Yeshua HaMaschiach

Genesis 28:14 (CJB)

1445-1406 BCE Approx.

¹⁴ Your descendants will be as numerous as the grains of dust on the earth. You will expand to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. By you and your descendants all the families of the earth will be blessed.

Deuteronomy 18:15–20 (CJB)

¹⁵ “Adonai will raise up for you a prophet like me from among yourselves, from your own kinsmen. You are to pay attention to him, ¹⁶ just as when you were assembled at Horev and requested Adonai your God, ‘Don’t let me hear the voice of Adonai my God anymore or let me see this great fire ever again; if I do, I will die!’

¹⁷ On that occasion Adonai said to me, ‘They are right in what they are saying. ¹⁸ I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their kinsmen. I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I order him.

¹⁹ Whoever doesn’t listen to my words, which he will speak in my name, will have to account for himself to me.

²⁰ “‘But if a prophet presumptuously speaks a word in my name which I didn’t order him to say, or if he speaks in the name of other gods, then that prophet must die.’

Immanu’El 

Isaiah 7:13–16 (CJB)

¹³Then [the prophet] said, “Listen here, house of David! Is trying people’s patience such a small thing for you that you must try the patience of my God as well?

¹⁴Therefore Adonai himself will give you people a sign: the young woman will become pregnant, bear a son and name him ‘Immanu El [God is with us].

¹⁵By the time he knows enough to refuse evil and choose good, he will [have to] eat curdled milk and [wild] honey.

¹⁶Yes, before the child knows enough to refuse evil and choose good, the land whose two kings you dread will be left abandoned.

Isaiah 9:1–5 (CJB)

¹The people living in darkness have seen a great light; upon those living in the land that lies in the shadow of death, light has dawned.

²You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice in your presence as if rejoicing at harvest time, the way men rejoice when dividing up the spoil.

³For the yoke that weighed them down, the bar across their shoulders, and their driver’s goad you have broken as on the day of Midyan[’s defeat].

⁴For all the boots of soldiers marching and every cloak rolled in blood is destined for burning, fuel for the fire.

⁵For a child is born to us, a son is given to us; dominion will rest on his shoulders, and he will be given the name Pele-Yo‘etz El Gibbor Avi-‘Ad Sar-Shalom [Wonder of a Counsellor, Mighty God, Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace],

Isaiah 11:1–5 (CJB)

¹But a branch will emerge from the trunk of Yishai, a shoot will grow from his roots.

²The Spirit of Adonai will rest on him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and power, the Spirit of knowledge and fearing Adonai—

³he will be inspired by fearing Adonai. He will not judge by what his eyes see or decide by what his ears hear,

⁴but he will judge the impoverished justly; he will decide fairly for the humble of the land. He will strike the land with a rod from his mouth and slay the wicked with a breath from his lips.

⁵Justice will be the belt around his waist, faithfulness the sash around his hips.

Give thanks to ADONAI

Isaiah 12:1–6 (CJB)

745-726 BCE approximately.

¹On that day you will say: “I thank you, Adonai, because, although you were angry at me, your anger is now turned away; and you are comforting me.

²“See! God is my salvation. I am confident and unafraid; for Yah Adonai is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation!”

³Then you will joyfully draw water from the springs of salvation.

⁴On that day you will say, “Give thanks to Adonai! Call on his name! Make his deeds known among the peoples, declare how exalted is his name.

⁵Sing to Adonai, for he has triumphed— this is being made known throughout the earth.

⁶Shout and sing for joy, you who live in Tziyon; for the Holy One of Isra’el is with you in his greatness!”

Matthew 12:17–21 (CJB)

¹⁷This was to fulfil what had been spoken through Yesha‘yahu the prophet,

¹⁸“Here is my servant, whom I have chosen, my beloved, with whom I am well pleased; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will announce justice to the Gentiles.

¹⁹He will not fight or shout, no one will hear his voice in the streets;

²⁰he will not snap off a broken reed or snuff out a smouldering wick until he has brought justice through to victory.

²¹In him the Gentiles will put their hope.”

Matthew 13:10–15 (CJB)

¹⁰Then the talmidim came and asked Yeshua, “Why are you speaking to them in parables?”

¹¹He answered, “Because it has been given to you to know the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but it has not been given to them.

¹²For anyone who has something will be given more, so that he will have plenty; but from anyone who has nothing, even what he does have will be taken away.

¹³Here is why I speak to them in parables: they look without seeing and listen without hearing or understanding.

¹⁴That is, in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Yesha‘yahu which says, ‘You will keep on hearing but never understand, and keep on seeing but never perceive,

¹⁵because the heart of this people has become dull— with their ears they barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, so as not to see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and do t’shuvah, so that I could heal them.’

John the Baptist

Isaiah 40:1–3 (CJB)

¹“Comfort and keep comforting my people,” says your God.

²“Tell Yerushalayim to take heart; proclaim to her that she has completed her time of service, that her guilt has been paid off, that she has received at the hand of Adonai double for all her sins.”

³A voice cries out: “Clear a road through the desert for Adonai! Level a highway in the ‘Aravah for our God!

Matthew 3:1–6 (CJB)

¹It was during those days that Yochanan the Immerser arrived in the desert of Y’hudah and began proclaiming the message,

²“Turn from your sins to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near!”

³This is the man Yesha‘yahu was talking about when he said, “The voice of someone crying out: ‘In the desert prepare the way of Adonai! Make straight paths for him!’ ”

⁴Yochanan wore clothes of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.

⁵People went out to him from Yerushalayim, from all Y’hudah, and from the whole region around the Yarden.

⁶Confessing their sins, they were immersed by him in the Yarden River.

You have One Rabbi

Matthew 23:1–12 (CJB)

¹Then Yeshua addressed the crowds and his talmidim:

²“The Torah-teachers and the P’rushim,” he said, “sit in the seat of Moshe.

³So whatever they tell you, take care to do it. But don’t do what they do, because they talk but don’t act!

⁴They tie heavy loads onto people’s shoulders but won’t lift a finger to help carry them.

⁵Everything they do is done to be seen by others; for they make their t’fillin broad and their tzitziyot long,

⁶they love the place of honour at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues,

⁷and they love being greeted deferentially in the marketplaces and being called ‘Rabbi.’

⁸“But you are not to let yourselves be called ‘Rabbi’; because you have one Rabbi, and you are all each other’s brothers.

⁹And do not call anyone on earth ‘Father.’ because you have one Father, and he is in heaven.

¹⁰Nor are you to let yourselves be called ‘leaders,’ because you have one Leader, and he is the Messiah!

¹¹The greatest among you must be your servant,

¹²for whoever promotes himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be promoted.

The Will of my Father

John 6:35–40 (CJB)

³⁵Yeshua answered, “I am the bread which is life! Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever trusts in me will never be thirsty.

³⁶I told you that you have seen but still don’t trust.

³⁷Everyone the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will certainly not turn away.

³⁸For I have come down from heaven to do not my own will but the will of the One who sent me.

³⁹And this is the will of the One who sent me: that I should not lose any of all those he has given me but should raise them up on the Last Day.

⁴⁰Yes, this is the will of my Father: that all who see the Son and trust in him should have eternal life, and that I should raise them up on the Last Day.”

The Servant’s Mission:

Isaiah 52:1–15 (CJB)

1 Awake! Awake, Tziyon! Clothe yourself with your strength! Dress in your splendid garments, Yerushalayim, the holy city! For the uncircumcised and the unclean will enter you no more.

2 Shake off the dust! Arise! Be enthroned, Yerushalayim! Loosen the chains on your neck, captive daughter of Tziyon!

3 For thus says Adonai: “You were sold for nothing, and you will be redeemed without money.”

4 For thus says Adonai Elohim: “Long ago my people went down to Egypt to live there as aliens, and Ashur oppressed them for no reason.

5 So now, what should I do here,” asks Adonai, “since my people were carried off for nothing? Their oppressors are howling,” says Adonai, “and my name is always being insulted, daily.

6 Therefore my people will know my name; therefore on that day they will know that I, the one speaking—here I am!”

7 How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, proclaiming shalom, bringing good news of good things, announcing salvation and saying to Tziyon, “Your God is King!”

8 Listen! Your watchmen are raising their voices, shouting for joy together. For they will see, before their own eyes, Adonai returning to Tziyon.

9 Break out into joy! Sing together, you ruins of Yerushalayim! For Adonai has comforted his people, he has redeemed Yerushalayim!

10 Adonai has bared his holy arm in the sight of every nation, and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God.

11 Leave! Leave! Get out of there! Don’t touch anything unclean! Get out from inside it, and be clean, you who carry Adonai’s temple equipment.

12 You need not leave in haste, you do not have to flee; for Adonai will go ahead of you, and the God of Isra’el will also be behind you.

13 “See how my servant will succeed! He will be raised up, exalted, highly honoured!

14 Just as many were appalled at him, because he was so disfigured that he didn’t even seem human and simply no longer looked like a man,

15 so now he will startle many nations; because of him, kings will be speechless. For they will see what they had not been told, they will ponder things they had never heard.”

The Servant’s Sacrifice

Isaiah 53:2-12 (CJB)

Isaiah 53:2
² For before him he grew up like a young plant,
like a root out of dry ground.
He was not well-formed or especially handsome;
we saw him, but his appearance did not attract us.

Isaiah 53:3
³ People despised and avoided him,
a man of pains, well acquainted with illness.
Like someone from whom people turn their faces,
he was despised; we did not value him.

Isaiah 53:4
⁴ In fact, it was our diseases he bore,
our pains from which he suffered;
yet we regarded him as punished,
stricken and afflicted by God.

Isaiah 53:5
⁵ But he was wounded because of our crimes,
crushed because of our sins;
the disciplining that makes us whole fell on him,
and by his bruises we are healed.

Isaiah 53:6
⁶ We all, like sheep, went astray;
we turned, each one, to his own way;
yet ADONAI laid on him
the guilt of all of us.

Isaiah 53:7
⁷ Though mistreated, he was submissive—
he did not open his mouth.
Like a lamb led to be slaughtered,
like a sheep silent before its shearers,
he did not open his mouth.

Isaiah 53:8
⁸ After forcible arrest and sentencing,
he was taken away;
and none of his generation protested
his being cut off from the land of the living
for the crimes of my people,
who deserved the punishment themselves.

Isaiah 53:9
⁹ He was given a grave among the wicked;
in his death he was with a rich man.

Although he had done no violence
and had said nothing deceptive,

Isaiah 53:10
¹⁰ yet it pleased ADONAI to crush him with illness,
to see if he would present himself as a guilt offering.
If he does, he will see his offspring;
and he will prolong his days;
and at his hand ADONAI’s desire
will be accomplished.

Isaiah 53:11
¹¹ After this ordeal, he will see satisfaction.
“By his knowing [pain and sacrifice],
my righteous servant makes many righteous;
it is for their sins that he suffers.

Isaiah 53:12
¹² Therefore I will assign him a share with the great,
he will divide the spoil with the mighty,
for having exposed himself to death
and being counted among the sinners,
while actually bearing the sin of many
and interceding for the offenders.”

Luke 23:34 (CJB)

³⁴ Yeshua said, “Father, forgive them; they don’t understand what they are doing.”

They divided up his clothes by throwing dice.

The Nation’s Apostasy

Jeremiah 1:1–10 (CJB)

1 These are the words of Yirmeyahu the son of Hilkiyahu, one of the cohanim living in ‘Anatot, in the territory of Binyamin.

2 The word of Adonai came to him during the days of Yoshiyahu the son of Amon, king of Y’hudah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.

3 It also came during the days of Y’hoyakim the son of Yoshiyahu, king of Y’hudah, continuing until the eleventh year of Tzidkiyahu the son of Yoshiyahu, king of Y’hudah, right up until the time Yerushalayim was carried away captive, in the fifth month.

4 Here is the word of Adonai that came to me:

5 “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you; before you were born, I separated you for myself. I have appointed you to be a prophet to the nations.”

6 I said, “Oh, Adonai Elohim, I don’t even know how to speak! I’m just a child!”

7 But Adonai said to me, “Don’t say, ‘I’m just a child.’ “For you will go to whomever I send you, and you will speak whatever I order you.

8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you, says Adonai, to rescue you.”

9 Then Adonai put out his hand and touched my mouth, and Adonai said to me, “There! I have put my words in your mouth.

10 Today I have placed you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and to tear down, to destroy and to demolish, to build and to plant.”

Jeremiah 2:1–37 (CJB)

1 The word of Adonai came to me:

2 “Go and shout in the ears of Yerushalayim that this is what Adonai says: ‘I remember your devotion when you were young; how, as a bride, you loved me; how you followed me through the desert, through a land not sown.

3 “ ‘Isra’el is set aside for Adonai, the firstfruits of his harvest; all who devour him will incur guilt; evil will befall them,” says Adonai.

4 Hear the word of Adonai, house of Ya‘akov and all families in the house of Isra’el;

5 here is what Adonai says: “What did your ancestors find wrong with me to make them go so far away from me, to make them go after nothings and become themselves nothings?

6 They didn’t ask, ‘Where is Adonai, who brought us out of the land of Egypt, who led us through the desert, through a land of wastes and ravines, through a land of drought and death-dark shadows, through a land where no one travels and where no one ever lived?’

7 I brought you into a fertile land to enjoy its fruit and all its good things; but when you entered, you defiled my land and made my heritage loathsome.

8 The cohanim didn’t ask, ‘Where is Adonai?’ Those who deal with the Torah did not know me, the people’s shepherds rebelled against me; the prophets prophesied by Ba‘al and went after things of no value.

9 “So again I state my case against you,” says Adonai, “and state it against your grandchildren too.

10 Cross to the coasts of the Kitti’im and look; send to Kedar and observe closely; see if anything like this has happened before:

11 has a nation ever exchanged its gods (and theirs are not gods at all!)? Yet my people have exchanged their Glory for something without value.

12 Be aghast at this, you heavens! Shudder in absolute horror!” says Adonai.

13 “For my people have committed two evils: they have abandoned me, the fountain of living water, and dug themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water!

14 “Is Isra’el a slave, born into serfdom? If not, why has he become plunder?

15 The young lions are roaring at him— how loudly they are roaring! They desolate his country, demolishing and depopulating his cities.

16 The people of Nof and Tachpanches feed on the crown of your head.

17 “Haven’t you brought this on yourself by abandoning Adonai your God when he led you along the way?

18 If you go to Egypt, what’s in it for you? Drinking water from the Nile? If you go to Ashur, what’s in it for you? Drinking water from the [Euphrates] River?

19 Your own wickedness will correct you, your own backslidings will convict you; you will know and see how bad and bitter it was to abandon Adonai your God, and how fear of me is not in you,” says Adonai Elohim-Tzva’ot.

20 “For long ago I broke your yoke; when I snapped your chains, you said, ‘I won’t sin.’ Yet on every high hill, under every green tree, you sprawled and prostituted yourself.

21 But I planted you as a choice vine of seed fully tested and true. How did you degenerate into a wild vine for me?

22 Even if you scrub yourself with soda and plenty of soap, the stain of your guilt is still there before me,” says Adonai Elohim.

23 “How can you say, ‘I am not defiled, I have not pursued the ba‘alim’? Look at your conduct in the valley, understand what you have done. You are a restive young female camel, running here and there,

24 wild, accustomed to the desert, sniffing the wind in her lust— who can control her when she’s in heat? Males seeking her need not weary themselves, for at mating season they will find her.

25 “Stop before your shoes wear out, and your throat is dry from thirst! But you say, ‘No, it’s hopeless! I love these strangers, and I’m going after them.’

26 Just as a thief is ashamed when caught, so is the house of Isra’el ashamed— they, their kings, their leaders, their cohanim and their prophets,

27 who say to a log, ‘You are my father,’ and to a stone, ‘You gave us birth.’ For they have turned their backs to me instead of their faces. But when trouble comes, they will plead, ‘Rouse yourself and save us!’

28 Where are your gods that you made for yourselves? Let them rouse themselves, if they can save you when trouble comes. Y’hudah, you have as many gods as you have cities!

29 Why argue with me? You have all rebelled against me!” says Adonai.

30 “In vain have I struck down your people. They would not receive correction. Your own sword has devoured your prophets like a marauding lion.

31 You of this generation, look at the word of Adonai: Have I been a desert to Isra’el? or a land of oppressive darkness? Why do my people say, ‘We’re free to roam, we will no longer come to you’?

32 Does a girl forget her jewellery, or a bride her wedding sash? Yet my people have forgotten me, days beyond numbering.

33 You are so clever in your search for love that the worst of women can learn from you!

34 Right there on your clothing is the blood of the innocent poor, although you never caught them breaking and entering. Yet concerning all these things,

35 you say, ‘I am innocent; surely he’s no longer angry at me.’ Here, I am passing sentence on you, because you say, ‘I have done nothing wrong.’

36 You cheapen yourself when you change course so often— you will be disappointed by Egypt too, just as you were disappointed by Ashur.

37 Yes, you will leave him too, with your hands on your heads [in shame]. For Adonai rejects those in whom you trust; from them you will gain nothing.”

Jeremiah 3:11–15 (CJB)

11 Then Adonai said to me, “Backsliding Isra’el has proved herself more righteous than unfaithful Y’hudah.

12 Go and proclaim these words toward the north: ‘ “Return, backsliding Isra’el,” says Adonai. “I will not frown on you, for I am merciful,” says Adonai. “I will not bear a grudge forever.

