False Prophets Condemned

13 The word of the Lord came to me: ^2 (A)“Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel, who are prophesying, and say to those ^(B)who prophesy from their own hearts: ‘Hear the word of the Lord!’ ³ Thus says the Lord God, Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing! ⁴ Your prophets have been like jackals among ruins, O Israel. ^5 (C)You have not gone up into the breaches, or built up a wall for the house of Israel, that it might stand in battle in the day of the Lord. ^6 (D)They have seen false visions and lying divinations. They say, ‘Declares the Lord,’ ^(E)when the Lord has not sent them, and yet they expect him to fulfill their word. ⁷ Have you not seen a false vision and uttered a lying divination, ^(F)whenever you have said, ‘Declares the Lord,’ although I have not spoken?”

⁸ Therefore thus says the Lord God: “Because you have uttered falsehood and seen lying visions, therefore behold, ^(G)I am against you, declares the Lord God. ⁹ My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and who give lying divinations. They shall not be in the council of my people, ^(H)nor be enrolled in the register of the house of Israel, ^(I)nor shall they enter the land of Israel. ^(J)And you shall know that I am the Lord God. ¹⁰ Precisely because they have misled my people, ^(K)saying, ‘Peace,’ when there is no peace, and because, when the people build a wall, ^(L)these prophets smear it with whitewash,^{[a] 11} say to those who smear it with whitewash that it shall fall! ^(M)There will be a deluge of rain, and you, O great hailstones, will fall, and a stormy wind break out. ¹² And when the wall falls, will it not be said to you, ‘Where is the coating with which you smeared it?’ ¹³ Therefore thus says the Lord God: ^(N)I will make a stormy wind break out in my wrath, ^(O)and there shall be a deluge of rain in my anger, and great hailstones in wrath to make a full end. ¹⁴ And I will break down the wall that you have smeared with whitewash, and bring it down to the ground, so that its foundation will be laid bare. When it falls, you shall perish in the midst of it, ^(P)and you shall know that I am the Lord. ¹⁵ Thus will I spend my wrath upon the wall and upon those who have smeared it with whitewash, and I will say to you, The wall is no more, nor those who smeared it, ¹⁶ the prophets of Israel who prophesied concerning Jerusalem ^(Q)and saw visions of peace for her, when there was no peace, declares the Lord God.

Greeting

¹ Paul, ^(A)a prisoner for Christ Jesus, and ^(B)Timothy our brother,

To Philemon our beloved fellow worker ² and Apphia our sister and ^(C)Archippus our ^(D)fellow soldier, and ^(E)the church in your house:

^3 (F)Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Philemon's Love and Faith

^4 (G)I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, ⁵ because I ^(H)hear of your love and ^(I)of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints, ⁶ and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full ^(J)knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ.^{[a] 7} For I have derived much joy and ^(K)comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints ^(L)have been refreshed through you.

Paul's Plea for Onesimus

⁸ Accordingly, ^(M)though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do ^(N)what is required, ⁹ yet for love's sake I prefer to appeal to you—I, Paul, an old man and now ^(O)a prisoner also for Christ Jesus— ¹⁰ I appeal to you for ^(P)my child, ^(Q)Onesimus,^{[b] (R)}whose father I became in my imprisonment. ¹¹ (Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.) ¹² I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart. ¹³ I would have been glad to keep him with me, in order that he might serve me ^(S)on your behalf ^(T)during my imprisonment for the gospel, ¹⁴ but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be ^(U)by compulsion but of your own accord. ¹⁵ For this perhaps is why ^(V)he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, ^16 (W)no longer as a bondservant^[c] but more than a bondservant, as ^(X)a beloved brother—especially to me, but how much more to you, ^(Y)both in the flesh and in the Lord.

¹⁷ So if you consider me ^(Z)your partner, receive him as you would receive me. ¹⁸ If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. ^19 (AA)I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it—to say nothing of your owing me even your own self. ²⁰ Yes, brother, I want some benefit from you in the Lord. ^(AB)Refresh my heart in Christ.

^21 (AC)Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say. ²² At the same time, prepare a guest room for me, for ^(AD)I am hoping that ^(AE)through your prayers ^(AF)I will be graciously given to you.

Final Greetings

^23 (AG)Epaphras, my ^(AH)fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends greetings to you, ²⁴ and so do ^(AI)Mark, ^(AJ)Aristarchus, ^(AK)Demas, and ^(AL)Luke, my fellow workers.

