17 Therefore

(A)“Come out from among them
And be separate, says the Lord.
Do not touch what is unclean,
And I will receive you.”

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17 Therefore,

“Come out from them(A)
    and be separate,
says the Lord.
Touch no unclean thing,
    and I will receive you.”[a](B)

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Corinthians 6:17 Isaiah 52:11; Ezek. 20:34,41

Elijah’s Mount Carmel Victory

20 So Ahab sent for all the children of Israel, and (A)gathered the prophets together on Mount Carmel.

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20 So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel.(A)

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41 (A)So these nations feared the Lord, yet served their carved images; also their children and their children’s children have continued doing as their fathers did, even to this day.

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41 Even while these people were worshiping the Lord,(A) they were serving their idols. To this day their children and grandchildren continue to do as their ancestors did.

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15 And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, (A)choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether (B)the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of [a]the River, or (C)the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. (D)But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

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Footnotes

  1. Joshua 24:15 The Euphrates

15 But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites,(A) in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household,(B) we will serve the Lord.”(C)

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Greeting

Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, (A)called to be an apostle, (B)separated to the gospel of God

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Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle(A) and set apart(B) for the gospel of God(C)

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19 (A)They went out from us, but they were not of us; for (B)if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out (C)that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.

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19 They went out from us,(A) but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.(B)

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The Promise of Rest

Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, (A)let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, [a]not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said:

(B)“So I swore in My wrath,
‘They shall not enter My rest,’ ”

although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.

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Footnotes

  1. Hebrews 4:2 NU, M since they were not united by faith with those who heeded it

A Sabbath-Rest for the People of God

Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it.(A) For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed.[a](B) Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said,

“So I declared on oath in my anger,
    ‘They shall never enter my rest.’”[b](C)

And yet his works have been finished since the creation of the world.

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Footnotes

  1. Hebrews 4:2 Some manuscripts because those who heard did not combine it with faith
  2. Hebrews 4:3 Psalm 95:11; also in verse 5

Beware of Personal Favoritism

My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, (A)the Lord of glory, with (B)partiality. For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in [a]fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in [b]filthy clothes, and you [c]pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, “You sit here in a good place,” and say to the poor man, “You stand there,” or, “Sit here at my footstool,”

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Footnotes

  1. James 2:2 bright
  2. James 2:2 vile
  3. James 2:3 Lit. look upon

Favoritism Forbidden

My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious(A) Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism.(B) Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,”

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18 But he does not know that (A)the dead are there,
That her guests are in the depths of [a]hell.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 9:18 Or Sheol

18 But little do they know that the dead are there,
    that her guests are deep in the realm of the dead.(A)

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(A)My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also will reject you from being priest for Me;
(B)Because you have forgotten the law of your God,
I also will forget your children.

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    my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.(A)

“Because you have rejected knowledge,
    I also reject you as my priests;
because you have ignored the law(B) of your God,
    I also will ignore your children.

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22 “For My people are foolish,
They have not known Me.
They are [a]silly children,
And they have no understanding.
(A)They are wise to do evil,
But to do good they have no knowledge.”

23 (B)I beheld the earth, and indeed it was (C)without form, and void;
And the heavens, they had no light.
24 (D)I beheld the mountains, and indeed they trembled,
And all the hills moved back and forth.
25 I beheld, and indeed there was no man,
And (E)all the birds of the heavens had fled.
26 I beheld, and indeed the fruitful land was a (F)wilderness,
And all its cities were broken down
At the presence of the Lord,
By His fierce anger.

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 4:22 foolish

22 “My people are fools;(A)
    they do not know me.(B)
They are senseless children;
    they have no understanding.(C)
They are skilled in doing evil;(D)
    they know not how to do good.”(E)

23 I looked at the earth,
    and it was formless and empty;(F)
and at the heavens,
    and their light(G) was gone.
24 I looked at the mountains,
    and they were quaking;(H)
    all the hills were swaying.
25 I looked, and there were no people;
    every bird in the sky had flown away.(I)
26 I looked, and the fruitful land was a desert;(J)
    all its towns lay in ruins(K)
    before the Lord, before his fierce anger.(L)

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Thus says the Lord:

(A)“Cursed is the man who trusts in man
And makes (B)flesh his [a]strength,
Whose heart departs from the Lord.
For he shall be (C)like a shrub in the desert,
And (D)shall not see when good comes,
But shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness,
(E)In a salt land which is not inhabited.

“Blessed(F) is the man who trusts in the Lord,
And whose hope is the Lord.

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 17:5 Lit. arm

This is what the Lord says:

“Cursed is the one who trusts in man,(A)
    who draws strength from mere flesh
    and whose heart turns away from the Lord.(B)
That person will be like a bush in the wastelands;
    they will not see prosperity when it comes.
They will dwell in the parched places(C) of the desert,
    in a salt(D) land where no one lives.

“But blessed(E) is the one who trusts(F) in the Lord,
    whose confidence is in him.

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Qualities Needed in Trials

19 [a]So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, (A)slow to speak, (B)slow to wrath; 20 for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

Doers—Not Hearers Only

21 Therefore (C)lay aside all filthiness and [b]overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, (D)which is able to save your souls.

22 But (E)be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For (F)if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But (G)he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, (H)this one will be blessed in what he does.

26 If anyone [c]among you thinks he is religious, and (I)does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless. 27 (J)Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: (K)to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, (L)and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

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Footnotes

  1. James 1:19 NU Know this or This you know
  2. James 1:21 abundance
  3. James 1:26 NU omits among you

Listening and Doing

19 My dear brothers and sisters,(A) take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak(B) and slow to become angry, 20 because human anger(C) does not produce the righteousness that God desires. 21 Therefore, get rid of(D) all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you,(E) which can save you.

22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.(F) 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom,(G) and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.(H)

26 Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues(I) deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. 27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after(J) orphans and widows(K) in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.(L)

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