²⁸ That is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking the cup.

⁴ Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else.

⁵ Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you^[a]; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith.

²³ “So if you are presenting a sacrifice^[a] at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, ²⁴ leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God.

³¹ But if we would examine ourselves, we would not be judged by God in this way.

⁷ “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Look at what’s happening to you!

⁵ This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Look at what’s happening to you!

²⁰ Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything.

²¹ Dear friends, if we don’t feel guilty, we can come to God with bold confidence.