Ezekiel 33

³⁰As for you, son of man, your people are talking about you near the city walls and in the doorways of their houses. One speaks to another, each saying to his brother, ‘Come and hear the message that has come from the Lord!’

¹⁷Yet your people say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ But it is their way that is not just.

¹⁷Or if I bring a sword against that land and say, ‘Let a sword pass through it,’ so that I cut off from it both man and beast,

¹¹Go to your people, the exiles; speak to them and tell them, ‘This is what the Lord God says,’ whether they listen or refuse to listen.”

²⁷But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you are to tell them, ‘This is what the Lord God says.’ Whoever listens, let him listen; and whoever refuses, let him refuse, for they are a rebellious house.

⁷Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, against the man who is My Companion, declares the Lord of Hosts. Strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn My hand against the little ones.

¹Put the ram’s horn to your lips! An eagle looms over the house of the Lord, because the people have transgressed My covenant and rebelled against My law.

²⁰Wherever you hear the sound of the horn, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us!”

¹“Cry aloud, do not hold back! Raise your voice like a ram’s horn. Declare to My people their transgression and to the house of Jacob their sins.

⁵Announce in Judah, proclaim in Jerusalem, and say: “Blow the ram’s horn throughout the land. Cry aloud and say, ‘Assemble yourselves and let us flee to the fortified cities.’

¹Blow the ram’s horn in Zion; sound the alarm on My holy mountain! Let all who dwell in the land tremble, for the Day of the Lord is coming; indeed, it is near—

¹⁸And each of the builders worked with his sword strapped at his side. But the trumpeter stayed beside me.

¹³He engages in usury and takes excess interest. Will this son live? He will not! Since he has committed all these abominations, he will surely die; his blood will be on his own head.

⁶But when they opposed and insulted him, he shook out his garments and told them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent of it. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”

⁹But if you warn the wicked man to turn from his way, and he does not turn from it, he will die in his iniquity, but you will have saved your life.

¹⁷I appointed watchmen over you and said, ‘Listen for the sound of the ram’s horn.’ But they answered, ‘We will not listen!’

¹⁶While he was still speaking, the king asked, “Have we made you the counselor to the king? Stop! Why be struck down?” So the prophet stopped, but he said, “I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not heeded my advice.”

⁵Since he heard the sound of the horn but failed to heed the warning, his blood will be on his own head. If he had heeded the warning, he would have saved his life.

⁷By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in godly fear built an ark to save his family. By faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

¹⁹So give orders now to shelter your livestock and everything you have in the field. Every man or beast that remains in the field and is not brought inside will die when the hail comes down upon them.’”

²⁰Those among Pharaoh’s officials who feared the word of the Lord hurried to bring their servants and livestock to shelter,

³⁹“Abraham is our father,” they replied. “If you were children of Abraham,” said Jesus, “you would do the works of Abraham.

¹We must pay closer attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.

²For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every transgression and disobedience received its just punishment,

¹⁰So the king of Israel sent word to the place the man of God had pointed out. Time and again Elisha warned the king, so that he was on his guard in such places.

³⁷When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and asked Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

³⁸Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

¹⁸If I say to the wicked man, ‘You will surely die,’ but you do not warn him or speak out to warn him from his wicked way to save his life, that wicked man will die in his iniquity, and I will hold you responsible for his blood.

¹⁹But if you warn a wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness and his wicked way, he will die in his iniquity, but you will have saved yourself.

²²And Reuben responded, “Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy? But you would not listen. Now we must account for his blood!”

¹¹How much more, when wicked men kill a righteous man in his own house and on his own bed, shall I not now require his blood from your hands and remove you from the earth!”

⁸If I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you will surely die,’ but you do not speak out to dissuade him from his way, then that wicked man will die in his iniquity, yet I will hold you accountable for his blood.

⁹But if you warn the wicked man to turn from his way, and he does not turn from it, he will die in his iniquity, but you will have saved your life.

²⁰The soul who sins is the one who will die. A son will not bear the iniquity of his father, and a father will not bear the iniquity of his son. The righteousness of the righteous man will fall upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked man will fall upon him.

⁵And surely I will require the life of any man or beast by whose hand your lifeblood is shed. I will demand an accounting from anyone who takes the life of his fellow man:

²“This is what the Lord says: Stand in the courtyard of the house of the Lord and speak all the words I have commanded you to speak to all the cities of Judah who come to worship there. Do not omit a word.

¹⁷“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from My mouth, give them a warning from Me.

¹⁸If I say to the wicked man, ‘You will surely die,’ but you do not warn him or speak out to warn him from his wicked way to save his life, that wicked man will die in his iniquity, and I will hold you responsible for his blood.

⁷But speak My words to them, whether they listen or refuse to listen, for they are rebellious.

⁸And you, son of man, listen to what I tell you. Do not be rebellious like that rebellious house. Open your mouth and eat what I give you.”

¹⁷Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they watch over your souls as those who must give an account. To this end, allow them to lead with joy and not with grief, for that would be of no advantage to you.

²⁰“Go, stand in the temple courts and tell the people the full message of this new life.”

⁶On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have posted watchmen; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the Lord shall take no rest for yourselves,

²⁶Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men.

²⁷For I did not shrink back from declaring to you the whole will of God.

⁶But if the watchman sees the sword coming and fails to blow the horn to warn the people, and the sword comes and takes away a life, then that one will be taken away in his iniquity, but I will hold the watchman accountable for his blood.’

¹⁴But if I tell the wicked man, ‘You will surely die,’ and he turns from his sin and does what is just and right—

⁴Behold, every soul belongs to Me; both father and son are Mine. The soul who sins is the one who will die.

⁴“You will not surely die,” the serpent told the woman.

²⁰The soul who sins is the one who will die. A son will not bear the iniquity of his father, and a father will not bear the iniquity of his son. The righteousness of the righteous man will fall upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked man will fall upon him.

¹⁹But if you warn a wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness and his wicked way, he will die in his iniquity, but you will have saved yourself.

²⁶Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men.

¹⁰Discipline is harsh for him who leaves the path; he who hates correction will die.

²¹But if you warn the righteous man not to sin, and he does not sin, he will indeed live because he heeded your warning, and you will have saved yourself.”

²³So they set a day to meet with Paul, and many people came to the place he was staying. He expounded to them from morning to evening, testifying about the kingdom of God and persuading them about Jesus from the Law of Moses and the Prophets.

²⁴Some of them were convinced by what he said, but others refused to believe.

¹A man who remains stiff-necked after much reproof will suddenly be shattered beyond recovery.

¹¹Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Look, they are saying, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope has perished; we are cut off.’

¹⁴But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me; the Lord has forgotten me!”

²³Your turbans will remain on your heads and your sandals on your feet. You will not mourn or weep, but you will waste away because of your sins, and you will groan among yourselves.

³⁹Those of you who survive in the lands of your enemies will waste away in their iniquity and will decay in the sins of their fathers.

¹⁷So they will lack food and water; they will be appalled at the sight of one another wasting away in their iniquity.

²⁰Your sons have fainted; they lie at the head of every street, like an antelope in a net. They are full of the wrath of the Lord, the rebuke of your God.

⁴who wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

²³Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Lord God. Wouldn’t I prefer that he turn from his ways and live?

⁹The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance.

⁶Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him while He is near.

⁷Let the wicked man forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that He may have compassion, and to our God, for He will freely pardon.

¹⁹Repent, then, and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped away,

³⁶But he who fails to find me harms himself; all who hate me love death.”

¹⁸If a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he will die for it.

¹⁹But if a wicked man turns from his wickedness and does what is just and right, he will live because of this.

¹⁴and if My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.

²⁵God presented Him as an atoning sacrifice in His blood through faith, in order to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance He had passed over the sins committed beforehand.

²“Son of man, speak to your people and tell them: ‘Suppose I bring the sword against a land, and the people of that land choose a man from among them, appointing him as their watchman,

⁴⁸and when they return to You with all their heart and soul in the land of the enemies who took them captive, and when they pray to You in the direction of the land that You gave to their fathers, the city You have chosen, and the house I have built for Your Name,

⁴⁹then may You hear from heaven, Your dwelling place, their prayer and petition, and may You uphold their cause.

²⁸But what do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first one and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’

²⁹‘I will not,’ he replied. But later he changed his mind and went.

²⁴But if a righteous man turns from his righteousness and practices iniquity, committing the same abominations as the wicked, will he live? None of the righteous acts he did will be remembered. Because of the unfaithfulness and sin he has committed, he will die.

³⁸But My righteous one will live by faith; and if he shrinks back, I will take no pleasure in him.”

⁴Behold, every soul belongs to Me; both father and son are Mine. The soul who sins is the one who will die.

⁹To some who trusted in their own righteousness and viewed others with contempt, He also told this parable:

¹⁰“Two men went up to the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.

²⁰Now if a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I put a stumbling block before him, he will die. If you did not warn him, he will die in his sin, and the righteous acts he did will not be remembered. And I will hold you responsible for his blood.

