Month: November 2018

^13-15 “This is the basis on which you are to make your offerings:

“You are to bring grain offerings, animals to be burned whole, and animals for fellowship offerings, so that your sins will be forgiven. I, the Sovereign Lord, command it.

¹⁶ “All the people of the land must take^[a] these offerings to the ruling prince of Israel. ¹⁷ It will be his duty to provide the animals to be burned whole, the grain offerings, and the wine offerings for the whole nation of Israel at the New Moon Festivals, the Sabbaths, and the other festivals. He is to provide the sin offerings, the grain offerings, the offerings to be burned whole, and the fellowship offerings, to take away the sins of the people of Israel.”

The Festivals^(A)

¹⁸ The Sovereign Lord said, “On the first day of the first month you are to sacrifice a bull without any defects and purify the Temple. ¹⁹ The priest will take some of the blood of this sin offering and put it on the doorposts of the Temple, on the four corners of the altar, and on the posts of the gateways to the inner courtyard. ²⁰ On the seventh day of the month you are to do the same thing on behalf of anyone who sins unintentionally or through ignorance. In this way you will keep the Temple holy.

^21 (B)“On the fourteenth day of the first month you will begin the celebration of the Passover Festival. For seven days everyone will eat bread made without yeast. ²² On the first day of the festival the ruling prince must offer a bull as a sacrifice for his sins and for those of all the people. ²³ On each of the seven days of the festival he is to sacrifice to the Lord seven bulls and seven rams without any defects and burn them whole. He is also to sacrifice a male goat each day as a sin offering. ²⁴ For each bull and each ram that is sacrificed, there is to be an offering of half a bushel of grain and three quarts of olive oil.

^25 (C)“For the Festival of Shelters, which begins on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, the prince will offer on each of the seven days the same sacrifice for sin, the same offerings to be burned whole, and the same offerings of grain and olive oil.”

The Prince and the Festivals

46 The Sovereign Lord says, “The east gateway to the inner courtyard must be kept closed during the six working days, but it is to be opened on the Sabbath and at the New Moon Festival. ² The ruling prince will go from the outer courtyard into the entrance room of the gateway and stand beside the posts of the gate while the priests burn his sacrifices whole and offer his fellowship offerings. There at the gate he must worship and then go back out. The gate must not be shut until evening. ³ Each Sabbath and each New Moon Festival all the people are also to bow down and worship the Lord in front of the gate. ⁴ On the Sabbath the prince is to bring to the Lord, as sacrifices to be burned whole, six lambs and one ram, all without any defects. ⁵ With each ram he is to bring an offering of half a bushel of grain, and with each lamb he is to bring whatever he wants to give. For each half-bushel of grain offering he is to bring three quarts of olive oil. ⁶ At the New Moon Festival he will offer a young bull, six lambs, and a ram, all without any defects. ⁷ With each bull and each ram the offering is to be half a bushel of grain, and with each lamb the offering is to be whatever the prince wants to give. Three quarts of olive oil are to be offered with each half-bushel of grain. ⁸ The prince must leave the entrance room of the gateway and go out by the same way he went in.

⁹ “When the people come to worship the Lord at any festival, those who enter by the north gate are to leave by the south gate after they have worshiped, and those who enter by the south gate are to leave by the north gate. No one may go out by the same way he entered, but must leave by the opposite gate. ¹⁰ The prince is to come in when the people come, and leave when they leave. ¹¹ On the feast days and at the festivals the grain offering will be half a bushel with each bull or ram, and whatever the worshiper wants to give with each lamb. Three quarts of olive oil are to be offered with each half-bushel of grain.

¹² “When the ruling prince wants to make a voluntary offering to the Lord, either an offering to be burned whole or a fellowship offering, the east gate to the inner courtyard will be opened for him. He is to make the offering in the same way he does on the Sabbath, and the gate is to be closed after he goes back out.”

The Daily Offering

¹³ The Lord says, “Every morning a one-year-old lamb without any defects is to be burned whole as an offering to the Lord. This offering must be made every day. ¹⁴ Also an offering of five pounds of flour is to be made every morning, along with one quart of olive oil for mixing with the flour. The rules for this offering to the Lord are to be in force forever. ¹⁵ The lamb, the flour, and the olive oil are to be offered to the Lord every morning forever.”

The Prince and the Land

¹⁶ The Sovereign Lord commands: “If the ruling prince gives any of the land he owns to one of his sons as a present, it will belong to that son as a part of his family property. ^17 (D)But if the ruling prince gives any of his land to anyone who is in his service, it will become the prince's property again when the Year of Restoration^[b] comes. It belongs to him, and only he and his sons can own it permanently. ¹⁸ The ruling prince must not take any of the people's property away from them. Any land he gives to his sons must be from the land that is assigned to him, so that he will not oppress any of my people by taking their land.”

The Temple Kitchens

¹⁹ Then the man took me to the entrance of the rooms facing north near the gate on the south side of the inner courtyard. These are holy rooms for the priests. He pointed out a place on the west side of the rooms ²⁰ and said, “This is the place where the priests are to boil the meat offered as sacrifices for sin or as repayment offerings, and to bake the offerings of flour, so that nothing holy is carried to the outer courtyard, where it might harm the people.”^[c]

^21-22 Then he led me to the outer courtyard and showed me that in each of its four corners there was a smaller^[d] courtyard, 68 feet long and 48 feet wide. ²³ Each one had a stone wall around it, with fireplaces built against the wall. ²⁴ The man told me, “These are the kitchens where the Temple servants are to boil the sacrifices the people offer.”

A Call to Holy Living

¹³ So then, have your minds ready for action. Keep alert and set your hope completely on the blessing which will be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. ¹⁴ Be obedient to God, and do not allow your lives to be shaped by those desires you had when you were still ignorant. ¹⁵ Instead, be holy in all that you do, just as God who called you is holy. ^16 (A)The scripture says, “Be holy because I am holy.”

¹⁷ You call him Father, when you pray to God, who judges all people by the same standard, according to what each one has done; so then, spend the rest of your lives here on earth in reverence for him. ¹⁸ For you know what was paid to set you free from the worthless manner of life handed down by your ancestors. It was not something that can be destroyed, such as silver or gold; ¹⁹ it was the costly sacrifice of Christ, who was like a lamb without defect or flaw. ²⁰ He had been chosen by God before the creation of the world and was revealed in these last days for your sake. ²¹ Through him you believe in God, who raised him from death and gave him glory; and so your faith and hope are fixed on God.

²² Now that by your obedience to the truth you have purified yourselves and have come to have a sincere love for other believers, love one another earnestly with all your heart.^{[a] 23} For through the living and eternal word of God you have been born again as the children of a parent who is immortal, not mortal. ^24 (B)As the scripture says,

This word is the Good News that was proclaimed to you.

