The Folly of Idolatry

9 ^oAll who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame. 10 ^pWho fashions a god or casts an idol that is profitable for nothing? 11 ^qBehold, all his companions shall be put to shame, and the craftsmen are only human. Let them all assemble, let them stand forth. They shall be terrified; they shall be put to shame together.

12 ^pThe ironsmith takes a cutting tool and works it over the coals. He fashions it with hammers and works it with his strong arm. He becomes hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water and is faint. 13 The carpenter stretches a line; he marks it out with a pencil.¹ He shapes it with planes and marks it with a compass. ^rHe shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house. 14 ^sHe cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. 15 Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it. 16 Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, “Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!” 17 And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. ^tHe prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!”

18 They know not, nor do they discern, for he has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand. 19 No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, “Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and have eaten. And shall I make the rest of it an ^uabomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?” 20 ^vHe feeds on ^washes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is there not ^xa lie in my right hand?”

The New Life

17 Now this I say and ^dtestify in the Lord, ^ethat you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, ^fin the futility of their minds. 18 They ^gare darkened in their understanding, ^halienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to ⁱtheir hardness of heart. 19 They ^jhave become callous and ^khave given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. 20 But that is not the way you ^llearned Christ!— 21 assuming that ^myou have heard about him and ⁿwere taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to ^oput off ^pyour old self,¹ which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through ^qdeceitful desires, 23 and ^rto be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on ^sthe new self, ^tcreated after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you ^uspeak the truth with his neighbor, for ^vwe are members one of another. 26 ^wBe angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and ^xgive no opportunity to the devil. 28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather ^ylet him labor, ^zdoing honest work with his own hands, so ^athat he may have something to share with anyone in need. 29 ^bLet no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give ^cgrace to those who hear. 30 And ^ddo not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, ^eby whom you were sealed for the day of ^fredemption. 31 ^gLet all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 ^hBe kind to one another, tenderhearted, ⁱforgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

20 Then he went ^ehome, and the crowd gathered again, ^fso that they could not even eat. 21 ^gAnd when ^hhis family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He ⁱis out of his mind.”

Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit

22 And ^jthe scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, ^k“He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.” 23 ^lAnd he called them to him and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. 27 But ^mno one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. ⁿThen indeed he may plunder his house.

28 ^o“Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, 29 but whoever ^pblasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— 30 for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”

Jesus’ Mother and Brothers

31 ^qAnd his mother and his ^rbrothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. 32 And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers¹ are outside, seeking you.” 33 And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 And ^slooking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 ^tFor whoever ^udoes the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”