I Never Knew You

^21 (A)“Not everyone who ^(B)says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will ^(C)enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who ^(D)does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ^22 (E)On that day ^(F)many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not ^(G)prophesy in your name, and cast out demons ^(H)in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ ^23 (I)And then will I declare to them, ‘I ^(J)never knew you; ^(K)depart from me, ^(L)you workers of lawlessness.’

Build Your House on the Rock

^24 (M)“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like ^(N)a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵ And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. ²⁶ And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like ^(O)a foolish man who built his house on the sand. ²⁷ And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

The Authority of Jesus

²⁸ And when Jesus finished these sayings, ^(P)the crowds were astonished at his teaching, ^29 (Q)for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.

Warning Against False Teachers

^3 (A)As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not ^(B)to teach any different doctrine, ⁴ nor ^(C)to devote themselves to myths and endless ^(D)genealogies, which promote ^(E)speculations rather than the stewardship^[a] from God that is by faith. ⁵ The aim of our charge is love ^(F)that issues from a pure heart and ^(G)a good conscience and ^(H)a sincere faith. ⁶ Certain persons, by ^(I)swerving from these, have wandered away into ^(J)vain discussion, ⁷ desiring to be teachers of the law, ^(K)without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions.

⁸ Now we know that ^(L)the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, ⁹ understanding this, that the ^(M)law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, ¹⁰ the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers,^[b] liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to ^(N)sound^[c] doctrine, ¹¹ in accordance with ^(O)the gospel of the glory of ^(P)the blessed God ^(Q)with which I have been entrusted.

The New Life

¹⁷ Now this I say and ^(A)testify in the Lord, ^(B)that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, ^(C)in the futility of their minds. ¹⁸ They ^(D)are darkened in their understanding, ^(E)alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to ^(F)their hardness of heart. ¹⁹ They ^(G)have become callous and ^(H)have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. ²⁰ But that is not the way you ^(I)learned Christ!— ²¹ assuming that ^(J)you have heard about him and ^(K)were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, ²² to ^(L)put off ^(M)your old self,^[a] which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through ^(N)deceitful desires, ²³ and ^(O)to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, ²⁴ and to put on ^(P)the new self, ^(Q)created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

⁸ for ^(A)at one time you were ^(B)darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. ^(C)Walk as children of light ⁹ (for ^(D)the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), ¹⁰ and ^(E)try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. ^11 (F)Take no part in the ^(G)unfruitful ^(H)works of darkness, but instead ^(I)expose them. ¹² For ^(J)it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. ¹³ But when ^(K)anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, ¹⁴ for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,

^15 (O)Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, ^16 (P)making the best use of the time, because ^(Q)the days are evil. ¹⁷ Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what ^(R)the will of the Lord is. ¹⁸ And ^(S)do not get drunk with wine, for that is ^(T)debauchery, but ^(U)be filled with the Spirit, ¹⁹ addressing one another in ^(V)psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, ^20 (W)giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father ^(X)in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, ^21 (Y)submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.