The Living Stone and the Holy Nation

2 Rid yourselves, then, of all evil; no more lying or hypocrisy or jealousy or insulting language. ² Be like newborn babies, always thirsty for the pure spiritual milk, so that by drinking it you may grow up and be saved. ^3 (C)As the scripture says, “You have found out for yourselves how kind the Lord is.”

⁴ Come to the Lord, the living stone rejected by people as worthless but chosen by God as valuable. ⁵ Come as living stones, and let yourselves be used in building the spiritual temple, where you will serve as holy priests to offer spiritual and acceptable sacrifices to God through Jesus Christ. ^6 (D)For the scripture says,

They stumbled because they did not believe in the word; such was God's will for them.

^9 (G)But you are the chosen race, the King's priests, the holy nation, God's own people, chosen to proclaim the wonderful acts of God, who called you out of darkness into his own marvelous light. ^10 (H)At one time you were not God's people, but now you are his people; at one time you did not know God's mercy, but now you have received his mercy.

A Prayer for Understanding

Trusting the Law of the Lord

¹¹ Rich people always think they are wise, but a poor person who has insight into character knows better.

The Use of the East Gate

44 The man led me to the outer gate at the east side of the Temple area. The gate was closed, ² and the Lord said to me, “This gate will stay closed and will never be opened. No human being is allowed to use it, because I, the Lord God of Israel, have entered through it. It is to remain closed. ³ The ruling prince, however, may go there to eat a holy meal in my presence. He is to enter and leave the gateway through the entrance room at the inner end.”

Rules for Admission to the Temple

⁴ Then the man took me through the north gate to the front of the Temple. As I looked, I saw that the Temple of the Lord was filled with the dazzling light of his presence. I threw myself face downward on the ground, ⁵ and the Lord said to me, “Mortal man, pay attention to everything you see and hear. I am going to tell you the rules and regulations for the Temple. Note carefully which persons are allowed to go in and out of the Temple, and which persons are not allowed.

⁶ “Tell those rebellious people of Israel that I, the Sovereign Lord, will no longer tolerate the disgusting things that they have been doing. ⁷ They have profaned my Temple by letting uncircumcised foreigners, people who do not obey me, enter the Temple when the fat and the blood of the sacrifices are being offered to me. So my people have broken my covenant by all the disgusting things they have done. ⁸ They have not taken charge of the sacred rituals in my Temple, but instead have put foreigners in charge.

⁹ “I, the Sovereign Lord, declare that no uncircumcised foreigner, no one who disobeys me, will enter my Temple, not even a foreigner who lives among the people of Israel.”

The Levites Are Excluded from the Priesthood

¹⁰ The Lord said to me, “I am punishing those Levites who, together with the rest of the people of Israel, deserted me and worshiped idols. ¹¹ They may serve me in the Temple by taking charge of the gates and by performing the work of the Temple. They may kill the animals which the people offer for burnt offerings and for sacrifices, and they are to be on duty to serve the people. ¹² But because they conducted the worship of idols for the people of Israel and in this way led the people into sin, I, the Sovereign Lord, solemnly swear that they must be punished. ¹³ They are not to serve me as priests or to go near anything that is holy to me or to enter the Most Holy Place. This is the punishment for the disgusting things they have done. ¹⁴ I am assigning to them the menial work that is to be done in the Temple.”

The Priests

¹⁵ The Sovereign Lord said, “Those priests belonging to the tribe of Levi who are descended from Zadok, however, continued to serve me faithfully in the Temple when the rest of the people of Israel turned away from me. So now they are the ones who are to serve me and come into my presence to offer me the fat and the blood of the sacrifices. ¹⁶ They alone will enter my Temple, serve at my altar, and conduct the Temple worship. ^17 (A)When they enter the gateway to the inner courtyard of the Temple, they are to put on linen clothing. They must not wear anything made of wool when they are on duty in the inner courtyard or in the Temple. ¹⁸ So that they won't perspire, they are to wear linen turbans and linen trousers, but no belt. ^19 (B)Before they go to the outer courtyard where the people are, they must first take off the clothes they wore on duty in the Temple and leave them in the holy rooms. They are to put on other clothing in order to keep their sacred clothing from harming the people.^[a]

^20 (C)“Priests must neither shave their heads nor let their hair grow long. They are to keep it a proper length. ^21 (D)Priests must not drink any wine before going into the inner courtyard. ^22 (E)No priest may marry a divorced woman; he is to marry only an Israelite virgin or the widow of another priest.

^23 (F)“The priests are to teach my people the difference between what is holy and what is not, and between what is ritually clean and what is not. ²⁴ When a legal dispute arises, the priests are to decide the case according to my laws. They are to keep the religious festivals according to my rules and regulations, and they are to keep the Sabbaths holy.

^25 (G)“A priest is not to become ritually unclean by touching a corpse, unless it is one of his parents, one of his children or a brother or an unmarried sister. ²⁶ After he has become clean again, he must wait seven days ²⁷ and then go into the inner courtyard of the Temple and offer a sacrifice for his purification, so that he can serve in the Temple again. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken.

^28 (H)“The priests have the priesthood as their share of what I have given Israel to be handed down from one generation to another. They are not to hold property in Israel; I am all they need. ^29 (I)The grain offerings, the sin offerings, and the repayment offerings will be the priests' food, and they are to receive everything in Israel that is set apart for me. ³⁰ The priests are to have the best of all the first harvest and of everything else that is offered to me. Each time the people bake bread, they are to give the priests the first loaf as an offering, and my blessing will rest on their homes. ^31 (J)The priests must not eat any bird or animal that dies a natural death or is killed by another animal.”

The Lord's Portion of the Country

45 When the land is divided to give each tribe a share, one part is to be dedicated to the Lord. It is to be 10 miles long by 8 miles^[b] wide. The entire area will be holy. ² In this area there is to be a square plot of land for the Temple, 840 feet on each side, entirely surrounded by an open space 84 feet wide. ³ Half of this area, a section 10 miles by 4 miles, is to be measured off; it will contain the Temple, the holiest place of all. ⁴ It will be a holy part of the country, set aside for the priests who serve the Lord in his Temple. It will contain their houses and the section of land for the Temple. ⁵ The other half of the area is to be set aside as the possession of the Levites, who do the work in the Temple. There will be towns there for them to live in.^[c]

⁶ Next to the holy area, another section, 10 miles long and 2 miles wide, is to be set aside for a city where any of the people of Israel may live.