³Because they were ignorant of God’s righteousness and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.

²⁷But if a wicked man turns from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he will save his life.

⁷At any time I might announce that a nation or kingdom will be uprooted, torn down, and destroyed.

⁸But if that nation I warned turns from its evil, then I will relent of the disaster I had planned to bring.

⁸If I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you will surely die,’ but you do not speak out to dissuade him from his way, then that wicked man will die in his iniquity, yet I will hold you accountable for his blood.

¹Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled by your iniquity.

⁷Let the wicked man forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that He may have compassion, and to our God, for He will freely pardon.

⁸He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?

¹¹And I gave them My statutes and made known to them My ordinances—for the man who does these things will live by them.

⁸But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, half of my possessions I give to the poor, and if I have cheated anyone, I will repay it fourfold.”

¹“If a man steals an ox or a sheep and slaughters or sells it, he must repay five oxen for an ox and four sheep for a sheep.

²If a thief is caught breaking in and is beaten to death, no one shall be guilty of bloodshed.

²“If someone sins and acts unfaithfully against the Lord by deceiving his neighbor in regard to a deposit or security entrusted to him or stolen, or if he extorts his neighbor

³or finds lost property and lies about it and swears falsely, or if he commits any such sin that a man might commit—

⁷He does not oppress another, but restores the pledge to the debtor. He does not commit robbery, but gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing.

⁹³I will never forget Your precepts, for by them You have revived me.

²²None of the transgressions he has committed will be held against him. Because of the righteousness he has practiced, he will live.

²⁵I, yes I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake and remembers your sins no more.

¹⁸Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance—who does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in loving devotion?

¹⁹He will again have compassion on us; He will vanquish our iniquities. You will cast out all our sins into the depths of the sea.

¹⁶Again, the gift is not like the result of the one man’s sin: The judgment that followed one sin brought condemnation, but the gift that followed many trespasses brought justification.

¹⁸“Come now, let us reason together,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are as red as crimson, they will become like wool.

²²I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like a mist. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.

²⁵Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Hear now, O house of Israel: Is it My way that is unjust? Is it not your ways that are unjust?

²⁹Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Are My ways unjust, O house of Israel? Is it not your ways that are unjust?

²⁴Finally, the servant who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Master, I knew that you are a hard man, reaping where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed.

²⁵So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what belongs to you.’

²“Do you think this is just? You say, ‘I am more righteous than God.’

⁸Would you really annul My justice? Would you condemn Me to justify yourself?

²¹For I was afraid of you, because you are a harsh man. You withdraw what you did not deposit and reap what you did not sow.’

²²His master replied, ‘You wicked servant, I will judge you by your own words. So you knew that I am a harsh man, withdrawing what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow?

¹²Therefore, son of man, say to your people: ‘The righteousness of the righteous man will not deliver him in the day of his transgression; neither will the wickedness of the wicked man cause him to stumble on the day he turns from his wickedness. Nor will the righteous man be able to survive by his righteousness on the day he sins.’

¹³If I tell the righteous man that he will surely live, but he then trusts in his righteousness and commits iniquity, then none of his righteous works will be remembered; he will die because of the iniquity he has committed.

³⁸But My righteous one will live by faith; and if he shrinks back, I will take no pleasure in him.”

²⁰If indeed they have escaped the corruption of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, only to be entangled and overcome by it again, their final condition is worse than it was at first.

²¹It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than to have known it and then to turn away from the holy commandment passed on to them.

²⁶If a righteous man turns from his righteousness and practices iniquity, he will die for this. He will die because of the iniquity he has committed.

²⁷But if a wicked man turns from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he will save his life.

²⁰Now if a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I put a stumbling block before him, he will die. If you did not warn him, he will die in his sin, and the righteous acts he did will not be remembered. And I will hold you responsible for his blood.

²⁷But if a wicked man turns from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he will save his life.

²⁸Because he considered and turned from all the transgressions he had committed, he will surely live; he will not die.

¹⁴But if I tell the wicked man, ‘You will surely die,’ and he turns from his sin and does what is just and right—

²⁷For the Son of Man will come in His Father’s glory with His angels, and then He will repay each one according to what he has done.

²⁵Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Hear now, O house of Israel: Is it My way that is unjust? Is it not your ways that are unjust?

¹²and loving devotion to You, O Lord. For You will repay each man according to his deeds.

¹²And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne. And books were opened, and one of them was the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their deeds, as recorded in the books.

¹³The sea gave up its dead, and Death and Hades gave up their dead, and each one was judged according to his deeds.