13 Only acknowledge your guilt, that you have committed crimes against Adonai your God, that you were promiscuous with strangers under every green tree, and that you have not paid attention to my voice,” says Adonai.

14 “Return, backsliding children,” says Adonai; “for I am your master. I will take you, one from a city, two from a family, and bring you to Tziyon.

15 I will give you shepherds after my own heart, and they will feed you with knowledge and understanding.

Jeremiah 23:5–6 (CJB)

640-609 BCE Approx.

⁵ “The days are coming,” says ADONAI
when I will raise a righteous Branch for David.
He will reign as king and succeed,
he will do what is just and right in the land.
⁶ In his days Y’hudah will be saved,
Isra’el will live in safety,
and the name given to him will be
ADONAI Tzidkenu [ADONAI our righteousness].

Evil begins and spreads

Genesis 3:1–7 (CJB)

1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any wild animal which Adonai, God, had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You are not to eat from any tree in the garden’?”

2 The woman answered the serpent, “We may eat from the fruit of the trees of the garden,

3 but about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden God said, ‘You are neither to eat from it nor touch it, or you will die.’ ”

4 The serpent said to the woman, “It is not true that you will surely die;

5 because God knows that on the day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it had a pleasing appearance and that the tree was desirable for making one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her; and he ate.

7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized that they were naked. So they sewed fig leaves together to make themselves loincloths.

The Earth is judged, flooded, and renewed

Genesis 6:1–8 (CJB)

1 In time, when men began to multiply on earth, and daughters were born to them,

2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were attractive; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose.

3 Adonai said, “My Spirit will not live in human beings forever, for they too are flesh; therefore their life span is to be 120 years.”

4 The N’filim were on the earth in those days, and also afterwards, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them; these were the ancient heroes, men of renown.

5 Adonai saw that the people on earth were very wicked, that all the imaginings of their hearts were always of evil only.

6 Adonai regretted that he had made humankind on the earth; it grieved his heart.

7 Adonai said, “I will wipe out humankind, whom I have created, from the whole earth; and not only human beings, but animals, creeping things and birds in the air; for I regret that I ever made them.”

8 But Noach found grace in the sight of Adonai.

S’dom and ‘Amora

Genesis 19:23–32 (CJB)

23 By the time Lot had come to Tzo‘ar, the sun had risen over the land.

24 Then Adonai caused sulfur and fire to rain down upon S’dom and ‘Amora from Adonai out of the sky.

25 He overthrew those cities, the entire plain, all the inhabitants of the cities and everything growing in the ground.

26 But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a column of salt.

27 Avraham got up early in the morning, went to the place where he had stood before Adonai,

28 and looked out toward S’dom and ‘Amora, scanning the entire plain. There before him the smoke was rising from the land like smoke from a furnace!

29 But when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Avraham and sent Lot out, away from the destruction, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot lived.

30 Lot went up from Tzo‘ar and lived in the hills with his two daughters, because he was afraid to stay in Tzo‘ar. He and his two daughters lived in a cave.

31 The firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there isn’t a man on earth to come in to us in the manner customary in the world.

32 Come, let’s have our father drink wine; then we’ll sleep with him, and that way we’ll enable our father to have descendants.”

ADONAI gives the Torah

Exodus 19:3–6 (CJB)

3 Moshe went up to God, and Adonai called to him from the mountain: “Here is what you are to say to the household of Ya‘akov, to tell the people of Isra’el:

4 ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.

5 Now if you will pay careful attention to what I say and keep my covenant, then you will be my own treasure from among all the peoples, for all the earth is mine;

6 and you will be a kingdom of cohanim for me, a nation set apart.’ These are the words you are to speak to the people of Isra’el.”

Ratification of the Covenant

Exodus 24:1–11 (CJB)

1 To Moshe [Adonai] said, “Come up to Adonai—you, Aharon, Nadav, Avihu, and seventy of the leaders of Isra’el. Prostrate yourselves at a distance,

2 while Moshe alone approaches Adonai—the others are not to approach, and the people are not to go up with him.”

3 Moshe came and told the people everything Adonai had said, including all the rulings. The people answered with one voice: “We will obey every word Adonai has spoken.”

4 Moshe wrote down all the words of Adonai. He rose early in the morning, built an altar at the base of the mountain and set upright twelve large stones to represent the twelve tribes of Isra’el.

5 He sent the young men of the people of Isra’el to offer burnt offerings and sacrifice peace offerings of oxen to Adonai.

6 Moshe took half of the blood and put it in basins; the other half of the blood he splashed against the altar.

7 Then he took the book of the covenant and read it aloud, so that the people could hear; and they responded, “Everything that Adonai has spoken, we will do and obey.”

8 Moshe took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant which Adonai has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

9 Moshe, Aharon, Nadav, Avihu and seventy of the leaders went up;

10 and they saw the God of Isra’el. Under his feet was something like a sapphire stone pavement as clear as the sky itself.

11 He did not reach out his hand against these notables of Isra’el; on the contrary, they saw God, even as they were eating and drinking.

The Golden Calf

Exodus 32:7–10 (CJB)

7 Adonai said to Moshe, “Go down! Hurry! Your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have become corrupt!

8 So quickly they have turned aside from the way I ordered them to follow! They have cast a metal statue of a calf, worshipped it, sacrificed to it and said, ‘Isra’el! Here is your god, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!’ ”

9 Adonai continued speaking to Moshe: “I have been watching these people; and you can see how stiff-necked they are.

10 Now leave me alone, so that my anger can blaze against them, and I can put an end to them! I will make a great nation out of you instead.”

Commands for daily life

Leviticus 18:1–30 (CJB)

1 Adonai said to Moshe,

2 “Speak to the people of Isra’el; tell them, ‘I am Adonai your God.

3 You are not to engage in the activities found in the land of Egypt, where you used to live; and you are not to engage in the activities found in the land of Kena‘an, where I am bringing you; nor are you to live by their laws.

4 You are to obey my rulings and laws and live accordingly; I am Adonai your God.

5 You are to observe my laws and rulings; if a person does them, he will have life through them; I am Adonai.

6 “ ‘None of you is to approach anyone who is a close relative in order to have sexual relations; I am Adonai.

7 You are not to have sexual relations with your father, and you are not to have sexual relations with your mother. She is your mother—do not have sexual relations with her.

8 You are not to have sexual relations with your father’s wife; that is your father’s prerogative.

9 You are not to have sexual relations with your sister, the daughter of your father or the daughter of your mother, whether born at home or elsewhere. Do not have sexual relations with them.

10 You are not to have sexual relations with your son’s daughter or with your daughter’s daughter. Do not have sexual relations with them, because their sexual disgrace will be your own.

11 You are not to have sexual relations with your father’s wife’s daughter, born to your father, because she is your sister; do not have sexual relations with her.

12 You are not to have sexual relations with your father’s sister, because she is your father’s close relative.

13 You are not to have sexual relations with your mother’s sister, because she is your mother’s close relative.

14 You are not to disgrace your father’s brother by having sexual relations with his wife, because she is your aunt.

15 You are not to have sexual relations with your daughter-in-law; because she is your son’s wife. Do not have sexual relations with her.

16 You are not to have sexual relations with your brother’s wife, because this is your brother’s prerogative.

17 “ ‘You are not to have sexual relations with both a woman and her daughter, nor are you to have sexual relations with her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter; they are close relatives of hers, and it would be shameful.

18 You are not to take a woman to be a rival with her sister and have sexual relations with her while her sister is still alive.

19 You are not to approach a woman in order to have sexual relations with her when she is unclean from her time of niddah.

20 You are not to go to bed with your neighbour’s wife and thus become unclean with her.

21 “ ‘You are not to let any of your children be sacrificed to Molekh, thereby profaning the name of your God; I am Adonai.

22 “ ‘You are not to go to bed with a man as with a woman; it is an abomination.

23 “ ‘You are not to have sexual relations with any kind of animal and thus become unclean with it; nor is any woman to present herself to an animal to have sexual relations with it; it is perversion.

24 “ ‘Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these things, because all the nations which I am expelling ahead of you are defiled with them.

25 The land has become unclean, and this is why I am punishing it—the land itself will vomit out its inhabitants.

26 But you are to keep my laws and rulings and not engage in any of these disgusting practices, neither the citizen nor the foreigner living with you;

27 for the people of the land have committed all these abominations, and the land is now defiled.

28 If you make the land unclean, it will vomit you out too, just as it is vomiting out the nation that was there before you.

