²⁰ Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money!^(A)

¹⁷ Then Daniel answered the king, “You may keep your gifts for yourself and give your rewards to someone else.^(A) Nevertheless, I will read the writing for the king and tell him what it means.

³⁸ Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized,^(A) every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.^(B) And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.^(C)

⁸ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy,^[a] drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.

¹⁵ The merchants who sold these things and gained their wealth from her^(A) will stand far off,^(B) terrified at her torment. They will weep and mourn^(C)

¹⁴ With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce^(A) the unstable;^(B) they are experts in greed^(C)—an accursed brood!^{(D) 15} They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam^(E) son of Bezer,^[a] who loved the wages of wickedness. ¹⁶ But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey—an animal without speech—who spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.^(F)

¹⁷ These people are springs without water^(G) and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them.^(H)

³ Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days.^(A)

²² Repent^(A) of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart.

¹⁷ So if God gave them the same gift^(A) he gave us^(B) who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could stand in God’s way?”