Woe to the Complacent

⁵ You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves^(A) in the day of slaughter.^[a](B)

¹⁷ He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’

¹⁸ “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. ¹⁹ And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’

²⁰ “But God said to him, ‘You fool!^(A) This very night your life will be demanded from you.^(B) Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’^(C)

The Women of Jerusalem

Israel Has Not Returned to God

⁷ So the five men^(A) left and came to Laish,^(B) where they saw that the people were living in safety, like the Sidonians, at peace and secure.^(C) And since their land lacked nothing, they were prosperous.^[a] Also, they lived a long way from the Sidonians^(D) and had no relationship with anyone else.^[b]

⁵ Now if you obey me fully^(A) and keep my covenant,^(B) then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession.^(C) Although the whole earth^(D) is mine, ⁶ you^[a] will be for me a kingdom of priests^(E) and a holy nation.’^(F) These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”

¹⁸ He chose to give us birth^(A) through the word of truth,^(B) that we might be a kind of firstfruits^(C) of all he created.