29 For those who engage in any of these disgusting practices, whoever they may be, will be cut off from their people.

30 So keep my charge not to follow any of these abominable customs that others before you have followed and thus defile yourselves by doing them. I am Adonai your God.’ ”

Blessings of Obedience

Deuteronomy 28:1–14 (CJB)

1 “If you listen closely to what Adonai your God says, observing and obeying all his mitzvot which I am giving you today, Adonai your God will raise you high above all the nations on earth;

2 and all the following blessings will be yours in abundance—if you will do what Adonai your God says:

3 “A blessing on you in the city, and a blessing on you in the countryside.

4 “A blessing on the fruit of your body, the fruit of your land and the fruit of your livestock—the young of your cattle and flocks.

5 “A blessing on your grain-basket and kneading-bowl.

6 “A blessing on you when you go out, and a blessing on you when you come in.

7 “Adonai will cause your enemies attacking you to be defeated before you; they will advance on you one way and flee before you seven ways.

8 “Adonai will order a blessing to be with you in your barns and in everything you undertake; he will bless you in the land Adonai your God is giving you.

9 “Adonai will establish you as a people separated out for himself, as he has sworn to you—if you will observe the mitzvot of Adonai your God and follow his ways.

10 Then all the peoples on earth will see that Adonai’s name, his presence, is with you; so that they will be afraid of you.

11 “Adonai will give you great abundance of good things—of the fruit of your body, the fruit of your livestock and the fruit of your land in the land Adonai swore to your ancestors to give you.

12 Adonai will open for you his good treasure, the sky, to give your land its rain at the right seasons and to bless everything you undertake. You will lend to many nations and not borrow;

13 Adonai will make you the head and not the tail; and you will be only above, never below—if you will listen to, observe and obey the mitzvot of Adonai your God

14 and not turn away from any of the words I am ordering you today, neither to the right nor to the left, to follow after other gods and serve them.

Curses of Disobedience

Deuteronomy 28:15–68 (CJB)

15 “But if you refuse to pay attention to what Adonai your God says, and do not observe and obey all his mitzvot and regulations which I am giving you today, then all the following curses will be yours in abundance:

16 “A curse on you in the city, and a curse on you in the countryside.

17 “A curse on your grain-basket and kneading-bowl.

18 “A curse on the fruit of your body, the fruit of your land and the young of your cattle and flocks.

19 “A curse on you when you come in, and a curse on you when you go out.

20 “Adonai will send on you curses, disasters and frustration in everything you set out to do, until you are destroyed and quickly perish, because of your evil actions in abandoning me.

21 “Adonai will bring on you a plague that will stay with you until he has exterminated you from the land you are entering in order to take possession of it.

22 Adonai will strike you down with wasting diseases, fever, inflammation, fiery heat, drought, blasting winds and mildew; and they will pursue you until you perish.

23 “The sky over your head will be brass and the earth under you iron.

24 Adonai will turn the rain your land needs into powder and dust that will fall on you from the sky until you are destroyed.

25 “Adonai your God will cause you to be defeated before your enemies; you will advance on them one way and flee before them seven. You will become an object of horror to every kingdom on earth.

26 Your carcasses will become food for all the birds in the air and the wild animals, and there will be no one to scare them away.

27 Adonai will strike you down with the boils that broke out on the Egyptians, tumours, skin lesions and itching, all incurable.

28 Adonai will strike you with insanity, blindness and utter confusion.

29 You will grope about at noon like a blind person groping in the dark, unable to find your way. “You will be continually oppressed and robbed, and there will be no one to save you.

30 You will get engaged to a woman, but another man will marry her. You will build a house but not live in it. You will plant a vineyard but not use its fruit.

31 Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you won’t eat any of its meat. Your donkey will be taken away from you by force as you watch, and you won’t get it back. Your sheep will be given to your enemies, and there will be no one to help you.

32 Your sons and daughters will be handed over to another people; you will watch for them longingly all day but not see them; and there will be nothing you can do about it.

33 A nation unknown to you will eat the fruit of your land and labour. Yes, you will be continually oppressed and crushed,

34 till you go crazy from what your eyes have to see.

35 Adonai will strike you down in the knees and legs with painful and incurable boils; they will spread from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head.

36 Adonai will bring you and your king whom you have put over yourselves to a nation you have not known, neither you nor your ancestors; and there you will serve other gods made of wood and stone.

37 You will be so devastated as to become a proverb and a laughingstock among all the peoples to which Adonai will drive you.

38 “You will carry much seed out to the field but gather little in, because locusts will devour it.

39 You will plant vineyards and dress them but neither drink the wine nor gather the grapes, because worms will eat them.

40 You will have olive trees throughout your territory but not anoint yourself with the oil, because your olives will fall off unripe.

41 You will father sons and daughters, but they won’t belong to you, because they will go into captivity.

42 The bugs will inherit all your trees and the produce of your land.

43 “The foreigner living with you will rise higher and higher while you sink lower and lower.

44 He will lend to you, but you will not lend to him; he will be the head and you the tail.

45 “All these curses will come on you, pursuing you and overtaking you until you are destroyed, because you didn’t pay attention to what Adonai your God said, observing his mitzvot and regulations that he gave you.

46 These curses will be on you and your descendants as a sign and a wonder forever.

47 Because you didn’t serve Adonai your God with joy and gladness in your heart when you had such an abundance of everything;

48 Adonai will send your enemy against you; and you will serve him when you are hungry, thirsty, poorly clothed and lacking everything; he will put a yoke of iron on your neck until he destroys you.

49 Yes, Adonai will bring against you a nation from far away that will swoop down on you from the end of the earth like a vulture, a nation whose language you don’t understand,

50 a nation grim in appearance, whose people neither respect the old nor pity the young.

51 They will devour the offspring of your livestock and the produce of your soil, until you have been destroyed. They will leave you without grain, wine, olive oil, or your young cattle and sheep—until they have caused you to perish.

52 They will besiege all your towns until your high, fortified walls, in which you trusted, collapse everywhere in your land, which Adonai your God gave you.

53 Then, because of the severity of the siege and distress that your enemies are inflicting on you, you will eat the offspring of your own body, the flesh of your own sons and daughters, whom Adonai your God has given you.

54 Even the most gentle and sensitive man among you will be without pity for his brother, his beloved wife or his surviving children,

55 to the degree that he will refuse to share with any of them the flesh of his children whom he is eating; because if he did, he would have nothing left for himself—in the severity of the siege and distress your enemies are inflicting on you in all your towns.

56 The most delicate and sensitive woman among you, so sensitive and delicate that she wouldn’t think of touching the sole of her foot to the ground, will so begrudge her own beloved husband, son and daughter

57 that she will secretly eat the afterbirth that comes out of her and even her own children as she bears them—so desperately hungry will she be in the severity of the siege and distress your enemies are inflicting on you in your towns.

58 “If you will not observe and obey all the words of this Torah that are written in this book, so that you will fear this glorious and awesome name, Adonai your God;

59 then Adonai will strike down you and your descendants with extraordinary plagues and severe sicknesses that go on and on.

60 He will bring back upon you all the diseases the Egyptians had, which you were in dread of; and they will cling to you.

61 Not only that, but Adonai will bring upon you all the sicknesses and plagues that are not written in this book of the Torah—until you are destroyed.

62 You will be left few in number, whereas you were once as numerous as the stars in the sky—because you did not pay attention to the voice of Adonai your God.

63 “Thus it will come about that just as once Adonai took joy in seeking to do you good and increase your numbers, so now Adonai will take joy in causing you to perish and be destroyed, and you will be plucked off the land you are entering in order to take possession of it.

64 Adonai will scatter you among all peoples from one end of the earth to the other, and there you will serve other gods, made of wood and stone, which neither you nor your ancestors have known.

65 Among these nations you will not find repose, and there will be no rest for the sole of your foot; rather Adonai will give you there anguish of heart, dimness of eyes and apathy of spirit.

66 Your life will hang in doubt before you; you will be afraid night and day and have no assurance that you will stay alive.

67 In the morning you will say, ‘Oh, how I wish it were evening!’ and in the evening you will say, ‘Oh, how I wish it were morning!’—because of the fear overwhelming your heart and the sights your eyes will see.

68 Finally, Adonai will bring you back in ships to Egypt, the place of which I said to you, ‘You will never ever see it again’; and there you will try to sell yourselves as slaves to your enemies, but no one will buy you.”

Redemption

Isaiah 54:1–17 (CJB)

1 “Sing, barren woman who has never had a child! Burst into song, shout for joy, you who have never been in labour! For the deserted wife will have more children than the woman who is living with her husband,” says Adonai.

2 Enlarge the space for your tent, extend the curtains of your dwelling; do not hold back, lengthen your cords, make your tent pegs firm.

3 For you will spread out to the right and the left, your descendants will possess the nations and inhabit the desolated cities.

4 Don’t be afraid, for you won’t be ashamed; don’t be discouraged, for you won’t be disgraced. You will forget the shame of your youth, no longer remember the dishonour of being widowed.

5 For your husband is your Maker, Adonai-Tzva’ot is his name. The Holy One of Isra’el is your Redeemer. He will be called the God of all the earth.

6 For Adonai has called you back like a wife abandoned and grief-stricken; “A wife married in her youth cannot be rejected,” says your God.

7 “Briefly I abandoned you, but with great compassion I am taking you back.

8 I was angry for a moment and hid my face from you; but with everlasting grace I will have compassion on you,” says Adonai your Redeemer.

9 “For me this is like Noach’s flood. Just as I swore that no flood like Noach’s would ever again cover the earth, so now I swear that never again will I be angry with you or rebuke you.

10 For the mountains may leave and the hills be removed, but my grace will never leave you, and my covenant of peace will not be removed,” says Adonai, who has compassion on you.

11 “Storm-ravaged [city], unconsoled, I will set your stones in the finest way, lay your foundations with sapphires,

12 make your windows shine with rubies, your gates with garnet, your walls with gemstones.

13 All your children will be taught by Adonai; your children will have great peace.

14 In righteousness you will be established, far from oppression, with nothing to fear; far from ruin, for it will not come near you.

15 Any alliance that forms against you will not be my doing; whoever tries to form such an alliance will fall because of you.

16 It is I who created the craftsman who blows on the coals and forges weapons suited to their purpose; I also created the destroyer to work havoc.

17 No weapon made will prevail against you. In court you will refute every accusation. The servants of Adonai inherit all this; the reward for their righteousness is from me,” says Adonai.

Isaiah 55:8–11 (CJB)

8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways,” says Adonai.

9 “As high as the sky is above the earth are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

10 For just as rain and snow fall from the sky and do not return there, but water the earth, causing it to bud and produce, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater;

11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth— it will not return to me unfulfilled; but it will accomplish what I intend, and cause to succeed what I sent it to do.”

Isaiah 56:1–12 (CJB)

1 Here is what Adonai says: “Observe justice, do what is right, for my salvation is close to coming, my righteousness to being revealed.”

2 Happy is the person who does this, anyone who grasps it firmly, who keeps Shabbat and does not profane it, and keeps himself from doing any evil.

3 A foreigner joining Adonai should not say, “Adonai will separate me from his people”; likewise the eunuch should not say, “I am only a dried-up tree.”

4 For here is what Adonai says: “As for the eunuchs who keep my Shabbats, who choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant:

5 in my house, within my walls, I will give them power and a name greater than sons and daughters; I will give him an everlasting name that will not be cut off.

6 “And the foreigners who join themselves to Adonai to serve him, to love the name of Adonai, and to be his workers, all who keep Shabbat and do not profane it, and hold fast to my covenant,

7 I will bring them to my holy mountain and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”

8 Adonai Elohim says, he who gathers Isra’el’s exiles: “There are yet others I will gather, besides those gathered already.”

9 All you wild animals, come and devour, yes, all you animals in the forest!

10 [Isra’el’s] watchmen are, all of them, blind; they don’t know anything. They are all dumb dogs, unable to bark, lying there dreaming, loving to sleep.

11 Greedy dogs, never satisfied— such are the shepherds, unable to understand; they all turn to their own way, each one intent on his own gain:

12 “Come, I’ll get some wine, we’ll fill up on good, strong liquor! Tomorrow will be like today; in fact, it will be even better!”

Zechariah 9:9

520-518 BCE Approx.

⁹ Rejoice with all your heart, daughter of Tziyon!
Shout out loud, daughter of Yerushalayim!
Look! Your king is coming to you.
He is righteous, and he is victorious.
Yet he is humble—he’s riding on a donkey,
yes, on a lowly donkey’s colt.

Prophesy Fulfilled

John 1:1–5 (CJB)

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

2 He was with God in the beginning.

3 All things came to be through him, and without him nothing made had being.

4 In him was life, and the life was the light of mankind.

5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not suppressed it.

Matthew 1:21–23 (CJB)

21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Yeshua, [which means ‘Adonai saves,’] because he will save his people from their sins.”

22 All this happened in order to fulfill what Adonai had said through the prophet,

23 “The virgin will conceive and bear a son, and they will call him ‘Immanu El.” (The name means, “God is with us.”)

Luke 4:16–21 (CJB)

16 Now when he went to Natzeret, where he had been brought up, on Shabbat he went to the synagogue as usual. He stood up to read,

17 and he was given the scroll of the prophet Yesha‘yahu. Unrolling the scroll, he found the place where it was written,

18 “The Spirit of Adonai is upon me because he has anointed me to announce Good News to the poor; he has sent me to proclaim freedom for the imprisoned and renewed sight for the blind, to release those who have been crushed,

19 to proclaim a year of the favor of Adonai.”

20 After closing the scroll and returning it to the shammash, he sat down; and the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on him.

21 He started to speak to them: “Today, as you heard it read, this passage of the Tanakh was fulfilled!”

John 12:35–50 (CJB)

35 Yeshua said to them, “The light will be with you only a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, or the dark will overtake you; he who walks in the dark doesn’t know where he’s going.

36 While you have the light, put your trust in the light, so that you may become people of light.” Yeshua said these things, then went off and kept himself hidden from them.

37 Even though he had performed so many miracles in their presence, they still did not put their trust in him,

38 in order that what Yesha‘yahu the prophet had said might be fulfilled, “Adonai, who has believed our report? To whom has the arm of Adonai been revealed?”

39 The reason they could not believe was—as Yesha‘yahu said elsewhere—

40 “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so that they do not see with their eyes, understand with their hearts, and do t’shuvah, so that I could heal them.”

41 (Yesha‘yahu said these things because he saw the Sh’khinah of Yeshua and spoke about him.)

42 Nevertheless, many of the leaders did trust in him; but because of the P’rushim they did not say so openly, out of fear of being banned from the synagogue;

43 for they loved praise from other people more than praise from God.

44 Yeshua declared publicly, “Those who put their trust in me are trusting not merely in me, but in the One who sent me.

45 Also those who see me see the One who sent me.

46 I have come as a light into the world, so that everyone who trusts in me might not remain in the dark.

47 If anyone hears what I am saying and does not observe it, I don’t judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world.

48 Those who reject me and don’t accept what I say have a judge—the word which I have spoken will judge them on the Last Day.

49 For I have not spoken on my own initiative, but the Father who sent me has given me a command, namely, what to say and how to say it.

50 And I know that his command is eternal life. So what I say is simply what the Father has told me to say.”

Genealogy of Yeshua

Matthew 1:1–17 (CJB)

1 This is the genealogy of Yeshua the Messiah, son of David, son of Avraham:

2 Avraham was the father of Yitz’chak, Yitz’chak was the father of Ya‘akov, Ya‘akov was the father of Y’hudah and his brothers,

3 Y’hudah was the father of Peretz and Zerach (their mother was Tamar), Peretz was the father of Hetzron, Hetzron was the father of Ram,

4 Ram was the father of ‘Amminadav, ‘Amminadav was the father of Nachshon, Nachshon was the father of Salmon,

5 Salmon was the father of Bo‘az (his mother was Rachav), Bo‘az was the father of ‘Oved (his mother was Rut), ‘Oved was the father of Yishai,

6 Yishai was the father of David the king. David was the father of Shlomo (his mother was the wife of Uriyah),

7 Shlomo was the father of Rechav‘am, Rechav‘am was the father of Aviyah, Aviyah was the father of Asa,

8 Asa was the father of Y’hoshafat, Y’hoshafat was the father of Yoram, Yoram was the father of ‘Uziyahu,

9 ‘Uziyahu was the father of Yotam, Yotam was the father of Achaz, Achaz was the father of Hizkiyahu,

10 Hizkiyahu was the father of M’nasheh, M’nasheh was the father of Amon, Amon was the father of Yoshiyahu,

11 Yoshiyahu was the father of Y’khanyahu and his brothers at the time of the Exile to Bavel.

12 After the Babylonian Exile, Y’khanyahu was the father of Sh’altiel, Sh’altiel was the father of Z’rubavel,

13 Z’rubavel was the father of Avihud, Avihud was the father of Elyakim, Elyakim was the father of ‘Azur,

14 ‘Azur was the father of Tzadok, Tzadok was the father of Yakhin, Yakhin was the father of El’ichud,

15 El’ichud was the father of El‘azar, El‘azar was the father of Mattan, Mattan was the father of Ya‘akov,

16 Ya‘akov was the father of Yosef the husband of Miryam, from whom was born the Yeshua who was called the Messiah.

17 Thus there were fourteen generations from Avraham to David, fourteen generations from David to the Babylonian Exile, and fourteen generations from the Babylonian Exile to the Messiah.