Land for the Prince

⁷ Land is also to be set aside for the ruling prince. From the west boundary of the holy area it will extend west to the Mediterranean Sea; and from the east boundary it will extend to the eastern border of the country, so that its length will be the same as the length of one of the areas allotted to the tribes of Israel. ⁸ This area will be the share the ruling prince will have in the land of Israel, so that he will no longer oppress the people, but will let the rest of the country belong to the tribes of Israel.

Rules for the Prince

⁹ The Sovereign Lord said, “You have sinned too long, you rulers of Israel! Stop your violence and oppression. Do what is right and just. You must never again drive my people off their land. I, the Sovereign Lord, am telling you this.

^10 (K)“Everyone must use honest weights and measures:

¹¹ “The ephah for dry measure is to be equal to the bath for liquid measure. The standard is the homer.^[d] The resulting measures are as follows:

¹² “Your weights are to be as follows:

1 From Peter, apostle of Jesus Christ—

To God's chosen people who live as refugees scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. ² You were chosen according to the purpose of God the Father and were made a holy people by his Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be purified by his blood.

May grace and peace be yours in full measure.

A Living Hope

³ Let us give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! Because of his great mercy he gave us new life by raising Jesus Christ from death. This fills us with a living hope, ^4 (A)and so we look forward to possessing the rich blessings that God keeps for his people. He keeps them for you in heaven, where they cannot decay or spoil or fade away. ⁵ They are for you, who through faith are kept safe by God's power for the salvation which is ready to be revealed at the end of time.

⁶ Be glad about this, even though it may now be necessary for you to be sad for a while because of the many kinds of trials you suffer. ^7 (B)Their purpose is to prove that your faith is genuine. Even gold, which can be destroyed, is tested by fire; and so your faith, which is much more precious than gold, must also be tested, so that it may endure. Then you will receive praise and glory and honor on the Day when Jesus Christ is revealed. ⁸ You love him, although you have not seen him, and you believe in him, although you do not now see him. So you rejoice with a great and glorious joy which words cannot express, ⁹ because you are receiving the salvation of your souls, which is the purpose of your faith in him.

¹⁰ It was concerning this salvation that the prophets made careful search and investigation, and they prophesied about this gift which God would give you. ¹¹ They tried to find out when the time would be and how it would come.^[a] This was the time to which Christ's Spirit in them was pointing, in predicting the sufferings that Christ would have to endure and the glory that would follow. ¹² God revealed to these prophets that their work was not for their own benefit, but for yours, as they spoke about those things which you have now heard from the messengers who announced the Good News by the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. These are things which even the angels would like to understand.

Happiness in the Law of the Lord

Determination to Obey the Law of the Lord

⁸ If you get rich by charging interest and taking advantage of people, your wealth will go to someone who is kind to the poor.

⁹ If you do not obey the law, God will find your prayers too hateful to hear.

¹⁰ If you trick an honest person into doing evil, you will fall into your own trap.

The innocent will be well rewarded.

Two Buildings Near the Temple

42 Then the man took me into the outer courtyard and led me to a building on the north side of the Temple, not far from the building at the west end of the Temple. ² This building was 168 feet long and 84 feet wide. ³ On one side it faced the space 34 feet wide which was alongside the Temple, and on the other side it faced the pavement of the outer courtyard. It was built on three levels, each one set further back than the one below it. ⁴ Along the north side of this building was a passageway 16 feet wide and 168 feet long,^[a] with entrances on that side. ⁵ The rooms at the upper level of the building were narrower than those at the middle and lower levels because they were set further back. ⁶ The rooms at all three levels were on terraces and were not supported by columns like the other buildings in the courtyard. ^7-8 At the lower level the outer wall of the building was solid for 84 feet, half its length; and there were rooms in the remaining 84 feet. At the top level there were rooms in the entire length of the building. ^9-10 Below these rooms at the east end of the building, where the wall of the courtyard began,^[b] there was an entrance into the outer courtyard.

At the south^[c] side of the Temple there was an identical building not far from the building at the west end of the Temple. ¹¹ In front of the rooms there was a passageway just like the one on the north side. It had the same measurements, the same design, and the same kind of entrances. ¹² There was a door under the rooms on the south side of the building, at the east end where the wall began.

¹³ The man said to me, “Both these buildings are holy. In them the priests who enter the Lord's presence eat the holiest offerings. Because the rooms are holy, the priests will place the holiest offerings there: the offerings of grain and the sacrifices offered for sin or as repayment offerings. ¹⁴ When priests have been in the Temple and want to go to the outer courtyard, they must leave in these rooms the holy clothing they wore while serving the Lord. They must put on other clothes before going out to the area where the people gather.”

The Measurements of the Temple Area

¹⁵ When the man had finished measuring inside the Temple area, he took me out through the east gate and then measured the outside of the area. ¹⁶ He took the measuring rod and measured the east side, and it was 840 feet. ^17-19 Then he measured the north side, the south side, and the west side; each side had the same length, 840 feet,^{[d] 20} so that the wall enclosed a square 840 feet on each side. The wall served to separate what was holy from what was not.

The Lord Returns to the Temple

43 The man took me to the gate that faces east, ^2 (A)and there I saw coming from the east the dazzling light of the presence of the God of Israel. God's voice sounded like the roar of the sea, and the earth shone with the dazzling light. ³ This vision was like the one I had seen when God came to destroy Jerusalem, and the one I saw by the Chebar River. Then I threw myself face downward on the ground. ⁴ The dazzling light passed through the east gate and went into the Temple.

⁵ The Lord's spirit lifted me up and took me into the inner courtyard, where I saw that the Temple was filled with the glory of the Lord. ⁶ The man stood beside me there, and I heard the Lord speak to me out of the Temple: ⁷ “Mortal man, here is my throne. I will live here among the people of Israel and rule them forever. Neither the people of Israel nor their kings will ever again disgrace my holy name by worshiping other gods or by burying the corpses of^[e] their dead kings. ⁸ The kings built the doorsills and doorposts of their palace right against the doorsills and doorposts of my Temple, so that there was only a wall between us. They disgraced my holy name by all the disgusting things they did, and so in my anger I destroyed them. ⁹ Now they must stop worshiping other gods and remove the corpses of^[f] their kings. If they do, I will live among them forever.”

¹⁰ And the Lord continued, “Mortal man, tell the people of Israel about the Temple, and let them study its plan. Make them ashamed of their sinful actions. ¹¹ Then if they are ashamed of what they have done, explain the plan of the Temple to them: its design, its entrances and exits, its shape, the arrangement of everything, and all its rules and regulations. Write all this down for them so that they can see how everything is arranged and can carry out all the rules. ¹² This is the law of the Temple: All the area surrounding it on the top of the mountain is sacred and holy.”

