13 ^[a]“If prophets or those who divine by dreams appear among you and show you omens or portents,^{(A) 2} and the omens or the portents declared by them take place, and they say, ‘Let us follow other gods’ (whom you have not known) ‘and let us serve them,’^{(B) 3} you must not heed the words of those prophets or those who divine by dreams, for the Lord your God is testing you, to know whether you indeed love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul.^{(C) 4} The Lord your God you shall follow, him alone you shall fear, his commandments you shall keep, his voice you shall obey, him you shall serve, and to him you shall hold fast.^{(D) 5} But those prophets or those who divine by dreams shall be put to death for having spoken treason against the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, to turn you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.^(E)

⁶ “If anyone secretly entices you—even if it is your brother, your father’s son or^[b] your mother’s son, or your own son or daughter, or the wife you embrace, or your most intimate friend—saying, ‘Let us go serve other gods,’ whom neither you nor your ancestors have known,^{(F) 7} any of the gods of the peoples who are around you, whether near you or far away from you, from one end of the earth to the other, ⁸ you must not yield to or heed any such persons. Show them no pity or compassion, and do not shield them. ⁹ But you shall surely kill them; your own hand shall be first against them to execute them and afterward the hand of all the people.^{(G) 10} Stone them to death for trying to turn you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. ¹¹ Then all Israel shall hear and be afraid and never again do any such wickedness.^(H)

Paul’s Joy at the Church’s Repentance

² Make room in your hearts^[a] for us; we have wronged no one; we have corrupted no one; we have taken advantage of no one.^{(A) 3} I do not say this to condemn you, for I have already said that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together.^{(B) 4} I am being completely frank with you; I have great pride in you; I am filled with consolation; I am overjoyed in all our affliction.^(C)

⁵ For even when we came into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were afflicted in every way—disputes without and fears within.^{(D) 6} But God, who consoles the downcast, consoled us by the arrival of Titus,^{(E) 7} and not only by his arrival but also by the consolation with which he was consoled about you, as he told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still more. ⁸ For although I grieved you with my letter, I do not regret it. Although I did regret it (for^[b] I see that that letter caused you grief, though only briefly), ⁹ now I rejoice, not because you were grieved but because your grief led to repentance, for you felt a godly grief, so that you were not harmed in any way by us. ¹⁰ For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation and brings no regret, but worldly grief produces death.^{(F) 11} For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what zeal, what punishment! At every point you have proved yourselves guiltless in the matter. ¹² So although I wrote to you, it was not on account of the one who did the wrong nor on account of the one who suffered the wrong but in order that your zeal for us might be made known to you before God.^{(G) 13} In this we have found consolation.

In addition to our own consolation, we rejoiced still more at the joy of Titus, because his mind has been set at rest by all of you.^{(H) 14} For if I have been somewhat boastful about you to him, I was not put to shame, but just as everything we said to you was true, so our boasting to Titus has proved true as well.^{(I) 15} And his heart goes out all the more to you, as he remembers the obedience of all of you and how you welcomed him with fear and trembling.^{(J) 16} I rejoice because I have complete confidence in you.^(K)

The Coming of the Kingdom

²⁰ Once Jesus^[a] was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, and he answered, “The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed, ²¹ nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among^[b] you.”^(A)

²² Then he said to the disciples, “The days are coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it.^{(B) 23} They will say to you, ‘Look there!’ or ‘Look here!’ Do not go; do not set off in pursuit.^{(C) 24} For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day.^{[c](D) 25} But first he must endure much suffering and be rejected by this generation.^{(E) 26} Just as it was in the days of Noah, so, too, it will be in the days of the Son of Man.^{(F) 27} They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage until the day Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed all of them. ²⁸ Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot, they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building,^{(G) 29} but on the day that Lot left Sodom it rained fire and sulfur from heaven and destroyed all of them; ³⁰ it will be like that on the day that the Son of Man is revealed. ³¹ On that day, anyone on the housetop who has belongings in the house must not come down to take them away, and likewise anyone in the field must not turn back. ³² Remember Lot’s wife. ³³ Those who try to make their life secure will lose it, but those who lose their life will keep it. ³⁴ I tell you, on that night there will be two in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. ³⁵ There will be two women grinding meal together; one will be taken and the other left.”^{[d] 37} Then they asked him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the corpse is, there the eagles will gather.”