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21 “I hate all your show and pretense—
    the hypocrisy of your religious festivals and solemn assemblies.

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21 “I hate,(A) I despise your religious festivals;(B)
    your assemblies(C) are a stench to me.

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11 “What makes you think I want all your sacrifices?”
    says the Lord.
“I am sick of your burnt offerings of rams
    and the fat of fattened cattle.
I get no pleasure from the blood
    of bulls and lambs and goats.
12 When you come to worship me,
    who asked you to parade through my courts with all your ceremony?
13 Stop bringing me your meaningless gifts;
    the incense of your offerings disgusts me!
As for your celebrations of the new moon and the Sabbath
    and your special days for fasting—
they are all sinful and false.
    I want no more of your pious meetings.
14 I hate your new moon celebrations and your annual festivals.
    They are a burden to me. I cannot stand them!
15 When you lift up your hands in prayer, I will not look.
    Though you offer many prayers, I will not listen,
    for your hands are covered with the blood of innocent victims.
16 Wash yourselves and be clean!
    Get your sins out of my sight.
    Give up your evil ways.

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11 “The multitude of your sacrifices—
    what are they to me?” says the Lord.
“I have more than enough of burnt offerings,
    of rams and the fat of fattened animals;(A)
I have no pleasure(B)
    in the blood of bulls(C) and lambs and goats.(D)
12 When you come to appear before me,
    who has asked this of you,(E)
    this trampling of my courts?
13 Stop bringing meaningless offerings!(F)
    Your incense(G) is detestable(H) to me.
New Moons,(I) Sabbaths and convocations(J)
    I cannot bear your worthless assemblies.
14 Your New Moon(K) feasts and your appointed festivals(L)
    I hate with all my being.(M)
They have become a burden to me;(N)
    I am weary(O) of bearing them.
15 When you spread out your hands(P) in prayer,
    I hide(Q) my eyes from you;
even when you offer many prayers,
    I am not listening.(R)

Your hands(S) are full of blood!(T)

16 Wash(U) and make yourselves clean.
    Take your evil deeds out of my sight;(V)
    stop doing wrong.(W)

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31 I will make your cities desolate and destroy your places of pagan worship. I will take no pleasure in your offerings that should be a pleasing aroma to me.

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But those who choose their own ways—
    delighting in their detestable sins—
    will not have their offerings accepted.
When such people sacrifice a bull,
    it is no more acceptable than a human sacrifice.
When they sacrifice a lamb,
    it’s as though they had sacrificed a dog!
When they bring an offering of grain,
    they might as well offer the blood of a pig.
When they burn frankincense,
    it’s as if they had blessed an idol.

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But whoever sacrifices a bull(A)
    is like one who kills a person,
and whoever offers a lamb
    is like one who breaks a dog’s neck;
whoever makes a grain offering
    is like one who presents pig’s(B) blood,
and whoever burns memorial incense(C)
    is like one who worships an idol.
They have chosen their own ways,(D)
    and they delight in their abominations;(E)

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God detests the prayers
    of a person who ignores the law.

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If anyone turns a deaf ear to my instruction,
    even their prayers are detestable.(A)

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20 There’s no use offering me sweet frankincense from Sheba.
    Keep your fragrant calamus imported from distant lands!
I will not accept your burnt offerings.
    Your sacrifices have no pleasing aroma for me.”

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20 What do I care about incense from Sheba(A)
    or sweet calamus(B) from a distant land?
Your burnt offerings are not acceptable;(C)
    your sacrifices(D) do not please me.”(E)

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The Lord detests the sacrifice of the wicked,
    but he delights in the prayers of the upright.

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The Lord detests the sacrifice(A) of the wicked,(B)
    but the prayer of the upright pleases him.(C)

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13 The people love to offer sacrifices to me,
    feasting on the meat,
    but I do not accept their sacrifices.
I will hold my people accountable for their sins,
    and I will punish them.
    They will return to Egypt.

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13 Though they offer sacrifices as gifts to me,
    and though they eat(A) the meat,
    the Lord is not pleased with them.(B)
Now he will remember(C) their wickedness
    and punish their sins:(D)
    They will return to Egypt.(E)

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13 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces. You won’t go in yourselves, and you don’t let others enter either.[a]

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Footnotes

  1. 23:13 Some manuscripts add verse 14, What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! You shamelessly cheat widows out of their property and then pretend to be pious by making long prayers in public. Because of this, you will be severely punished. Compare Mark 12:40 and Luke 20:47.

Seven Woes on the Teachers of the Law and the Pharisees

13 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!(A) You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.(B)

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27 The sacrifice of an evil person is detestable,
    especially when it is offered with wrong motives.

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27 The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable(A)
    how much more so when brought with evil intent!(B)

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21 And the Lord was pleased with the aroma of the sacrifice and said to himself, “I will never again curse the ground because of the human race, even though everything they think or imagine is bent toward evil from childhood. I will never again destroy all living things.

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21 The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma(A) and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground(B) because of humans, even though[a] every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood.(C) And never again will I destroy(D) all living creatures,(E) as I have done.

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 8:21 Or humans, for

Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us[a] and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.

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Footnotes

  1. 5:2 Some manuscripts read loved you.

and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us(A) and gave himself up for us(B) as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.(C)

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18 At the moment I have all I need—and more! I am generously supplied with the gifts you sent me with Epaphroditus. They are a sweet-smelling sacrifice that is acceptable and pleasing to God.

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18 I have received full payment and have more than enough. I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus(A) the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant(B) offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.

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