Yeshua immersed by Yochanan

Matthew 3:13–17 (CJB)

13 Then Yeshua came from the Galil to the Yarden to be immersed by Yochanan.

14 But Yochanan tried to stop him. “You are coming to me? I ought to be immersed by you!”

15 However, Yeshua answered him, “Let it be this way now, because we should do everything righteousness requires.” Then Yochanan let him.

16 As soon as Yeshua had been immersed, he came up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, he saw the Spirit of God coming down upon him like a dove,

17 and a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; I am well pleased with him.”

The Spirit of ADONAI

Luke 4:18–19 (CJB)

¹⁸ “The Spirit of ADONAI is upon me
because he has anointed me
to announce Good News to the poor;
he has sent me to proclaim freedom for the imprisoned
and renewed sight for the blind,
to release those who have been crushed,
¹⁹ to proclaim a year of the favour of ADONAI.”

Matthew 13:57 (CJB)

57 And they took offense at him. But Yeshua said to them, “The only place people don’t respect a prophet is in his home town and in his own house.”

Matthew 16:11 (CJB)

11 How can you possibly think I was talking to you about bread? Guard yourselves from the hametz of the P’rushim and Tz’dukim!”

Matthew 19:28 (CJB)

²⁸ Yeshua said to them, “Yes. I tell you that in the regenerated world, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones and judge the twelve tribes of Isra’el.

Matthew 21:5
⁵ “Say to the daughter of Tziyon,
‘Look! Your King is coming to you,
riding humbly on a donkey,
and on a colt, the offspring of a beast of burden!’

John 2:1–12 (CJB)

¹ On Tuesday there was a wedding at Kanah in the Galil; and the mother of Yeshua was there. ² Yeshua too was invited to the wedding, along with his talmidim. ³ The wine ran out, and Yeshua’s mother said to him, “They have no more wine.” ⁴ Yeshua replied, “Mother, why should that concern me?—or you? My time hasn’t come yet.” ⁵ His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” ⁶ Now six stone water-jars were standing there for the Jewish ceremonial washings, each with a capacity of twenty or thirty gallons. ⁷ Yeshua told them, “Fill the jars with water,” and they filled them to the brim. ⁸ He said, “Now draw some out, and take it to the man in charge of the banquet”; and they took it. ⁹ The man in charge tasted the water; it had now turned into wine! He did not know where it had come from, but the servants who had drawn the water knew. So, he called the bridegroom ¹⁰ and said to him, “Everyone else serves the good wine first and the poorer wine after people have drunk freely. But you have kept the good wine until now!” ¹¹ This, the first of Yeshua’s miraculous signs, he did at Kanah in the Galil; he manifested his glory, and his talmidim came to trust in him. ¹² Afterwards, he, his mother and brothers, and his talmidim went down to K’far-Nachum and stayed there a few days.

John 8:19 (CJB)

¹⁹ They said to him, “Where is this ‘father’ of yours?” Yeshua answered, “You know neither me nor my Father; if you knew me, you would know my Father too.”

John 10:11–16 (CJB)

¹¹ “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ¹² The hired hand, since he isn’t a shepherd and the sheep aren’t his own, sees the wolf coming, abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf drags them off and scatters them. ¹³ The hired worker behaves like this because that’s all he is, a hired worker; so it doesn’t matter to him what happens to the sheep. ¹⁴ I am the good shepherd; I know my own, and my own know me—¹⁵ just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father—and I lay down my life on behalf of the sheep. ¹⁶ Also I have other sheep which are not from this pen; I need to bring them, and they will hear my voice; and there will be one flock, one shepherd.

John 10:17–18 (CJB)

¹⁷ “This is why the Father loves me: because I lay down my life—in order to take it up again! ¹⁸ No one takes it away from me; on the contrary, I lay it down of my own free will. I have the power to lay it down, and I have the power to take it up again. This is what my Father commanded me to do.”

John 10:29–31 (CJB)

²⁹ My Father, who gave them to me, is greater than all; and no one can snatch them from the Father’s hands. ³⁰ I and the Father are one.” ³¹ Once again the Judeans picked up rocks in order to stone him.

John 10:32–36 (CJB)

³² Yeshua answered them, “You have seen me do many good deeds that reflect the Father’s power; for which one of these deeds are you stoning me?”

³³ The Judeans replied, “We are not stoning you for any good deed, but for blasphemy—because you, who are only a man, are making yourself out to be God [Hebrew: Elohim].”

³⁴ Yeshua answered them, “Isn’t it written in your Torah, ‘I have said, “You people are Elohim’ ”? ³⁵ If he called ‘elohim’ the people to whom the word of Elohim was addressed (and the Tanakh cannot be broken), ³⁶ then are you telling the one whom the Father set apart as holy and sent into the world, ‘You are committing blasphemy,’ just because I said, ‘I am a son of Elohim’?

John 12:15
¹⁵ “Daughter of Tziyon, don’t be afraid!
Look! your King is coming,
sitting on a donkey’s colt.”

John 14:6 (CJB)

⁶ Yeshua said, “I AM the Way—and the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through me.

Matthew 24:3–8 (CJB)

³ When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the talmidim came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that you are coming, and that the ‘olam hazeh is ending?”

⁴ Yeshua replied: “Watch out! Don’t let anyone fool you! ⁵ For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah!’ and they will lead many astray. ⁶ You will hear the noise of wars nearby and the news of wars far off; see to it that you don’t become frightened. Such things must happen, but the end is yet to come. ⁷ For peoples will fight each other, nations will fight each other, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various parts of the world; ⁸ all this is but the beginning of the ‘birth-pains.’

Matthew 24:9–25 (CJB)

⁹ At that time you will be arrested and handed over to be punished and put to death, and all peoples will hate you because of me. ¹⁰ At that time many will be trapped into betraying and hating each other, ¹¹ many false prophets will appear and fool many people; ¹² and many people’s love will grow cold because of increased distance from Torah. ¹³ But whoever holds out till the end will be delivered. ¹⁴ And this Good News about the Kingdom will be announced throughout the whole world as a witness to all the Goyim. It is then that the end will come.

¹⁵ “So when you see the abomination that causes desolation spoken about through the prophet Dani’el standing in the Holy Place” (let the reader understand the allusion), ¹⁶ “that will be the time for those in Y’hudah to escape to the hills. ¹⁷ If someone is on the roof, he must not go down to gather his belongings from his house; ¹⁸ if someone is in the field, he must not turn back to get his coat. ¹⁹ What a terrible time it will be for pregnant women and nursing mothers! ²⁰ Pray that you will not have to escape in winter or on Shabbat. ²¹ For there will be trouble then worse than there has ever been from the beginning of the world until now, and there will be nothing like it again! ²² Indeed, if the length of this time had not been limited, no one would survive; but for the sake of those who have been chosen, its length will be limited.

²³ “At that time, if someone says to you, ‘Look! Here’s the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ don’t believe him. ²⁴ For there will appear false Messiahs and false prophets performing great miracles—amazing things!—so as to fool even the chosen, if possible. ²⁵ There! I have told you in advance!

Revelation 20:4–6 (CJB)

90-95 CE Approx.

⁴ Then I saw thrones, and those seated on them received authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for testifying about Yeshua and proclaiming the Word of God, also those who had not worshipped the beast or its image and had not received the mark on their foreheads and on their hands. They came to life and ruled with the Messiah for a thousand years. ⁵ (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were over.)

This is the first resurrection. ⁶ Blessed and holy is anyone who has a part in the first resurrection; over him the second death has no power. On the contrary, they will be cohanim of God and of the Messiah, and they will rule with him for the thousand years.

Revelation 21:1–4 (CJB)

¹ Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had passed away, and the sea was no longer there. ² Also I saw the holy city, New Yerushalayim, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

³ I heard a loud voice from the throne say, “See! God’s Sh’khinah is with mankind, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and he himself, God-with-them, will be their God. ⁴ He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will no longer be any death; and there will no longer be any mourning, crying or pain; because the old order has passed away.”

Why did the Jewish people reject Yeshua even when all prophesy about Yeshua, appeared in the Torah and Prophets at various times? Did Yeshua oppose Jewish teaching, the clergy or Jewish traditions? Were the circumstances conducive to rebellion or other influences or a combination of many contributing factors that collectively destroyed pure and correct Scripture teaching by Yeshua.

If literal and allegorical interpretations were adopted in arriving at a decision on prophesy, there could have been a clash between the two methods and factions, where influence or power dominated the outcome.

Jews and Christians may have their own justifications and rationale, but every abandonment or separation is because of theological differences. Theology is the ‘golden calf’ departing from the literal meaning of ADONAI’s Scripture.