The Altar

^13 (B)These are the measurements of the altar, using the same unit of measure as in measuring the Temple. All around the base of the altar there was a gutter 20 inches deep and 20 inches wide, with a rim at the outside edge 10 inches high. ¹⁴ The lowest section of the altar, from the top of the base, was 4 feet high. The next section was set back from the edge 20 inches all around, and was 7 feet high. The section after that was also set back from the edge 20 inches all around. ¹⁵ This top section, on which the sacrifices were burned, was also 7 feet high. The projections on the four corners were higher than the rest of the top. ¹⁶ The top of the altar was a square, 20 feet on each side. ¹⁷ The middle section was also a square, 24 feet on each side, with a rim at the outside edge 10 inches high. (The gutter was 20 inches wide.) The steps going up the altar were on the east side.

The Consecration of the Altar

^18 (C)The Sovereign Lord said to me, “Mortal man, listen to what I tell you. When the altar is built, you are to dedicate it by burning sacrifices on it and by sprinkling on it the blood of the animals that were sacrificed. ¹⁹ Those priests belonging to the tribe of Levi who are descended from Zadok are the only ones who are to come into my presence to serve me. I, the Sovereign Lord, command this. You will give them a young bull to offer as a sacrifice for sin. ²⁰ You are to take some of its blood and put it on the projections on the top corners of the altar, on the corners of the middle section of the altar, and all around its edges. In this way you will purify the altar and consecrate it. ²¹ You are to take the bull that is offered as a sacrifice for sin and burn it at the specified place outside the Temple area. ²² The next day you are to take a male goat without any defects and offer it as a sacrifice for sin. Purify the altar with its blood the same way you did with the bull. ²³ When you have finished doing that, take a young bull and a young ram, both of them without any defects, ²⁴ and bring them to me. The priests will sprinkle salt on them and burn them as an offering to me. ²⁵ Each day for seven days you are to offer a goat, a bull, and a ram as sacrifices for sin. All of them must be without any defects. ²⁶ For seven days the priests are to consecrate the altar and make it ready for use. ²⁷ When the week is over, the priests are to begin offering on the altar the burnt offerings and the fellowship offerings of the people. Then I will be pleased with all of you. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken.”

Warning to the Rich

5 And now, you rich people, listen to me! Weep and wail over the miseries that are coming upon you! ^2 (A)Your riches have rotted away, and your clothes have been eaten by moths. ^3 (B)Your gold and silver are covered with rust, and this rust will be a witness against you and will eat up your flesh like fire. You have piled up riches in these last days. ^4 (C)You have not paid any wages to those who work in your fields. Listen to their complaints! The cries of those who gather in your crops have reached the ears of God, the Lord Almighty. ⁵ Your life here on earth has been full of luxury and pleasure. You have made yourselves fat for the day of slaughter. ^6 (D)You have condemned and murdered innocent people, and they do not resist you.^[a]

Patience and Prayer

⁷ Be patient, then, my friends, until the Lord comes. See how patient farmers are as they wait for their land to produce precious crops. They wait patiently for the autumn and spring rains. ⁸ You also must be patient. Keep your hopes high, for the day of the Lord's coming is near.

⁹ Do not complain against one another, my friends, so that God will not judge you. The Judge is near, ready to appear. ¹⁰ My friends, remember the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Take them as examples of patient endurance under suffering. ^11 (E)We call them happy because they endured. You have heard of Job's patience, and you know how the Lord provided for him in the end. For the Lord is full of mercy and compassion.

^12 (F)Above all, my friends, do not use an oath when you make a promise. Do not swear by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Say only “Yes” when you mean yes, and “No” when you mean no, and then you will not come under God's judgment.

¹³ Are any among you in trouble? They should pray. Are any among you happy? They should sing praises. ^14 (G)Are any among you sick? They should send for the church elders, who will pray for them and rub olive oil on them in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵ This prayer made in faith will heal the sick; the Lord will restore them to health, and the sins they have committed will be forgiven. ^16 (H)So then, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you will be healed. The prayer of a good person has a powerful effect. ^17 (I)Elijah was the same kind of person as we are. He prayed earnestly that there would be no rain, and no rain fell on the land for three and a half years. ^18 (J)Once again he prayed, and the sky poured out its rain and the earth produced its crops.

¹⁹ My friends, if any of you wander away from the truth and another one brings you back again, ^20 (K)remember this: whoever turns a sinner back from the wrong way will save that sinner's soul^[b] from death and bring about the forgiveness of many sins.

The Law of the Lord

Obedience to the Law of the Lord

⁶ Better to be poor and honest than rich and dishonest.

⁷ Young people who obey the law are intelligent. Those who make friends with good-for-nothings are a disgrace to their parents.

The Inner Courtyard: The South Gate

²⁸ The man took me through the south gateway into the inner courtyard. He measured the gateway, and it was the same size as the gateways in the outer wall. ^29-30 Its guardrooms, its entrance room, and its inner walls were the same size as those in the other gateways. There were also windows in the rooms of this gateway. The total length was 84 feet and the width 42 feet. ³¹ Its entrance room faced the other courtyard, and palm trees were carved on the walls along the passageway. Eight steps led up to this gate.

The Inner Courtyard: The East Gate

³² The man took me through the east gateway into the inner courtyard. He measured the gateway, and it was the same size as the others. ³³ Its guardrooms, its entrance room, and its inner walls measured the same as those in the other gateways. There were windows all around, and in the entrance room also. The total length was 84 feet and the width 42 feet. ³⁴ The entrance room faced the outer courtyard. Palm trees were carved on the walls along the passageway. Eight steps led up to this gate.

The Inner Courtyard: The North Gate

³⁵ Then the man took me to the north gateway. He measured it, and it was the same size as the others. ³⁶ Like them, it also had guardrooms, decorated inner walls, an entrance room, and windows all around. Its total length was 84 feet and its width 42 feet. ³⁷ The entrance room^[a] faced the outer courtyard. Palm trees were carved on the walls along the passageway. Eight steps led up to this gate.

