²⁰ In a large house there are utensils not only of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for special^[a] use, some for ordinary.^[b](A)

⁵ like living stones let yourselves be built^[a] into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.^(A)

²¹ Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one object for special use and another for ordinary use?^{(A) 22} What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience the objects of wrath that are made for destruction,^{(B) 23} and what if he has done so in order to make known the riches of his glory for the objects of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory—

⁹ For we are God’s coworkers, working together; you are God’s field, God’s building.^(A)

⁵ Moreover, let the gold and silver vessels of the house of God that Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon be restored and brought back to the temple in Jerusalem, each to its place; you shall put them in the house of God.”^(A)

¹⁵ if I am delayed, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.^(A)

⁷ But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us.^(A)

⁶ All their neighbors aided them with silver vessels, with gold, with goods, with livestock, and with valuable gifts, besides all that was freely offered.

²² in whom you also are built together spiritually^[a] into a dwelling place for God.