as you travel and to bring you to the place which I have prepared.

from all their suffering. It was not an angel, but the LORD himself who saved them. In his love and compassion he rescued them. He had always taken care of them in the past,

Their ancestor Jacob struggled with his twin brother Esau while the two of them were still in their mother's womb; when Jacob grew up, he fought against God---

This was the LORD God Almighty---the LORD is the name by which he is to be worshiped.

He is the one who was with the people of Israel assembled in the desert; he was there with our ancestors and with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and he received God's living messages to pass on to us.

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