Buildings Near the North Gate

³⁸ In the outer courtyard there was an annex attached to the inner gateway on the north side. It opened into the entrance room that faced the courtyard, and there they washed the carcasses of the animals to be burned whole as sacrifices. ³⁹ In this entrance room there were four tables, two on each side of the room. It was on these tables that they killed the animals to be offered as sacrifices, either to be burned whole or to be sacrifices for sin or as repayment offerings. ⁴⁰ Outside the room there were four similar tables, two on either side of the entrance of the north gate. ⁴¹ Altogether there were eight tables on which the animals to be sacrificed were killed: four inside the room and four out in the courtyard. ⁴² The four tables in the annex, used to prepare the offerings to be burned whole, were of cut stone. They were 20 inches high, and their tops were 30 inches square. All the equipment used in killing the sacrificial animals was kept on these tables. ⁴³ Ledges 3 inches wide ran around the edge of the tables. All the meat to be offered in sacrifice was placed on the tables.^[b]

⁴⁴ Then he brought me into the inner court. There were two rooms opening on the inner court, one facing south beside the north gateway and the other facing north beside the south gateway.^{[c] 45} The man told me that the room which faced south was for the priests who served in the Temple, ⁴⁶ and the room which faced north was for the priests who served at the altar. All the priests are descended from Zadok; they are the only members of the tribe of Levi who are permitted to go into the Lord's presence to serve him.

The Inner Courtyard and the Temple Building

⁴⁷ The man measured the inner courtyard, and it was 168 feet square. The Temple was on the west side, and in front of it was an altar. ⁴⁸ Then he took me into the entrance room of the Temple. He measured the entranceway: it was 9 feet deep and 24 feet wide,^[d] with walls 5 feet thick on either side. ⁴⁹ Steps led up to the entrance room, which was 34 feet wide and 20 feet deep.^[e] There were two columns, one on each side of the entrance.

41 Next, the man took me into the central room, the Holy Place. He measured the passageway into it: it was 10 feet deep^{[f] 2} and 18 feet wide, with walls 8 feet thick on either side. He measured the room itself: it was 68 feet long and 34 feet wide.

³ Then he went to the innermost room. He measured the passageway into it: it was 3 feet deep and 10 feet wide, with walls on either side 12 feet thick.^{[g] 4} He measured the room itself, and it was 34 feet square. This room was beyond the central room. Then he said to me, “This is the Most Holy Place.”

The Rooms Built against the Temple Walls

⁵ The man measured the thickness of the inner wall of the Temple building, and it was 10 feet. Against this wall, all around the Temple, was a series of small rooms 7 feet wide. ⁶ These rooms were in three stories, with thirty rooms on each floor. The Temple's outer wall on each floor was thinner than on the floor below, so that the rooms could rest on the wall without being anchored into it. ⁷ And so the Temple walls, when seen from the outside, seemed to have the same thickness all the way to the top. Against the Temple's outer wall, on the outside of the rooms, two wide stairways were built, so that it was possible to go from the lower story to the middle and the upper stories.^{[h] 8-11} The outside wall of these rooms was 8 feet thick; there was one door into the rooms on the north side of the Temple, and one into those on the south side. I saw that there was a terrace 8 feet wide around the Temple; it was 10 feet above the ground and it was level with the foundation of the rooms by the Temple walls. Between the terrace and the buildings used by the priests there was an open space 34 feet across, along the sides of the Temple.

The Building on the West

¹² At the far end of the open space on the west side of the Temple there was a building 150 feet long and 116 feet wide; its walls were 9 feet thick all around.

The Total Measurements of the Temple Building

¹³ The man measured the outside of the Temple, and it was 168 feet long. And from the back of the Temple, across the open space to the far side of the building to the west, the distance was also 168 feet. ¹⁴ The distance across the front of the Temple, including the open space on either side, was also 168 feet. ¹⁵ He measured the length of the building to the west, including its galleries on both sides, and it was also 168 feet.

Details of the Temple Building

The entrance room of the Temple, the Holy Place, and the Most Holy Place ¹⁶ were all paneled with wood from the floor to the windows. These windows could be covered.^{[i] 17} The inside walls of the Temple, up as high as above the doors, were completely covered with carvings^{[j] 18} of palm trees and winged creatures. Palm trees alternated with creatures, one following the other, all the way around the room. Each creature had two faces: ¹⁹ a human face that was turned toward the palm tree on one side, and a lion's face that was turned toward the tree on the other side. It was like this all around the wall, ²⁰ from the floor to above the doors. ²¹ The doorposts of the Holy Place were square.

The Wooden Altar

In front of the entrance of the Most Holy Place there was something that looked like ²² a wooden altar. It was 5 feet high and 4 feet wide. Its corner posts, its base,^[k] and its sides were all made of wood. The man said to me, “This is the table which stands in the presence of the Lord.”

The Doors

²³ There was a door at the end of the passageway to the Holy Place and one also at the end of the passageway to the Most Holy Place. ²⁴ They were double doors that swung open in the middle. ²⁵ There were palm trees and winged creatures carved on the doors of the Holy Place, just as there were on the walls. And there was a wooden covering over the outside of the doorway of the entrance room. ²⁶ At the sides of this room there were windows, and the walls were decorated with palm trees.^[l]

Friendship with the World

4 Where do all the fights and quarrels among you come from? They come from your desires for pleasure, which are constantly fighting within you. ² You want things, but you cannot have them, so you are ready to kill; you strongly desire things, but you cannot get them, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have what you want because you do not ask God for it. ³ And when you ask, you do not receive it, because your motives are bad; you ask for things to use for your own pleasures. ⁴ Unfaithful people! Don't you know that to be the world's friend means to be God's enemy? If you want to be the world's friend, you make yourself God's enemy. ⁵ Don't think that there is no truth in the scripture that says, “The spirit that God placed in us is filled with fierce desires.”^{[a] 6 (A)}But the grace that God gives is even stronger. As the scripture says, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

⁷ So then, submit yourselves to God. Resist the Devil, and he will run away from you. ⁸ Come near to God, and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners! Purify your hearts, you hypocrites! ⁹ Be sorrowful, cry, and weep; change your laughter into crying, your joy into gloom! ¹⁰ Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

Warning against Judging One Another

¹¹ Do not criticize one another, my friends. If you criticize or judge another Christian, you criticize and judge the Law. If you judge the Law, then you are no longer one who obeys the Law, but one who judges it. ¹² God is the only lawgiver and judge. He alone can save and destroy. Who do you think you are, to judge someone else?

Warning against Boasting

^13 (B)Now listen to me, you that say, “Today or tomorrow we will travel to a certain city, where we will stay a year and go into business and make a lot of money.” ¹⁴ You don't even know what your life tomorrow will be! You are like a puff of smoke, which appears for a moment and then disappears. ¹⁵ What you should say is this: “If the Lord is willing, we will live and do this or that.” ¹⁶ But now you are proud, and you boast; all such boasting is wrong.

¹⁷ So then, if we do not do the good we know we should do, we are guilty of sin.

³ Someone in authority who oppresses poor people is like a driving rain that destroys the crops.

⁴ If you have no regard for the law, you are on the side of the wicked; but if you obey it, you are against them.