³A man’s own folly subverts his way, yet his heart rages against the Lord.

¹⁴For God will bring every deed into judgment, along with every hidden thing, whether good or evil.

²On the fifth day of the month—it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin—

⁴and also for the innocent blood he had shed. For he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the Lord was unwilling to forgive.

⁵As for the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, along with all his accomplishments, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

¹In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his entire army and laid siege to the city.

²And on the ninth day of the fourth month of Zedekiah’s eleventh year, the city was breached.

²⁶on that day a fugitive will come and tell you the news.

²⁷On that day your mouth will be opened to him who has escaped; you will speak and no longer be mute. So you will be a sign to them, and they will know that I am the Lord.”

¹In the twelfth year, on the first day of the twelfth month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

¹In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month—in the fourteenth year after Jerusalem had been struck down—on that very day the hand of the Lord was upon me, and He took me there.

³the word of the Lord came directly to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the River Kebar. And there the Lord’s hand was upon him.

²⁶I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth, and you will be silent and unable to rebuke them, though they are a rebellious house.

²⁷But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you are to tell them, ‘This is what the Lord God says.’ Whoever listens, let him listen; and whoever refuses, let him refuse, for they are a rebellious house.

²⁶on that day a fugitive will come and tell you the news.

²⁷On that day your mouth will be opened to him who has escaped; you will speak and no longer be mute. So you will be a sign to them, and they will know that I am the Lord.”

¹The hand of the Lord was upon me, and He brought me out by His Spirit and set me down in the middle of the valley, and it was full of bones.

⁶⁴Immediately Zechariah’s mouth was opened and his tongue was released, and he began to speak, praising God.

²²And there the hand of the Lord was upon me, and He said to me, “Get up, go out to the plain, and there I will speak with you.”

²Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who gave you birth. When I called him, he was but one; then I blessed him and multiplied him.

²⁷Tell them that this is what the Lord God says: ‘As surely as I live, those in the ruins will fall by the sword, those in the open field I will give to be devoured by wild animals, and those in the strongholds and caves will die by plague.

⁵He gave him no inheritance here, not even a foot of ground. But God promised to give possession of the land to Abraham and his descendants, even though he did not yet have a child.

⁷When all the commanders and men of the armies in the field heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam over the land and that he had put him in charge of the men, women, and children who were the poorest of the land and had not been exiled to Babylon,

⁴therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God. This is what the Lord God says to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys, to the desolate ruins and abandoned cities, which have become a spoil and a mockery to the rest of the nations around you.

⁸Produce fruit, then, in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.

⁹Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal, and follow other gods that you have not known,

¹⁰and then come and stand before Me in this house, which bears My Name, and say, ‘We are delivered, so we can continue with all these abominations’?

¹⁶but you must not eat the blood; pour it on the ground like water.

⁴But you must not eat meat with its lifeblood still in it.

⁶See how every prince of Israel within you has used his power to shed blood.

¹⁷This is a permanent statute for the generations to come, wherever you live: You must not eat any fat or any blood.”

⁶He does not eat at the mountain or look to the idols of the house of Israel. He does not defile his neighbor’s wife or approach a woman during her period.

¹Woe to those who devise iniquity and plot evil on their beds! At morning’s light they accomplish it because the power is in their hands.

²They covet fields and seize them; they take away houses. They deprive a man of his home, a fellow man of his inheritance.

⁴⁰You shall live by the sword and serve your brother. But when you rebel, you will tear his yoke from your neck.”

³Her princes are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves, leaving nothing for the morning.

¹¹though the father has done none of them: Indeed, the son eats at the mountain and defiles his neighbor’s wife.

¹²He oppresses the poor and needy; he commits robbery and does not restore a pledge. He lifts his eyes to idols; he commits abominations.

³For you have spent enough time in the past carrying out the same desires as the Gentiles: living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and detestable idolatry.

²⁷But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who practices an abomination or a lie, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

⁶Seeing that they were in danger because their troops were hard-pressed, the men of Israel hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in cellars and cisterns.

²²Now therefore, know for sure that by sword and famine and plague you will die in the place where you desire to go to reside.”

⁴On the mountains of Israel you will fall—you and all your troops and the nations with you. I will give you as food to every kind of ravenous bird and wild beast.

⁹Now the cistern into which Ishmael had thrown all the bodies of the men he had struck down along with Gedaliah was a large one that King Asa had made for fear of Baasha king of Israel. Ishmael son of Nethaniah filled it with the slain.

²If they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ you are to tell them that this is what the Lord says: ‘Those destined for death, to death; those destined for the sword, to the sword; those destined for famine, to famine; and those destined for captivity, to captivity.’

³I will appoint over them four kinds of destroyers, declares the Lord: the sword to kill, the dogs to drag away, and the birds of the air and beasts of the earth to devour and destroy.

¹¹This is what the Lord God says: Clap your hands, stomp your feet, and cry out “Alas!” because of all the wicked abominations of the house of Israel, who will fall by sword and famine and plague.

¹²He who is far off will die by the plague, he who is near will fall by the sword, and he who remains will die by famine. So I will vent My fury upon them.

²⁴So I will bring the most wicked of nations to take possession of their houses. I will end the pride of the mighty, and their holy places will be profaned.

²²So the Lord could no longer endure the evil deeds and detestable acts you committed, and your land became a desolation, a horror, and an object of cursing, without inhabitant, as it is this day.

²¹Tell the house of Israel that this is what the Lord God says: ‘I am about to desecrate My sanctuary, the pride of your power, the desire of your eyes, and the delight of your soul. And the sons and daughters you left behind will fall by the sword.’

¹³Then the earth will become desolate because of its inhabitants, as the fruit of their deeds.

⁶Therefore My wrath and anger poured out and burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, so that they have become the desolate ruin they are today.

²“This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: You have seen all the disaster that I brought against Jerusalem and all the cities of Judah; and behold, they lie today in ruins and desolation

⁷The slain will fall among you, and you will know that I am the Lord.

¹⁴Furthermore, all the leaders of the priests and the people multiplied their unfaithful deeds, following all the abominations of the nations, and they defiled the house of the Lord, which He had consecrated in Jerusalem.

¹⁵Again and again the Lord, the God of their fathers, sent word to His people through His messengers because He had compassion on them and on His dwelling place.

¹⁸The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I am honored through Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”

²⁷The king will mourn, the prince will be clothed with despair, and the hands of the people of the land will tremble. I will deal with them according to their conduct, and I will judge them by their own standards. Then they will know that I am the Lord.’”

⁴⁹They will repay you for your indecency, and you will bear the consequences of your sins of idolatry. Then you will know that I am the Lord God.’”

⁹The voice of the Lord calls out to the city (and it is sound wisdom to fear Your name): “Heed the rod and the One who ordained it.

¹⁰Can I forget any longer, O house of the wicked, the treasures of wickedness and the short ephah, which is accursed?

²For day after day they seek Me and delight to know My ways, like a nation that does what is right and does not forsake the justice of their God. They ask Me for righteous judgments; they delight in the nearness of God.”

⁸‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me.

¹³Therefore the Lord said: “These people draw near to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is but rules taught by men.

¹⁶They sent their disciples to Him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that You are honest and that You teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You seek favor from no one, because You pay no attention to external appearance.

¹⁷So tell us what You think: Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”

³⁵This is what each man is to say to his friend and to his brother: ‘What has the Lord answered?’ or ‘What has the Lord spoken?’

²⁰For you have deceived yourselves by sending me to the Lord your God, saying, ‘Pray to the Lord our God on our behalf, and as for all that the Lord our God says, tell it to us and we will do it.’

³⁶But they deceived Him with their mouths, and lied to Him with their tongues.

³⁷Their hearts were disloyal to Him, and they were unfaithful to His covenant.

²²The seed sown among the thorns is the one who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

²²Be doers of the word, and not hearers only. Otherwise, you are deceiving yourselves.

²³For anyone who hears the word but does not carry it out is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror,

²⁸But He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”

¹³Therefore the Lord said: “These people draw near to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is but rules taught by men.

¹⁴What good is it, my brothers, if someone claims to have faith, but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?

¹⁵Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.

²⁰because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man. When he heard John’s words, he was greatly perplexed; yet he listened to him gladly.

³⁵John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you were willing for a season to bask in his light.

¹⁶Some are like the seeds sown on rocky ground. They hear the word and at once receive it with joy.

¹⁷But they themselves have no root, and they remain for only a season. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.

⁹As for the prophet who prophesies peace, only if the word of the prophet comes true will the prophet be recognized as one the Lord has truly sent.”

¹⁹And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and He let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground.

²⁰So all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the Lord.

⁵And whether they listen or refuse to listen—for they are a rebellious house—they will know that a prophet has been among them.

⁸Now when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king: “Why have you torn your clothes? Please let the man come to me, and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel.”

¹¹‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off as a testimony against you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God is near.’

²⁹Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I have made the land a desolate waste because of all the abominations they have committed.’