Numbers 15:16 (CJB)

¹⁶ The same Torah and standard of judgment will apply to both you and the foreigner living with you.’ ” (vi) 

Mark 7:8–13 (CJB)

⁸ “You depart from God’s command and hold onto human tradition. ⁹ Indeed,” he said to them, “you have made a fine art of departing from God’s command in order to keep your tradition! ¹⁰ For Moshe said, ‘Honour your father and your mother,’ and ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’ ¹¹ But you say, ‘If someone says to his father or mother, “I have promised as a korban” ’ ” (that is, as a gift to God) “ ‘ “what I might have used to help you,” ’ ¹² then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother. ¹³ Thus, with your tradition which you had handed down to you, you nullify the Word of God! And you do other things like this.”

Torah, Prophets, Gospels and Revelation encompasses a single and continuing story of redemption which could not be separated. Stepping out of these books for ‘study’ has and will confuse and complicate the ‘literal meaning’ into many versions of an alternative, irrelevant or simply wrong meaning.

Rejection of Yeshua:

• Judaism affirms that Jesus did not fulfill the messianic prophecies by ushering in an era of universal peace (Isaiah 2:4), building the Third Temple (Ezekiel 37:26–28), and gathering all Jews back to the Land of Israel (Isaiah 43:5–6).^[14]
• Judaism deems the worship of any person a form of idolatry, rejecting the claims that Jesus was divine, an intermediary to God, or part of a Trinity.^{[15][11][16][17]}
• Jews believe the Messiah will be a direct (blood) descendant of King David through Solomon on his father’s side and will be born naturally to a husband and wife (Genesis 49:10, Isaiah 11:1, Jeremiah 23:5, 33:17; Ezekiel 34:23–24).
• “The point is this: that the whole Christology of the Church – the whole complex of doctrines about the Son of God who died on the Cross to save humanity from sin and death – is incompatible with Judaism, and indeed in discontinuity with the Hebraism that preceded it.”^[18]
• “Aside from its belief in Jesus as the Messiah, Christianity has altered many of the most fundamental concepts of Judaism.” (Kaplan, Aryeh)^[19]
• “…the doctrine of Christ was and will remain alien to Jewish religious thought.”^[20]
• “For two thousand years, Jews rejected the claim that Jesus fulfilled the messianic prophecies of the Hebrew Bible, as well as the dogmatic claims about him made by the church fathers – that he was born of a virgin, the son of God, part of a divine Trinity, and was resurrected after his death. … For two thousand years, a central wish of Christianity was to be the object of desire by Jews, whose conversion would demonstrate their acceptance that Jesus has fulfilled their own biblical prophecies.”^[21]
• “No Jew accepts Jesus as the Messiah. When someone makes that faith commitment, they become Christian. It is not possible for someone to be both Christian and Jewish.”^[22]

On the Jewish side, the accounts of Jewish rejection of Jesus are prominently featured in the Birkat haMinim of the Amidah and the Talmud. The Talmud indicates that Rabbi Gamaliel II directed Samuel ha-Katan to write another paragraph for the central Amidah-prayer, inveighing against (early Christian) informers and heretics, which was inserted as the twelfth paragraph in modern sequence (Birkat haMinim).^[23]

On the Christian side, the accounts of Jewish rejection of Jesus are prominently featured in the New Testament, especially the Gospel of John. For example, in 7:1–9 Jesus moves around in Galilee but avoids Judea, because “the Jews/Judeans” were looking for a chance to kill him. In 10:20 many said ″he hath a devil, and is mad″. In 7:12–13 some said “he is a good man” whereas others said he deceives the people, but these were all “whispers”, no one would speak publicly for “fear of the Jews/Judeans”. Jewish rejection is also recorded in 7:45–52, 8:39–59, 10:22–42 and 12:36–43. 12:42 says many did believe, but they kept it private, for fear the Pharisees would exclude them from the Synagogue, see also Council of Jamnia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rejection_of_Jesus (Wikipedia 2024 March 12)

John 8:39–59 (CJB)

39 They answered him, “Our father is Avraham.” Yeshua replied, “If you are children of Avraham, then do the things Avraham did!

40 As it is, you are out to kill me, a man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Avraham did nothing like that!

41 You are doing the things your father does.” “We’re not illegitimate children!” they said to him. “We have only one Father—God!”

42 Yeshua replied to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me; because I came out from God; and now I have arrived here. I did not come on my own; he sent me.

43 Why don’t you understand what I’m saying? Because you can’t bear to listen to my message.

44 You belong to your father, Satan, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. From the start he was a murderer, and he has never stood by the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he is speaking in character; because he is a liar—indeed, the inventor of the lie!

45 But as for me, because I tell the truth you don’t believe me.

46 Which one of you can show me where I’m wrong? If I’m telling the truth, why don’t you believe me?

47 Whoever belongs to God listens to what God says; the reason you don’t listen is that you don’t belong to God.”

48 The Judeans answered him, “Aren’t we right in saying you are from Shomron and have a demon?”

49 Yeshua replied, “Me? I have no demon. I am honouring my Father. But you dishonour me.

50 I am not seeking praise for myself. There is One who is seeking it, and he is the judge.

51 Yes, indeed! I tell you that whoever obeys my teaching will never see death.”

52 The Judeans said to him, “Now we know for sure that you have a demon! Avraham died, and so did the prophets; yet you say, ‘Whoever obeys my teaching will never taste death.’

53 Avraham avinu died; you aren’t greater than he, are you? And the prophets also died. Who do you think you are?”

54 Yeshua answered, “If I praise myself, my praise counts for nothing. The One who is praising me is my Father, the very one about whom you keep saying, ‘He is our God.’

55 Now you have not known him, but I do know him; indeed, if I were to say that I don’t know him, I would be a liar like you! But I do know him, and I obey his word.

56 Avraham, your father, was glad that he would see my day; then he saw it and was overjoyed.”

57 “Why, you’re not yet fifty years old,” the Judeans replied, “and you have seen Avraham?”

58 Yeshua said to them, “Yes, indeed! Before Avraham came into being, I AM!”

59 At this, they picked up stones to throw at him; but Yeshua was hidden and left the Temple grounds.

John 12:36–43 (CJB)

36 While you have the light, put your trust in the light, so that you may become people of light.” Yeshua said these things, then went off and kept himself hidden from them.

37 Even though he had performed so many miracles in their presence, they still did not put their trust in him,

38 in order that what Yesha‘yahu the prophet had said might be fulfilled, “Adonai, who has believed our report? To whom has the arm of Adonai been revealed?”

39 The reason they could not believe was—as Yesha‘yahu said elsewhere—

40 “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so that they do not see with their eyes, understand with their hearts, and do t’shuvah, so that I could heal them.”

41 (Yesha‘yahu said these things because he saw the Sh’khinah of Yeshua and spoke about him.)

42 Nevertheless, many of the leaders did trust in him; but because of the P’rushim they did not say so openly, out of fear of being banned from the synagogue;

43 for they loved praise from other people more than praise from God.

Note: ADONAI’s Scripture does not state or imply abandonment or separation; our aim is to present ADONAI’s word in Scripture to enlighten Jews and Christians alike of a single and continuing redemption for all mankind through the Jewish people (Genesis 12:1-3)

Matthew 22:18–22 (CJB)

18 Yeshua, however, knowing their malicious intent, said, “You hypocrites! Why are you trying to trap me?

19 Show me the coin used to pay the tax!” They brought him a denarius;

20 and he asked them, “Whose name and picture are these?”

21 “The Emperor’s,” they replied. Yeshua said to them, “Nu, give the Emperor what belongs to the Emperor. And give to God what belongs to God!”

22 On hearing this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.

Exodus 34:5–6 (CJB)

5 Adonai descended in the cloud, stood with him there and pronounced the name of Adonai.

6 Adonai passed before him and proclaimed: “YUD-HEH-VAV-HEH!!! Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh [Adonai] is God, merciful and compassionate, slow to anger, rich in grace and truth;

A Yeshurun Life for the Chosen Nation of Cohanim is to acknowledge ADONAI’s promise of redemption through Yeshua HaMaschiach. Redemption for all mankind by the Servant’s sacrifice who walked the Holy Land, Immanu’El known to man!

Glorify ADONAI as Yeshua HaMaschiach exemplifies first and above all, before the Jewishness of Scripture, and all that was given to his Nation of Cohanim to re-establish Israel’s blessings – Amen!

Isaiah 9:5 (CJB)

⁵⁽⁶⁾ For a child is born to us,
a son is given to us;
dominion will rest on his shoulders,
and he will be given the name
Pele-Yo‘etz El Gibbor
Avi-‘Ad Sar-Shalom
[Wonder of a Counsellor, Mighty God,
Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace],

If you Love Yeshua HaMaschiach!

A Chosen Life for Christians is to live according to the Torah. Knowing ADONAI’s mitzvot, rules and regulations is the key because ‘judgment’ is according to ADONAI’s mitzvot, rules and regulations not according to theology.

Do you obey Scripture or the theology of Scripture?

Matthew 22:41-46 (CJB)

⁴¹ Then, turning to the assembled P’rushim, Yeshua put a sh’eilah to them: ⁴² “Tell me your view concerning the Messiah: whose son is he?” They said to him, “David’s.” ⁴³ “Then how is it,” he asked them, “that David, inspired by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord,’ when he says,

⁴⁴ ‘ADONAI said to my Lord,
“Sit here at my right hand
until I put your enemies under your feet” ’?

⁴⁵ If David thus calls him ‘Lord,’ how is he his son?” ⁴⁶ No one could think of anything to say in reply; and from that day on, no one dared put to him another sh’eilah.

John 7:1–9 (CJB)

¹ After this, Yeshua travelled around in the Galil, intentionally avoiding Y’hudah because the Judeans were out to kill him. ² But the festival of Sukkot in Y’hudah was near; ³ so his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go into Y’hudah, so that your talmidim can see the miracles you do; ⁴ for no one who wants to become known acts in secret. If you’re doing these things, show yourself to the world!” ⁵ (His brothers spoke this way because they had not put their trust in him.) ⁶ Yeshua said to them, “My time has not yet come; but for you, any time is right. ⁷ The world can’t hate you, but it does hate me, because I keep telling it how wicked its ways are. ⁸ You, go on up to the festival; as for me, I am not going up to this festival now, because the right time for me has not yet come.” ⁹ Having said this, he stayed on in the Galil.

John 7:12–13 (CJB)

¹² And among the crowds there was much whispering about him. Some said, “He’s a good man”; but others said, “No, he is deceiving the masses.” ¹³ However, no one spoke about him openly, for fear of the Judeans.

John 7:45–52 (CJB)

⁴⁵ The guards came back to the head cohanim and the P’rushim, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him in?” ⁴⁶ The guards replied, “No one ever spoke the way this man speaks!” ⁴⁷ “You mean you’ve been taken in as well?” the P’rushim retorted. ⁴⁸ “Has any of the authorities trusted him? Or any of the P’rushim? No! ⁴⁹ True, these ‘am-ha’aretz do, but they know nothing about the Torah, they are under a curse!”

⁵⁰ Nakdimon, the man who had gone to Yeshua before and was one of them, said to them, ⁵¹ “Our Torah doesn’t condemn a man—does it?—until after hearing from him and finding out what he’s doing.” ⁵² They replied, “You aren’t from the Galil too, are you? Study the Tanakh, and see for yourself that no prophet comes from the Galil!”

John 8:19 (CJB)

¹⁹ They said to him, “Where is this ‘father’ of yours?” Yeshua answered, “You know neither me nor my Father; if you knew me, you would know my Father too.”

John 10:29–31 (CJB)

²⁹ My Father, who gave them to me, is greater than all; and no one can snatch them from the Father’s hands. ³⁰ I and the Father are one.” ³¹ Once again the Judeans picked up rocks in order to stone him.

Hanukkah (The feast of Dedication)

John 10:22–42 (CJB)

²² Then came Hanukkah in Yerushalayim. It was winter, ²³ and Yeshua was walking around inside the Temple area, in Shlomo’s Colonnade. ²⁴ So the Judeans surrounded him and said to him, “How much longer are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us publicly!” ²⁵ Yeshua answered them, “I have already told you, and you don’t trust me. The works I do in my Father’s name testify on my behalf, ²⁶ but the reason you don’t trust is that you are not included among my sheep. ²⁷ My sheep listen to my voice, I recognize them, they follow me, ²⁸ and I give them eternal life. They will absolutely never be destroyed, and no one will snatch them from my hands. ²⁹ My Father, who gave them to me, is greater than all; and no one can snatch them from the Father’s hands. ³⁰ I and the Father are one.”

³¹ Once again the Judeans picked up rocks in order to stone him. ³² Yeshua answered them, “You have seen me do many good deeds that reflect the Father’s power; for which one of these deeds are you stoning me?” ³³ The Judeans replied, “We are not stoning you for any good deed, but for blasphemy—because you, who are only a man, are making yourself out to be God [Hebrew: Elohim].” ³⁴ Yeshua answered them, “Isn’t it written in your Torah, ‘I have said, “You people are Elohim’ ”? ³⁵ If he called ‘elohim’ the people to whom the word of Elohim was addressed (and the Tanakh cannot be broken), ³⁶ then are you telling the one whom the Father set apart as holy and sent into the world, ‘You are committing blasphemy,’ just because I said, ‘I am a son of Elohim’?

³⁷ “If I am not doing deeds that reflect my Father’s power, don’t trust me. ³⁸ But if I am, then, even if you don’t trust me, trust the deeds; so that you may understand once and for all that the Father is united with me, and I am united with the Father.” ³⁹ One more time they tried to arrest him, but he slipped out of their hands.

⁴⁰ He went off again beyond the Yarden, where Yochanan had been immersing at first, and stayed there. ⁴¹ Many people came to him and said, “Yochanan performed no miracles, but everything Yochanan said about this man was true.” ⁴² And many people there put their trust in him.

John 12:36–43 (CJB)

³⁶ While you have the light, put your trust in the light, so that you may become people of light.” Yeshua said these things, then went off and kept himself hidden from them.

³⁷ Even though he had performed so many miracles in their presence, they still did not put their trust in him, ³⁸ in order that what Yesha‘yahu the prophet had said might be fulfilled,

“Adonai, who has believed our report?

To whom has the arm of Adonai been revealed?”

³⁹ The reason they could not believe was—as Yesha‘yahu said elsewhere—

⁴⁰  “He has blinded their eyes

and hardened their hearts,

so that they do not see with their eyes,

understand with their hearts,

and do t’shuvah,

so that I could heal them.”

⁴¹ (Yesha‘yahu said these things because he saw the Sh’khinah of Yeshua and spoke about him.) ⁴² Nevertheless, many of the leaders did trust in him; but because of the P’rushim they did not say so openly, out of fear of being banned from the synagogue; ⁴³ for they loved praise from other people more than praise from God.

Mark 7:3–13 (CJB)

³ (For the P’rushim, and indeed all the Judeans, holding fast to the Tradition of the Elders, do not eat unless they have given their hands a ceremonial washing. ⁴ Also, when they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they have rinsed their hands up to the wrist; and they adhere to many other traditions, such as washing cups, pots and bronze vessels.)

⁵ The P’rushim and the Torah-teachers asked him, “Why don’t your talmidim live in accordance with the Tradition of the Elders, but instead eat with ritually unclean hands?” ⁶ Yeshua answered them, “Yesha‘yahu was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites—as it is written,

‘These people honour me with their lips,

but their hearts are far away from me.

⁷ Their worship of me is useless,

because they teach man-made rules as if they were doctrines.’

⁸ “You depart from God’s command and hold onto human tradition. ⁹ Indeed,” he said to them, “you have made a fine art of departing from God’s command in order to keep your tradition! ¹⁰ For Moshe said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’ ¹¹ But you say, ‘If someone says to his father or mother, “I have promised as a korban” ’ ” (that is, as a gift to God) “ ‘ “what I might have used to help you,” ’ ¹² then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother. ¹³ Thus, with your tradition which you had handed down to you, you nullify the Word of God! And you do other things like this.”

Revelation 3:16 (CJB)

¹⁶ So, because you are lukewarm, neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth!

Midrashic eschatology

Jewish Eschatology, also called Midrashic Eschatology, interprets prophesy as a cyclical pattern of historical repetition, meaning prophesies having multiple fulfilments, with an ultimate fulfilment associated with the Judgment Day, Armageddon, which is the final focal point of the redemptive process. Jewish eschatology therefore focusses heavily on patterns.

Liebenberg, Prof (Dr) WA. Eschatology: The Hebrew Shavuah Unlocks All Christian End-time Doctrine (END-TIME STUDIES Book 14) (p. 6). Kindle Edition.

Simply put, Midrash uses the grammatical – historical (literal) approach to interpreting the Scriptures, but it also allows for allegorical (figurative) interpretation as well.

It takes the various texts of Scripture that deal with similar themes or topics, and those that have a common thread; and it interprets them in light of each other using allegory and typology, but this is used to illuminate clear doctrine rather than as a foundation for doctrine.

Liebenberg, Prof (Dr) WA. What is Jewish Eschatology, End-time Studies: How Yeshua taught prophesy (END-TIME STUDIES SERIES Book 1) (p. 1). Kindle Edition.

John 14:6 (CJB)

⁶ Yeshua said, “I AM the Way—and the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through me.