Idolatrous Elders Condemned

14 Then some ^(A)elders of Israel came to me and ^(B)sat down before me. ² And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ³ “Son of man, these men have ^(C)set up their idols in their hearts and have ^(D)put in front of their faces the stumbling block of their wrongdoing. Should I let Myself be ^(E)consulted by them at all? ⁴ Therefore speak to them and tell them, ‘This is what the Lord ^[a]God says: “Anyone of the house of Israel who sets up his idols in his heart, puts in front of his face the stumbling block of his wrongdoing, and then comes to the prophet, I the Lord will let Myself answer him in ^[b]the matter in view of the ^(F)multitude of his idols, ⁵ in order to take hold of ^[c](G)the hearts of the house of Israel who have ^[d](H)turned away from Me due to all their idols.”’

⁶ “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “^(I)Repent and turn away from your idols, and turn your faces away from all your ^(J)abominations. ⁷ For anyone of the house of Israel, or of the ^(K)strangers who reside in Israel, who deserts Me, sets up his idols in his heart, puts in front of his face the stumbling block of his wrongdoing, and then comes to the prophet to request something of Me for himself, ^(L)I the Lord will let Myself answer him Myself. ⁸ I will ^(M)set My face against that person and make him a ^(N)sign and ^[e]a proverb, and I will eliminate him from among My people. So you will know that I am the Lord.

⁹ “But if the prophet is persuaded so that he speaks a word, it is I, the Lord, who have persuaded that prophet; and I will stretch out My hand against him and ^(O)eliminate him from among My people Israel. ¹⁰ And they will bear the punishment for their wrongdoing; as the wrongdoing of the inquirer is, so the wrongdoing of the prophet will be, ¹¹ in order that the house of Israel may no longer ^(P)stray from Me and no longer ^(Q)defile themselves with all their offenses. So they will be ^(R)My people, and I shall be their God,”’ declares the Lord God.”

The City Will Not Be Spared

¹² Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ¹³ “Son of man, if a country sins against Me by ^(S)being unfaithful, and I stretch out My hand against it, ^[f]destroy its ^(T)supply of bread, send famine against it, and eliminate from it both human and animal life, ¹⁴ even ^(U)though these three men, ^(V)Noah, ^(W)Daniel, and ^(X)Job were in its midst, by their own righteousness they could only save ^(Y)themselves,” declares the Lord God. ¹⁵ “If I were to cause ^(Z)vicious animals to pass through the land and they ^[g]depopulated it, and it became desolate so that no one would pass through it because of the animals, ¹⁶ though these three men were in its midst, as I live,” declares the Lord God, “they could not save either their sons or their daughters. ^(AA)They alone would be saved, but the country would be desolate. ¹⁷ Or if I were to ^(AB)bring a sword on that country and say, ‘A sword is to pass through the country,’ and I ^(AC)eliminated human and animal life from it, ¹⁸ even though these three men were in its midst, as I live,” declares the Lord God, “they could not save either their sons or their daughters, but they alone would be saved. ¹⁹ Or if I were to send a ^(AD)plague against that country and pour out My wrath on it in blood to eliminate man and animal from it, ²⁰ even though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in its midst, as I live,” declares the Lord God, “they could not save either their son or their daughter. They would save only themselves by their righteousness.”

²¹ For this is what the Lord God says: “How much more when ^(AE)I send My four ^[h]severe judgments against Jerusalem: sword, famine, vicious animals, and plague to eliminate human and animal life from it! ²² Yet, behold, ^[i]survivors will be left in it who will be brought out, both sons and daughters. Behold, they are going to come out to you, and you will ^(AF)see their conduct and actions; then you will be ^(AG)comforted for the disaster which I have brought against Jerusalem for everything which I have brought upon it. ²³ Then they will comfort you when you see their conduct and actions, for you will know that I have not done ^(AH)without reason whatever I did ^[j]to it,” declares the Lord God.

Jerusalem like a Useless Vine

15 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ² “Son of man, ^[k]how is the wood of the ^(AI)vine better than any wood of a branch which is among the trees of the forest? ³ Can wood be taken from it to make ^[l]anything, or can even a peg be taken from it on which to hang any utensil? ⁴ If it has been put into the ^(AJ)fire for fuel, and the fire has consumed both of its ends and its middle part has been charred, is it then good for ^[m]anything? ⁵ Behold, while it is intact, it is not made into ^[n]anything. How much less, when the fire has consumed it and it is charred, can it still be made into ^[o]anything! ⁶ Therefore, this is what the Lord ^[p]God says: ‘As the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so have I given up the inhabitants of Jerusalem; ⁷ and I ^(AK)set My face against them. Though they have ^(AL)come out of the fire, yet the fire will consume them. Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I set My face against them. ⁸ So I will make the land desolate, because they have ^(AM)acted unfaithfully,’” declares the Lord God.

The Sin of Partiality

2 ^(A)My brothers and sisters, ^(B)do not hold your faith in our ^(C)glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of ^(D)personal favoritism. ² For if a man comes into your ^[a]assembly with a gold ring and is dressed in ^(E)bright clothes, and a poor man in ^(F)dirty clothes also comes in, ³ and you ^[b]pay special attention to the one who is wearing the ^(G)bright clothes, and say, “You sit here in a good place,” and you say to the poor man, “You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,” ⁴ have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges ^(H)with evil ^[c]motives? ⁵ Listen, ^(I)my beloved brothers and sisters: did ^(J)God not choose the poor ^[d]of this world to be ^(K)rich in faith and ^(L)heirs of the kingdom which He ^(M)promised to those who love Him? ⁶ But you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you and ^[e]personally ^(N)drag you into ^[f]court? ^7 (O)Do they not blaspheme the good name ^[g]by which you have been called?

⁸ If, however, you ^(P)are fulfilling the ^[h]royal law according to the Scripture, “^(Q)You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. ⁹ But if you ^(R)show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the Law as violators. ¹⁰ For whoever keeps the whole Law, yet ^(S)stumbles in one point, has become ^(T)guilty of all. ¹¹ For He who said, “^(U)Do not commit adultery,” also said, “^(V)Do not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but do murder, you have become a violator of the Law. ¹² So speak, and so act, as those who are to be judged by ^(W)the law of freedom. ¹³ For ^(X)judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy ^[i]triumphs over judgment.

Faith and Works

^14 (Y)What use is it, ^(Z)my brothers and sisters, if someone says he has faith, but he has no works? Can ^[j]that faith save him? ^15 (AA)If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, ¹⁶ and one of you says to them, “^(AB)Go in peace, ^[k]be warmed and be filled,” yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? ¹⁷ In the same way, ^(AC)faith also, if it has no works, is ^[l]dead, being by itself.

^18 (AD)But someone ^[m]may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your ^(AE)faith without the works, and I will ^(AF)show you my faith ^(AG)by my works.” ¹⁹ You believe that ^[n](AH)God is one. ^(AI)You do well; ^(AJ)the demons also believe, and shudder. ²⁰ But are you willing to acknowledge, ^(AK)you foolish person, that ^(AL)faith without works is useless? ^21 (AM)Was our father Abraham not justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? ²² You see that ^(AN)faith was working with his works, and ^[o]as a result of the ^(AO)works, faith was ^[p]perfected; ²³ and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “^(AP)And Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called a ^(AQ)friend of God. ²⁴ You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. ²⁵ In the same way, was ^(AR)Rahab the prostitute not justified by works also ^(AS)when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? ²⁶ For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also ^(AT)faith without works is dead.