Idolatrous Elders Condemned

1 Then certain of the ^eelders of Israel came to me ^eand sat before me. 2 And the word of the Lord came to me: 3 ^f“Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their hearts, and set ^gthe stumbling block of their iniquity before their faces. ^hShould I indeed let myself be consulted by them? 4 Therefore speak to them and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Any one of the house of Israel who takes his idols into his heart and sets the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and yet comes to the prophet, ⁱI the Lord will answer him as he comes with the multitude of his idols, 5 ^jthat I may lay hold of the hearts of the house of Israel, ^kwho are all estranged from me through their idols.

6 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: ^lRepent and turn away from your idols, and turn away your faces from all your abominations. 7 For any one of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel, ^kwho separates himself from me, taking his idols into his heart and putting the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and yet comes to a prophet to consult me through him, ^mI the Lord will answer him myself. 8 And ⁿI will set my face against that man; I ^owill make him a sign and a byword ⁿand cut him off from the midst of my people, ^pand you shall know that I am the Lord. 9 And if the prophet is deceived and speaks a word, ^qI, the Lord, have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel. 10 And they shall bear their punishment¹—the punishment of the prophet and the punishment of the inquirer shall be alike— 11 that the house of Israel may no more go astray from me, nor ^rdefile themselves anymore with all their transgressions, ^sbut that they may be my people and I may be their God, declares the Lord God.”

Jerusalem Will Not Be Spared

12 And the word of the Lord came to me: 13 ^t“Son of man, when a land sins against me ^uby acting faithlessly, and I stretch out my hand against it and ^vbreak its supply² of bread and send famine upon it, and ^wcut off from it man and beast, 14 ^xeven if these three men, ^yNoah, ^zDaniel, and ^aJob, were in it, ^bthey would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness, declares the Lord God.

15 ^c“If I cause wild beasts to pass through the land, and they ravage it, ^dand it be made desolate, so that no one may pass through because of the beasts, 16 even if these three men were in it, ^eas I live, declares the Lord God, they would deliver neither sons nor daughters. They alone would be delivered, but ^fthe land would be desolate.

17 “Or ^gif I bring a sword upon that land and say, Let a sword pass through the land, ^hand I cut off from it man and beast, 18 ^xthough these three men were in it, as I live, declares the Lord God, they would deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they alone would be delivered.

19 “Or ⁱif I send a pestilence into that land and pour out my wrath upon it with blood, to cut off from it man and beast, 20 even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live, declares the Lord God, they would deliver neither son nor daughter. They would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness.

21 “For thus says the Lord God: How much more ^jwhen I send upon Jerusalem my four disastrous acts of judgment, ^ksword, ^lfamine, ^mwild beasts, and ⁿpestilence, to cut off from it man and beast! 22 But behold, ^osome survivors will be left in it, sons and daughters who will be brought out; behold, when they come out to you, and ^pyou see their ways and their deeds, you will be consoled for the disaster that I have brought upon Jerusalem, for all that I have brought upon it. 23 They will console you, when you see their ways and their deeds, and you shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, declares the Lord God.”

Jerusalem, a Useless Vine

1 And the word of the Lord came to me: 2 ^q“Son of man, how does ^rthe wood of the vine surpass any wood, the vine branch that is among the trees of the forest? 3 Is wood taken from it to make anything? Do people take ^sa peg from it to hang any vessel on it? 4 ^tBehold, it is given to the fire for fuel. When the fire has consumed both ends of it, and the middle of it is charred, is it useful for anything? 5 ^uBehold, when it was whole, it was used for nothing. How much less, when the fire has consumed it and it is charred, can it ever be used for anything! 6 Therefore thus says the Lord God: ^vLike the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, ^twhich I have given to the fire for fuel, so have I given up the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 7 ^wAnd I will set my face against them. Though ^xthey escape from the fire, the fire shall yet consume them, ^yand you will know that I am the Lord, ^wwhen I set my face against them. 8 ^zAnd I will make the land desolate, because ^athey have acted faithlessly, declares the Lord God.”

Samekh

Walk in Love

1 ^jTherefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 2 And ^kwalk in love, ^las Christ loved us and ^mgave himself up for us, a ⁿfragrant ^ooffering and sacrifice to God.

3 But ^psexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness ^qmust not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. 4 Let there be ^rno filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, ^swhich are out of place, but instead ^tlet there be thanksgiving. 5 For you may be sure of this, that ^ueveryone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (^vthat is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6 ^wLet no one ^xdeceive you with empty words, for because of these things ^ythe wrath of God comes upon ^zthe sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore ^ado not become partners with them; 8 for ^bat one time you were ^cdarkness, but now you are light in the Lord. ^dWalk as children of light 9 (for ^ethe fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), 10 and ^ftry to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 ^gTake no part in the ^hunfruitful ⁱworks of darkness, but instead ^jexpose them. 12 For ^kit is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. 13 But when ^lanything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, 14 for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,

15 ^pLook carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 ^pmaking the best use of the time, because ^qthe days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what ^rthe will of the Lord is. 18 And ^sdo not get drunk with wine, for that is ^tdebauchery, but ^ube filled with the Spirit, 19 addressing one another in ^vpsalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 ^wgiving thanks always and for everything to God the Father ^xin the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 ^ysubmitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Wives and Husbands

22 ^zWives, ^asubmit to your own husbands, ^bas to the Lord. 23 For ^cthe husband is the head of the wife even as ^dChrist is the head of the church, his body, and is ^ehimself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit ^fin everything to their husbands.

25 ^gHusbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and ^hgave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by ⁱthe washing of water ^jwith the word, 27 so ^kthat he might present the church to himself in splendor, ^lwithout spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.¹ 28 In the same way ^mhusbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because ⁿwe are members of his body. 31 ^o“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and ^pthe two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33 However, ^qlet each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she ^rrespects her husband.

Children and Parents

1 ^sChildren, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 ^t“Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), 3 “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” 4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, ^ubut bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Bondservants and Masters

5 ^vBondservants,² obey your earthly masters³ with fear and trembling, ^wwith a sincere heart, ^xas you would Christ, 6 not by the way of eye-service, as ^ypeople-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, 7 rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, 8 ^zknowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, ^awhether he is a bondservant or is free. 9 Masters, do the same to them, ^band stop your threatening, knowing that ^che who is both their Master⁴ and yours is in heaven, and that ^dthere is no partiality with him.

The Whole Armor of God

10 Finally, ^ebe strong in the Lord and in ^fthe strength of his might. 11 ^gPut on ^hthe whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against ⁱthe schemes of the devil. 12 For ^jwe do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against ^kthe rulers, against the authorities, against ^lthe cosmic powers over ^mthis present darkness, against ⁿthe spiritual forces of evil ^oin the heavenly places. 13 Therefore ^ptake up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in ^qthe evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, ^rhaving fastened on the belt of truth, and ^shaving put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, ^tas shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up ^uthe shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all ^vthe flaming darts of ^wthe evil one; 17 and take ^sthe helmet of salvation, and ^xthe sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying ^yat all times ^zin the Spirit, ^awith all prayer and supplication. To that end, ^bkeep alert with all perseverance, making ^csupplication for all the saints, 19 and ^dalso for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth ^eboldly to proclaim ^fthe mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I ^gam an ambassador ^hin chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.

Final Greetings

21 ⁱSo that you also may know how I am and what I am doing, ^jTychicus the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord will tell you everything. 22 I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are, and that he may ^kencourage your hearts.

23 ^lPeace be to the brothers,⁵ and ^mlove with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Grace be with all who ⁿlove our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible.