¹⁸ For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears,^(A) many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.^{(B) 19} Their destiny^(C) is destruction, their god is their stomach,^(D) and their glory is in their shame.^(E) Their mind is set on earthly things.^(F)

²² And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us,^(A) knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life^(B) and eat, and live forever.”

¹⁸ But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart,^(A) and these defile them. ¹⁹ For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.^{(B) 20} These are what defile a person;^(C) but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”

²¹ For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, ²² adultery, greed,^(A) malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. ²³ All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”

²³ But whoever has doubts^(A) is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.^[a]

²² reject every kind of evil.

¹⁵ To the pure, all things are pure,^(A) but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure.^(B) In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted.^{(C) 16} They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him.^(D) They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.^(E)

3 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.^{(A) 2} People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money,^(B) boastful, proud,^(C) abusive,^(D) disobedient to their parents,^(E) ungrateful, unholy, ³ without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, ⁴ treacherous,^(F) rash, conceited,^(G) lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— ⁵ having a form of godliness^(H) but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.^(I)