The Day of the Wrath of the Lord

7 The word of the Lord came to me: ² “And you, ^(A)O son of man, thus says the Lord God to the land of Israel: ^(B)An end! The end has come upon the four corners of the land.^{[a] 3} Now ^(C)the end is upon you, and ^(D)I will send my anger upon you; ^(E)I will judge you according to your ways, and I will punish you for all your abominations. ^4 (F)And my eye will not spare you, nor will I have pity, but ^(G)I will punish you for your ways, while your abominations are in your midst. ^(H)Then you will know that I am the Lord.

⁵ “Thus says the Lord God: Disaster ^(I)after disaster!^[b] Behold, it comes. ^6 (J)An end has come; the end has come; it has awakened against you. Behold, it comes. ^7 (K)Your doom^[c] has come to you, O inhabitant of the land. ^(L)The time has come; the day is near, a day of tumult, and not ^(M)of joyful shouting on the mountains. ⁸ Now I will soon ^(N)pour out my wrath upon you, and ^(O)spend my anger against you, ^(P)and judge you according to your ways, and I will punish you for all your abominations. ^9 (Q)And my eye will not spare, nor will I have pity. I will punish you according to your ways, while your abominations are in your midst. ^(R)Then you will know that I am the Lord, who strikes.

^10 (S)“Behold, the day! Behold, it comes! ^(T)Your doom has come; ^(U)the rod has blossomed; pride has budded. ^11 (V)Violence has grown up into ^(W)a rod of wickedness. ^(X)None of them shall remain, nor their abundance, nor their wealth; neither shall there be preeminence among them.^{[d] 12 (Y)}The time has come; the day has arrived. Let not ^(Z)the buyer rejoice, nor ^(AA)the seller mourn, ^(AB)for wrath is upon all their multitude.^{[e] 13} For ^(AC)the seller shall not return to what he has sold, while they live. ^(AD)For the vision concerns all their multitude; it shall not turn back; and because of his iniquity, none can maintain his life.^[f]

¹⁴ “They have blown the trumpet and made everything ready, but none goes to battle, ^(AE)for my wrath is upon all their multitude. ^15 (AF)The sword is without; pestilence and famine are within. ^(AG)He who is in the field dies by the sword, ^(AH)and him who is in the city famine and pestilence devour. ^16 (AI)And if any survivors escape, they will be on the mountains, like ^(AJ)doves of the valleys, all of them moaning, each one over his iniquity. ^17 (AK)All hands are feeble, and all knees turn to water. ^18 (AL)They put on sackcloth, and ^(AM)horror covers them. Shame is on all faces, and ^(AN)baldness on all their heads. ¹⁹ They cast their silver into the streets, and their gold is like an unclean thing. ^(AO)Their silver and gold are not able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord. They cannot satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs with it. ^(AP)For it was ^(AQ)the stumbling block of their iniquity. ^20 (AR)His beautiful ornament they used for pride, and ^(AS)they made their abominable images and their detestable things of it. Therefore ^(AT)I make it an unclean thing to them. ²¹ And I will give it into the hands of ^(AU)foreigners for prey, ^(AV)and to the wicked of the earth for spoil, and ^(AW)they shall profane it. ²² I will turn my face from them, and ^(AX)they shall profane my treasured^[g] place. Robbers shall enter ^(AY)and profane it.

^23 (AZ)“Forge a chain!^{[h] (BA)}For the land is full of bloody crimes ^(BB)and the city is full of violence. ²⁴ I will bring ^(BC)the worst of the nations to take possession of their houses. ^(BD)I will put an end to the pride of the strong, ^(BE)and their holy places^[i] shall be profaned. ^25 (BF)When anguish comes, ^(BG)they will seek peace, but there shall be none. ^26 (BH)Disaster comes upon disaster; ^(BI)rumor follows rumor. ^(BJ)They seek a vision from the prophet, while ^(BK)the law^[j] perishes from the priest and ^(BL)counsel from the elders. ²⁷ The king mourns, the prince is wrapped in despair, and the hands of the people of the land are paralyzed by terror. According to their way ^(BM)I will do to them, and according to their judgments I will judge them, ^(BN)and they shall know that I am the Lord.”

Qualifications for Overseers

3 The saying is ^(A)trustworthy: If anyone aspires to ^(B)the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. ² Therefore ^(C)an overseer^[a] must be above reproach, ^(D)the husband of one wife,^{[b] (E)}sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, ^(F)hospitable, ^(G)able to teach, ³ not a drunkard, not violent but ^(H)gentle, not quarrelsome, ^(I)not a lover of money. ⁴ He must manage his own household well, with all dignity ^(J)keeping his children submissive, ⁵ for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for ^(K)God's church? ⁶ He must not be a recent convert, or he may ^(L)become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. ⁷ Moreover, he must be well thought of by ^(M)outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into ^(N)a snare of the devil.

Qualifications for Deacons

^8 (O)Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued,^{[c] (P)}not addicted to much wine, ^(Q)not greedy for dishonest gain. ⁹ They must ^(R)hold the mystery of the faith with ^(S)a clear conscience. ¹⁰ And ^(T)let them also be tested first; then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless. ^11 (U)Their wives likewise^[d] must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, ^(V)faithful in all things. ¹² Let deacons each be ^(W)the husband of one wife, ^(X)managing their children and their own households well. ¹³ For ^(Y)those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.

The Mystery of Godliness

¹⁴ I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, ¹⁵ if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth. ¹⁶ Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: