^41 (A)So these nations feared the Lord and also served their carved images. Their children did likewise, and their children's children—as their fathers did, so they do to this day.

^24 (A)“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and ^(B)money.^[a]

^32 (A)They also feared the Lord ^(B)and appointed from among themselves all sorts of people as priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the shrines of ^(C)the high places. ³³ So they feared the Lord but also served their own gods, after the manner of the nations from among whom they had been carried away.

²¹ And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long ^(A)will you go limping between two different opinions? ^(B)If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And the people did not answer him a word.

¹⁵ “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. ^(A)Would that you were either cold or hot! ¹⁶ So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.

Adversaries Oppose the Rebuilding

4 Now when ^(A)the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple to the Lord, the God of Israel, ² they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers' houses and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we worship your God as you do, and we have been sacrificing to him ever ^(B)since the days of ^(C)Esarhaddon king of Assyria ^(D)who brought us here.” ³ But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of fathers' houses in Israel said to them, ^(E)“You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God; but we alone will build to the Lord, the God of Israel, ^(F)as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.”

Choose Whom You Will Serve

^14 (A)“Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. ^(B)Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. ^15 (C)And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, ^(D)choose this day whom you will serve, whether ^(E)the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or ^(F)the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. ^(G)But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

¹⁶ Then the people answered, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods, ¹⁷ for it is the Lord our God who brought us and our fathers up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight and preserved us in all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed. ¹⁸ And the Lord drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve the Lord, for he is our God.”

¹⁹ But Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve the Lord, for he is ^(H)a holy God. He is ^(I)a jealous God; ^(J)he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins. ^20 (K)If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then ^(L)he will turn and do you harm and consume you, after having done you good.”