⁵ Evil people do not know what justice is, but those who worship the Lord understand it well.

The Defeat of Gog

39 The Sovereign Lord said, “Mortal man, denounce Gog, the chief ruler of the nations of Meshech and Tubal, and tell him that I am his enemy. ² I will turn him in a new direction and lead him out of the far north until he comes to the mountains of Israel. ³ Then I will knock his bow out of his left hand and his arrows out of his right hand. ⁴ Gog and his army and his allies will fall dead on the mountains of Israel, and I will let their bodies be food for all the birds and wild animals. ⁵ They will fall dead in the open field. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken. ⁶ I will start a fire in the land of Magog and along all the seacoasts where people live undisturbed, and everyone will know that I am the Lord. ⁷ I will make sure that my people Israel know my holy name, and I will not let my name be disgraced any more. Then the nations will know that I, the Lord, am the holy God of Israel.”

⁸ The Sovereign Lord said, “The day I spoke about is certain to come. ⁹ The people who live in the cities of Israel will go out and collect the abandoned weapons for firewood. They will build fires with the shields, bows, arrows, spears, and clubs, and have enough to last for seven years. ¹⁰ They will not have to gather firewood in the fields or cut down trees in the forest, because they will have the abandoned weapons to burn. They will loot and plunder those who looted and plundered them.” The Sovereign Lord has spoken.

The Burial of Gog

¹¹ The Lord said, “When all this happens, I will give Gog a burial ground there in Israel, in Travelers' Valley, east of the Dead Sea.^[a] Gog and all his army will be buried there, and the valley will be called ‘The Valley of Gog's Army.’ ¹² It will take the Israelites seven months to bury all the corpses and make the land clean again. ¹³ Everyone in the land will help bury them, and they will be honored for this on the day of my victory. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken. ¹⁴ After the seven months are over, men will be chosen to travel through the land in order to find and bury those bodies^[b] remaining on the ground, so that they can make the land clean. ¹⁵ As they go up and down the country, every time they find a human bone, they will put a marker beside it so that the gravediggers can come and bury it in the Valley of Gog's Army. ¹⁶ (There will be a town nearby named after the army.) And so the land will be made clean again.”

^17 (A)The Sovereign Lord said to me, “Mortal man, call all the birds and animals to come from all around to eat the sacrifice I am preparing for them. It will be a huge feast on the mountains of Israel, where they can eat meat and drink blood. ¹⁸ They are to eat the bodies of soldiers and drink the blood of the rulers of the earth, all of whom will be killed like rams or lambs or goats or fat bulls. ¹⁹ When I kill these people like sacrifices, the birds and animals are to eat all the fat they can hold and to drink blood until they are drunk. ²⁰ At my table they will eat all they can hold of horses and their riders and of soldiers and fighting men. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken.”

The Restoration of Israel

²¹ The Lord said, “I will let the nations see my glory and show them how I use my power to carry out my just decisions. ²² The Israelites will know from then on that I am the Lord their God. ²³ And the nations will know that the Israelites went into exile because of the sins which they committed against me. I turned away from them and let their enemies defeat them and kill them in battle. ²⁴ I gave them what they deserved for their uncleanness and their wickedness, and I turned away from them.”

²⁵ The Sovereign Lord said, “But now I will be merciful to Jacob's descendants, the people of Israel, and make them prosperous again. I will protect my holy name. ²⁶ When they are once more living in safety in their own land, with no one to threaten them, they will be able to forget how they were disgraced for having betrayed me. ²⁷ In order to show to the many nations that I am holy, I will bring my people back from all the countries where their enemies live. ²⁸ Then my people will know that I am the Lord their God. They will know this, because I sent them into captivity and now gather them and bring them back into their own land, not leaving even one of them behind. ²⁹ I will pour out my spirit on the people of Israel and never again turn away from them. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken.”

A VISION OF THE FUTURE TEMPLE (40.1— 48.35)

Ezekiel Is Taken to Jerusalem

40 It was the tenth day of the new year, which was the twenty-fifth year after we had been taken into exile and the fourteenth year after Jerusalem was captured. On that day I felt the powerful presence of the Lord, and he carried me away. ^2 (B)In a vision God took me to the land of Israel and put me on a high mountain. I saw in front of me^[c] a group of buildings that looked like a city. ^3 (C)He took me closer, and I saw a man who shone like bronze. He was holding a linen tape measure and a measuring rod and was standing by a gateway.

⁴ He said to me, “Watch, mortal man. Listen carefully and pay close attention to everything I show you, because this is why you were brought here. You are to tell the people of Israel everything you see.”

The East Gate

^5 (D)What I saw was the Temple, and there was a wall around it. The man took his measuring rod, which was 10 feet long, and measured the wall. It was 10 feet high and 10 feet thick. ⁶ Then he went to the gateway that faced east. He went up the steps, and at the top he measured the entrance; it was 10 feet deep.^{[d] 7} Beyond it there was a passageway, which had three guardrooms on each side. Each of the rooms was square, 10 feet on each side, and the walls between them were 8 feet thick. Beyond the guardrooms there was a passageway 10 feet long that led to an entrance room which faced the Temple. ^8-9 He measured this room and found it was 14 feet deep. It formed that end of the gateway which was nearest the Temple, and at its far end the walls were 4 feet thick. (¹⁰ These guardrooms on each side of the passageway were all the same size, and the walls between them were all of the same thickness.)

¹¹ Next, the man measured the width of the passageway in the gateway. It was 22 feet altogether, and the space between the open gates was 16 feet. ¹² In front of each of the guardrooms there was a low wall 20 inches high and 20 inches thick. (The rooms were 10 feet square.) ¹³ Then he measured the distance from the back wall^[e] of one room to the back wall^[f] of the room across the passageway from it, and it was 42 feet. ¹⁴ The room at the far end led out to a courtyard. He measured that room and found it was 34 feet wide.^{[g] 15} The total length of the gateway from the outside wall of the gate to the far side of the last room was 84 feet. ¹⁶ There were small openings in the outside walls of all the rooms and also in the inner walls between the rooms. There were palm trees carved on the inner walls that faced the passageway.

The Outer Courtyard

¹⁷ The man took me through the gateway into the courtyard. There were thirty rooms built against the outer wall, and in front of them there was an area paved with stones, ¹⁸ which extended around the courtyard. This outer courtyard was at a lower level than the inner courtyard.

¹⁹ There was a gateway at a higher level that led to the inner courtyard. The man measured the distance between the two gateways, and it was 168 feet.^[h]

The North Gate

²⁰ Then the man measured the gateway on the north side that led into the outer courtyard. ²¹ The three guardrooms on each side of the passageway, the walls between them, and the entrance room all had the same measurements as those in the east gateway. The total length of the gateway was 84 feet and the width 42 feet. ²² The entrance room, the windows, and the carved palm trees were like those in the east gate. Here seven steps led up to the gate, and the entrance room was at the end facing the courtyard. ²³ Across the courtyard from this north gateway was another gateway leading to the inner courtyard, just as there was on the east side. The man measured the distance between these two gateways, and it was 168 feet.

The South Gate

²⁴ Next, the man took me to the south side, and there we saw another gateway. He measured its inner walls and its entrance room, and they were the same as the others. ²⁵ There were windows in the rooms of this gateway just as in the others. The total length of the gateway was 84 feet and the width 42 feet. ²⁶ Seven steps led up to it, and its entrance room was also at the end facing the courtyard. There were palm trees carved on the inner walls that faced the passageway. ²⁷ Here, too, there was a gateway leading to the inner courtyard. The man measured the distance to this second gateway, and it was 168 feet.

¹⁸ But someone will say, “One person has faith, another has actions.” My answer is, “Show me how anyone can have faith without actions. I will show you my faith by my actions.” ¹⁹ Do you believe that there is only one God? Good! The demons also believe—and tremble with fear. ²⁰ You fool! Do you want to be shown that faith without actions is useless?^{[a] 21 (A)}How was our ancestor Abraham put right with God? It was through his actions, when he offered his son Isaac on the altar. ²² Can't you see? His faith and his actions worked together; his faith was made perfect through his actions. ^23 (B)And the scripture came true that said, “Abraham believed God, and because of his faith God accepted him as righteous.” And so Abraham was called God's friend. ²⁴ You see, then, that it is by our actions that we are put right with God, and not by our faith alone.

^25 (C)It was the same with the prostitute Rahab. She was put right with God through her actions, by welcoming the Israelite spies and helping them to escape by a different road.

²⁶ So then, as the body without the spirit is dead, also faith without actions is dead.

The Tongue

3 My friends, not many of you should become teachers. As you know, we teachers will be judged with greater strictness than others. ^2 (D)All of us often make mistakes. But if a person never makes a mistake in what he says, he is perfect and is also able to control his whole being. ³ We put a bit into the mouth of a horse to make it obey us, and we are able to make it go where we want. ⁴ Or think of a ship: big as it is and driven by such strong winds, it can be steered by a very small rudder, and it goes wherever the pilot wants it to go. ⁵ So it is with the tongue: small as it is, it can boast about great things.

Just think how large a forest can be set on fire by a tiny flame! ^6 (E)And the tongue is like a fire. It is a world of wrong, occupying its place in our bodies and spreading evil through our whole being. It sets on fire the entire course of our existence with the fire that comes to it from hell itself. ⁷ We humans are able to tame and have tamed all other creatures—wild animals and birds, reptiles and fish. ⁸ But no one has ever been able to tame the tongue. It is evil and uncontrollable, full of deadly poison. ^9 (F)We use it to give thanks to our Lord and Father and also to curse other people, who are created in the likeness of God. ¹⁰ Words of thanksgiving and cursing pour out from the same mouth. My friends, this should not happen! ¹¹ No spring of water pours out sweet water and bitter water from the same opening. ¹² A fig tree, my friends, cannot bear olives; a grapevine cannot bear figs, nor can a salty spring produce sweet water.

The Wisdom from Above

^13 (G)Are there any of you who are wise and understanding? You are to prove it by your good life, by your good deeds performed with humility and wisdom. ¹⁴ But if in your heart you are jealous, bitter, and selfish, don't sin against the truth by boasting of your wisdom. ¹⁵ Such wisdom does not come down from heaven; it belongs to the world, it is unspiritual and demonic. ¹⁶ Where there is jealousy and selfishness, there is also disorder and every kind of evil. ¹⁷ But the wisdom from above is pure first of all; it is also peaceful, gentle, and friendly; it is full of compassion and produces a harvest of good deeds; it is free from prejudice and hypocrisy. ¹⁸ And goodness is the harvest that is produced from the seeds the peacemakers plant in peace.

A Prayer of Thanks for Victory

² When a nation sins, it will have one ruler after another. But a nation will be strong and endure when it has intelligent, sensible leaders.

The Valley of Dry Bones

37 I felt the powerful presence of the Lord, and his spirit took me and set me down in a valley where the ground was covered with bones. ² He led me all around the valley, and I could see that there were very many bones and that they were very dry. ³ He said to me, “Mortal man, can these bones come back to life?”

I replied, “Sovereign Lord, only you can answer that!”

⁴ He said, “Prophesy to the bones. Tell these dry bones to listen to the word of the Lord. ⁵ Tell them that I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying to them: I am going to put breath into you and bring you back to life. ⁶ I will give you sinews and muscles, and cover you with skin. I will put breath into you and bring you back to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.”

⁷ So I prophesied as I had been told. While I was speaking, I heard a rattling noise, and the bones began to join together. ⁸ While I watched, the bones were covered with sinews and muscles, and then with skin. But there was no breath in the bodies.

⁹ God said to me, “Mortal man, prophesy to the wind.^[a] Tell the wind that the Sovereign Lord commands it to come from every direction, to breathe into these dead bodies, and to bring them back to life.”

^10 (A)So I prophesied as I had been told. Breath entered the bodies, and they came to life and stood up. There were enough of them to form an army.

¹¹ God said to me, “Mortal man, the people of Israel are like these bones. They say that they are dried up, without any hope and with no future. ¹² So prophesy to my people Israel and tell them that I, the Sovereign Lord, am going to open their graves. I am going to take them out and bring them back to the land of Israel. ¹³ When I open the graves where my people are buried and bring them out, they will know that I am the Lord. ¹⁴ I will put my breath in them, bring them back to life, and let them live in their own land. Then they will know that I am the Lord. I have promised that I would do this—and I will. I, the Lord, have spoken.”

Judah and Israel in One Kingdom

¹⁵ The Lord spoke to me again. ¹⁶ “Mortal man,” he said, “take a wooden stick and write on it the words, ‘The kingdom of Judah.’ Then take another stick and write on it the words, ‘The kingdom of Israel.’ ¹⁷ Then hold the two sticks end to end in your hand so that they look like one stick. ¹⁸ When your people ask you to tell them what this means, ¹⁹ tell them that I, the Sovereign Lord, am going to take the stick representing Israel and put it with the one that represents Judah. Out of the two I will make one stick and hold it in my hand.

²⁰ “Hold in your hand the two sticks and let the people see them. ²¹ Then tell them that I, the Sovereign Lord, am going to take all my people out of the nations where they have gone, gather them together, and bring them back to their own land. ²² I will unite them into one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. They will have one king to rule over them, and they will no longer be divided into two nations or split into two kingdoms. ²³ They will not defile themselves with disgusting idols any more or corrupt themselves with sin. I will free them from all the ways in which they sin and betray me. I will purify them; they will be my people, and I will be their God. ^24 (B)A king like my servant David will be their king. They will all be united under one ruler and will obey my laws faithfully. ²⁵ They will live on the land I gave to my servant Jacob, the land where their ancestors lived. They will live there forever, and so will their children and all their descendants. A king like my servant David will rule them forever. ²⁶ I will make a covenant with them that guarantees their security forever. I will establish them and increase their population, and will see to it that my Temple stands forever in their land. ^27 (C)I will live there with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people. ²⁸ When I place my Temple there to be among them forever, then the nations will know that I, the Lord, have chosen Israel to be my own people.”

Gog as the Instrument of God

38 The Lord spoke to me. ^2 (D)“Mortal man,” he said, “denounce Gog, chief ruler of the nations of Meshech and Tubal in the land of Magog. Denounce him ³ and tell him that I, the Sovereign Lord, am his enemy. ⁴ I will turn him around, put hooks in his jaws, and drag him and all his troops away. His army, with its horses and uniformed riders, is enormous, and every soldier carries a shield and is armed with a sword. ⁵ Troops from Persia, Ethiopia,^[b] and Libya are with him, and all have shields and helmets. ⁶ All the fighting men of the lands of Gomer and Beth Togarmah in the north are with him, and so are men from many other nations. ⁷ Tell him to get ready and have all his troops ready at his command. ⁸ After many years I will order him to invade a country where the people were brought back together from many nations and have lived without fear of war. He will invade the mountains of Israel, which were desolate and deserted so long, but where all the people now live in safety. ⁹ He and his army and the many nations with him will attack like a storm and cover the land like a cloud.”

¹⁰ This is what the Sovereign Lord says to Gog: “When that time comes, you will start thinking up an evil plan. ¹¹ You will decide to invade a helpless country where the people live in peace and security in unwalled towns that have no defenses. ¹² You will plunder and loot the people who live in cities that were once in ruins. They have been gathered from the nations, and now they have livestock and property and live at the crossroads of the world. ¹³ The people of Sheba and Dedan and the merchants from the towns of Spain will ask you, ‘Have you assembled your army and attacked in order to loot and plunder? Do you intend to get silver and gold, livestock and property, and march off with all those spoils?’”

¹⁴ So the Sovereign Lord sent me to tell Gog what he was saying to him: “Now while my people Israel live in security, you will set out^{[c] 15} to come from your place in the far north, leading a large, powerful army of soldiers from many nations, all of them on horseback. ¹⁶ You will attack my people Israel like a storm moving across the land. When the time comes, I will send you to invade my land in order to show the nations who I am, to show my holiness by what I do through you. ¹⁷ You are the one I was talking about long ago, when I announced through my servants, the prophets of Israel, that in days to come I would bring someone to attack Israel.” The Sovereign Lord has spoken.

God's Punishment of Gog

¹⁸ The Sovereign Lord says, “On the day when Gog invades Israel, I will become furious. ¹⁹ I declare in the heat of my anger that on that day there will be a severe earthquake in the land of Israel. ²⁰ Every fish and bird, every animal large and small, and every human being on the face of the earth will tremble for fear of me. Mountains will fall, cliffs will crumble, and every wall will collapse. ²¹ I will terrify Gog with all sorts of calamities.^[d] I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken. His men will turn their swords against one another. ²² I will punish him with disease and bloodshed. Torrents of rain and hail, together with fire and sulfur, will pour down on him and his army and on the many nations that are on his side. ²³ In this way I will show all the nations that I am great and that I am holy. They will know then that I am the Lord.”

Hearing and Doing

^19 (A)Remember this, my dear friends! Everyone must be quick to listen, but slow to speak and slow to become angry. ²⁰ Human anger does not achieve God's righteous purpose. ²¹ So get rid of every filthy habit and all wicked conduct. Submit to God and accept the word that he plants in your hearts, which is able to save you.

²² Do not deceive yourselves by just listening to his word; instead, put it into practice. ²³ If you listen to the word, but do not put it into practice you are like people who look in a mirror and see themselves as they are. ²⁴ They take a good look at themselves and then go away and at once forget what they look like. ²⁵ But if you look closely into the perfect law that sets people free, and keep on paying attention to it and do not simply listen and then forget it, but put it into practice—you will be blessed by God in what you do.

²⁶ Do any of you think you are religious? If you do not control your tongue, your religion is worthless and you deceive yourself. ²⁷ What God the Father considers to be pure and genuine religion is this: to take care of orphans and widows in their suffering and to keep oneself from being corrupted by the world.

Warning against Prejudice

2 My friends, as believers in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, you must never treat people in different ways according to their outward appearance. ² Suppose a rich man wearing a gold ring and fine clothes comes to your meeting, and a poor man in ragged clothes also comes. ³ If you show more respect to the well-dressed man and say to him, “Have this best seat here,” but say to the poor man, “Stand over there, or sit here on the floor by my feet,” ⁴ then you are guilty of creating distinctions among yourselves and of making judgments based on evil motives.

⁵ Listen, my dear friends! God chose the poor people of this world to be rich in faith and to possess the kingdom which he promised to those who love him. ⁶ But you dishonor the poor! Who are the ones who oppress you and drag you before the judges? The rich! ⁷ They are the ones who speak evil of that good name which has been given to you.

^8 (B)You will be doing the right thing if you obey the law of the Kingdom, which is found in the scripture, “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” ⁹ But if you treat people according to their outward appearance, you are guilty of sin, and the Law condemns you as a lawbreaker. ¹⁰ Whoever breaks one commandment is guilty of breaking them all. ^11 (C)For the same one who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not commit murder.” Even if you do not commit adultery, you have become a lawbreaker if you commit murder. ¹² Speak and act as people who will be judged by the law that sets us free. ¹³ For God will not show mercy when he judges the person who has not been merciful; but mercy triumphs over judgment.

Faith and Actions

¹⁴ My friends, what good is it for one of you to say that you have faith if your actions do not prove it? Can that faith save you? ¹⁵ Suppose there are brothers or sisters who need clothes and don't have enough to eat. ¹⁶ What good is there in your saying to them, “God bless you! Keep warm and eat well!”—if you don't give them the necessities of life? ¹⁷ So it is with faith: if it is alone and includes no actions, then it is dead.

In Praise of the Lord

28 The wicked run when no one is chasing them, but an honest person is as brave as a lion.