- Dear children,
keep away from idols. - Do not make gods from silver or from gold instead of me. You will not make them for yourselves.
- Are you not aware that wrongdoers will never inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, sodomites, thieves, extortioners, drunkards, slanderers, swindlers—none of these will inherit the kingdom of God.
- It is the Lord, your God, whom you are to follow. You must fear him and observe his commandments and obey what he tells you and serve him and hold fast to him.
- For the carved images of the nations are powerless;
they are nothing more than wood cut from a forest,
fashioned with a knife by craftsmen
and embellished with silver and gold.
Then they are fastened with hammers and nails
to prevent them from toppling.
Like scarecrows in a cucumber field
they are unable to speak,
and they must be carried from place to place
since they cannot walk.
Do not be afraid of them,
for they can do no harm,
nor do they have any power to do good. - So today acknowledge it and take it to heart that the Lord is God in the heavens above and on the earth below. There is no other.
- Take no part in the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather seek to expose them.
For it is shameful even to speak of what deeds people do in secret. - And so you should put to death everything in your nature that is earthly: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desires, and greed (which is idolatry).
- I am the Lord, your God,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
You know no God but me,
nor any savior other than me. - If it seems wrong to you to serve the Lord, then today you must choose whom you will serve, whether it be the gods that your fathers served on the other side of the river, or the gods of the Amorites who dwell in the land. As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.
- No weapon used against you will prevail,
and you will refute every accusation
that is raised in court against you.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
their vindication from me, says the Lord. - Put on the armor of God so that you will be able to stand firm against the deceit of the devil.
- The love of money is the root of all evils, and in their desire for it some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many serious wounds.
- Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good.
- The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the Law.
- Shun evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it. - I am not asking you
to take them out of the world,
but I do ask you
to protect them from the evil one. - He continued, “Then put away the foreign gods from among you. Bend your heart to the Lord, the God of Israel.”
- Some trust in chariots, and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the Lord, our God. - They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and offered worship and service to the creature rather than to the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. That is why God abandoned them to their shameful passions. Their women exchanged natural intercourse for unnatural practices. Likewise, men gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another. Men committed shameful acts with men and received in their own persons the fitting penalty for their perversion. Furthermore, since these people did not see fit to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their depraved way of thinking and to all types of vile behavior.
- Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you previously, that no one who does such things will inherit the kingdom of God.
- Now in regard to the eating of meat sacrificed to idols, we know that idols are nothing in the world and that there is only one God.
- Let no one deceive you in any way.
That Day cannot come before the final rebellion occurs and the lawless one is revealed, the son of destruction. He is the adversary who sets himself in opposition to, and exalts himself above, every so-called god or object of worship, and who even seats himself in the temple of God, declaring himself to be God.
Jesus replied,
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
no one can see the kingdom of God
without being born from above.” Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.Next verse!With image