^25 (AM)The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

Idolatrous Elders Condemned

14 Then certain of the ^(A)elders of Israel came to me ^(B)and sat before me. ² And the word of the Lord came to me: ^3 (C)“Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their hearts, and set ^(D)the stumbling block of their iniquity before their faces. ^(E)Should I indeed let myself be consulted by them? ⁴ Therefore speak to them and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Any one of the house of Israel who takes his idols into his heart and sets the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and yet comes to the prophet, ^(F)I the Lord will answer him as he comes with the multitude of his idols, ^5 (G)that I may lay hold of the hearts of the house of Israel, ^(H)who are all estranged from me through their idols.

⁶ “Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: ^(I)Repent and turn away from your idols, and turn away your faces from all your abominations. ⁷ For any one of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel, ^(J)who separates himself from me, taking his idols into his heart and putting the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and yet comes to a prophet to consult me through him, ^(K)I the Lord will answer him myself. ⁸ And ^(L)I will set my face against that man; I ^(M)will make him a sign and a byword ^(N)and cut him off from the midst of my people, ^(O)and you shall know that I am the Lord. ⁹ And if the prophet is deceived and speaks a word, ^(P)I, the Lord, have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel. ¹⁰ And they shall bear their punishment^[a]—the punishment of the prophet and the punishment of the inquirer shall be alike— ¹¹ that the house of Israel may no more go astray from me, nor ^(Q)defile themselves anymore with all their transgressions, ^(R)but that they may be my people and I may be their God, declares the Lord God.”

Jerusalem Will Not Be Spared

¹² And the word of the Lord came to me: ^13 (S)“Son of man, when a land sins against me ^(T)by acting faithlessly, and I stretch out my hand against it and ^(U)break its supply^[b] of bread and send famine upon it, and ^(V)cut off from it man and beast, ^14 (W)even if these three men, ^(X)Noah, ^(Y)Daniel, and ^(Z)Job, were in it, ^(AA)they would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness, declares the Lord God.

^15 (AB)“If I cause wild beasts to pass through the land, and they ravage it, ^(AC)and it be made desolate, so that no one may pass through because of the beasts, ¹⁶ even if these three men were in it, ^(AD)as I live, declares the Lord God, they would deliver neither sons nor daughters. They alone would be delivered, but ^(AE)the land would be desolate.

¹⁷ “Or ^(AF)if I bring a sword upon that land and say, Let a sword pass through the land, ^(AG)and I cut off from it man and beast, ^18 (AH)though these three men were in it, as I live, declares the Lord God, they would deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they alone would be delivered.

¹⁹ “Or ^(AI)if I send a pestilence into that land and pour out my wrath upon it with blood, to cut off from it man and beast, ²⁰ even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live, declares the Lord God, they would deliver neither son nor daughter. They would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness.

²¹ “For thus says the Lord God: How much more ^(AJ)when I send upon Jerusalem my four disastrous acts of judgment, ^(AK)sword, ^(AL)famine, ^(AM)wild beasts, and ^(AN)pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast! ²² But behold, ^(AO)some survivors will be left in it, sons and daughters who will be brought out; behold, when they come out to you, and ^(AP)you see their ways and their deeds, you will be consoled for the disaster that I have brought upon Jerusalem, for all that I have brought upon it. ²³ They will console you, when you see their ways and their deeds, and you shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, declares the Lord God.”

Jesus Before Pilate

^28 (A)Then they led Jesus ^(B)from the house of Caiaphas to ^(C)the governor's headquarters.^[a] It was early morning. They themselves did not enter the governor's headquarters, ^(D)so that they would not be defiled, ^(E)but could eat the Passover. ^29 (F)So Pilate went outside to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this man?” ³⁰ They answered him, “If this man were not doing evil, we would not have delivered him over to you.” ³¹ Pilate said to them, ^(G)“Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.” The Jews said to him, “It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death.” ^32 (H)This was to fulfill the word that Jesus had spoken ^(I)to show by what kind of death he was going to die.

My Kingdom Is Not of This World

^33 (J)So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, ^(K)“Are you the King of the Jews?” ³⁴ Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” ³⁵ Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?” ³⁶ Jesus answered, ^(L)“My kingdom ^(M)is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, ^(N)my servants would have been fighting, that ^(O)I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” ³⁷ Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, ^(P)“You say that I am a king. ^(Q)For this purpose I was born and for this purpose ^(R)I have come into the world—^(S)to bear witness to the truth. ^(T)Everyone who is ^(U)of the truth ^(V)listens to my voice.” ³⁸ Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”

After he had said this, ^(W)he went back outside to the Jews and told them, ^(X)“I find no guilt in him. ^39 (Y)But you have a custom that I should release one man for you at the Passover. So do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?” ⁴⁰ They cried out again, ^(Z)“Not this man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a robber.^[b]