Judgment Against Idolatry

6 The word of the Lord came to me: ^2 (A)“Son of man, ^(B)set your face toward ^(C)the mountains of Israel, and ^(D)prophesy against them, ³ and say, ^(E)You mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God! Thus says the Lord God to ^(F)the mountains and ^(G)the hills, to ^(H)the ravines and the valleys: Behold, I, even I, will bring a sword upon you, ^(I)and I will destroy your high places. ^4 (J)Your altars shall become desolate, and your ^(K)incense altars shall be broken, and I will cast down your slain before your idols. ^5 (L)And I will lay the dead bodies of the people of Israel before their idols, ^(M)and I will scatter your bones around your altars. ⁶ Wherever you dwell, ^(N)the cities shall be waste and ^(O)the high places ruined, so that your altars will be waste and ruined,^[a] your idols broken and destroyed, your ^(P)incense altars cut down, and your works wiped out. ⁷ And the slain shall fall in your midst, and you shall know that I am the Lord.

^8 (Q)“Yet I will leave some of you alive. When you have among the nations ^(R)some who escape the sword, and when you are scattered through the countries, ⁹ then those of you who escape ^(S)will remember me among the nations where they are carried captive, how ^(T)I have been broken over their whoring heart that has departed from me and over their eyes ^(U)that go whoring after their idols. ^(V)And they will be loathsome in their own sight for the evils that they have committed, for all their abominations. ¹⁰ And they shall know that I am the Lord. ^(W)I have not said in vain that I would do this evil to them.”

¹¹ Thus says the Lord God: ^(X)“Clap your hands ^(Y)and stamp your foot and say, Alas, because of all the evil abominations of the house of Israel, ^(Z)for they shall fall by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. ^12 (AA)He who is far off shall die of pestilence, and he who is near shall fall by the sword, and he who is left and is preserved shall die of famine. ^(AB)Thus I will spend my fury upon them. ¹³ And you shall know that I am the Lord, ^(AC)when their slain lie among their idols around their altars, ^(AD)on every high hill, ^(AE)on all the mountaintops, ^(AF)under every green tree, and under ^(AG)every leafy oak, wherever ^(AH)they offered pleasing aroma to all their idols. ¹⁴ And ^(AI)I will stretch out my hand against them and ^(AJ)make the land desolate and waste, ^(AK)in all their dwelling places, from the wilderness to ^(AL)Riblah.^[b] Then ^(AM)they will know that I am the Lord.”

Pray for All People

2 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, ^2 (A)for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and ^(B)dignified in every way. ³ This is good, and ^(C)it is pleasing in the sight of ^(D)God our Savior, ⁴ who desires ^(E)all people to be saved and ^(F)to come to ^(G)the knowledge of the truth. ⁵ For ^(H)there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man^[a] Christ Jesus, ^6 (I)who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is ^(J)the testimony given ^(K)at the proper time. ^7 (L)For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (^(M)I am telling the truth, I am not lying), ^(N)a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

⁸ I desire then that ^(O)in every place the men should pray, ^(P)lifting ^(Q)holy hands without anger or quarreling; ⁹ likewise also ^(R)that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, ^10 (S)but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works. ¹¹ Let a woman learn quietly ^(T)with all submissiveness. ^12 (U)I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. ^13 (V)For Adam was formed first, ^(W)then Eve; ¹⁴ and Adam was not deceived, but ^(X)the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. ¹⁵ Yet she will be saved through ^(Y)childbearing—if they continue in ^(Z)faith and love and holiness, with self-control.