¹⁷ but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil ^(A)you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it ^(B)you^[a] shall surely ^(C)die.”

²⁴ So ^(A)He drove out the man; and He placed ^(B)cherubim ^(C)at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of ^(D)life.

²² But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”

The Dead Church

3 “And to the ^[a]angel of the church in Sardis write,

‘These things says He who ^(A)has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: “I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.

^5 (A)even when we were dead in trespasses, ^(B)made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), ⁶ and raised us up together, and made us sit together ^(C)in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

²⁵ Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when ^(A)the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live.

¹⁴ Therefore He says:

⁵ Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?

⁶⁰ Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.”