False Prophets Condemned

13 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ² “Son of man, prophesy against the ^(A)prophets of Israel who prophesy, and say to those who prophesy from their own ^[a]inspiration, ‘^(B)Listen to the word of the Lord! ³ This is what the Lord ^[b]God says: “Woe to the ^(C)foolish prophets who are following their own spirit and have ^(D)seen nothing! ⁴ Israel, your prophets have been like jackals among ruins. ⁵ You have not ^(E)gone up into the ^(F)breaches, nor did you build up a stone wall around the house of Israel to stand in the battle on the ^(G)day of the Lord. ⁶ They see ^(H)deceit and lying divination, those who are saying, ‘The Lord declares,’ when the Lord has not sent them; ^(I)yet they wait for the fulfillment of their word! ^7 (J)Did you not see a false vision and tell a lying divination when you said, ‘The Lord declares,’ but it is not I who have spoken?”’”

⁸ Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: “Because you have spoken deceit and have seen a lie, therefore behold, ^(K)I am against you,” declares the Lord God. ⁹ “So My hand will be against the ^(L)prophets who see false visions and utter lying divinations. They will ^[c]have no place in the council of My people, ^(M)nor will they be written down in the register of the house of Israel, nor will they enter the land of Israel, ^[d]so that you may know that I am the Lord God. ¹⁰ It is definitely because they have ^(N)misled My people by saying, ‘^(O)Peace!’ when there is ^(P)no peace. And when anyone builds a wall, behold, they plaster it over with whitewash; ¹¹ so tell those who plaster it over with whitewash, that it will fall. A ^(Q)flooding rain will come, and you, hailstones, will fall, and a violent wind will break out. ¹² Behold, when the wall has fallen, will you not be asked, ‘Where is the plaster with which you plastered it?’” ¹³ Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: “I will make a violent wind break out in My wrath. There will also be in My anger a flooding rain and ^(R)hailstones to consume it in wrath. ¹⁴ So I will tear down the wall which you plastered over with whitewash and hurl it down to the ground, so that its ^(S)foundation is exposed; and when it falls, you will ^(T)perish in its midst. And you will ^(U)know that I am the Lord. ¹⁵ So I will expend My wrath on the wall and on those who have plastered it over with whitewash; and I will say to you, ‘The wall ^[e]is gone and those who plastered it are gone, ¹⁶ along with the prophets of Israel who prophesy to Jerusalem, and who ^(V)see a vision of peace for her when there is ^(W)no peace,’ declares the Lord God.

Salutation

^1 (A)Paul, ^(B)a prisoner of ^(C)Christ Jesus, and ^(D)Timothy ^[a]our brother,

To Philemon our beloved brother and ^(E)fellow worker, ² and to Apphia ^[b](F)our sister, and to ^(G)Archippus our ^(H)fellow soldier, and to ^(I)the church in your house: ^3 (J)Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Philemon’s Love and Faith

^4 (K)I thank my God always, making mention of you in my prayers, ⁵ because I ^(L)hear of your love and of the faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the ^[c]saints; ⁶ and I pray that the fellowship of your faith may become effective ^[d]through the ^(M)knowledge of every good thing which is in you ^[e]for the sake of Christ. ⁷ For I have had great ^(N)joy and comfort in your love, because the ^[f]hearts of the ^[g]saints have been ^(O)refreshed through you, brother.

⁸ Therefore, ^(P)though I have ^[h]enough confidence in Christ to order you to do what is ^(Q)proper, ⁹ yet for love’s sake I rather ^(R)appeal to you—since I am such a person as Paul, ^[i]an ^(S)old man, and now also ^(T)a prisoner of ^(U)Christ Jesus—

Plea for Onesimus, a Free Man

¹⁰ I ^(V)appeal to you for my ^(W)[j]son ^[k](X)Onesimus, whom I ^[l]fathered in my ^[m]imprisonment, ¹¹ who previously was useless to you, but now is useful both to you and to me. ¹² I have sent him back to you in person, that is, sending my very heart, ¹³ whom I wanted to keep with me, so that in your behalf he might be at my service in my ^[n](Y)imprisonment for the gospel; ¹⁴ but I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that your goodness would ^(Z)not be, in effect, by compulsion, but of your own free will. ¹⁵ For perhaps it was ^(AA)for this reason that he was separated from you for a while, that you would have him back forever, ^16 (AB)no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, ^(AC)a beloved brother, especially to me, but how much more to you, both ^(AD)in the flesh and in the Lord.

¹⁷ If then you regard me as a ^(AE)partner, accept him as you would me. ¹⁸ But if he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge that to my account; ^19 (AF)I, Paul, have written this with my own hand, I will repay it (^(AG)not to ^[o]mention to you that you owe to me even your own self as well). ²⁰ Yes, brother, let me benefit from you in the Lord; ^(AH)refresh my heart in Christ.

^21 (AI)Having confidence in your obedience, I write to you, since I know that you will do even more than what I say.

²² At the same time also prepare me a ^(AJ)guest room, for ^(AK)I hope that through ^(AL)your prayers ^(AM)I will be given to you.

^23 (AN)Epaphras, my ^(AO)fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you, ²⁴ as do ^(AP)Mark, ^(AQ)Aristarchus, ^(AR)Demas, and ^(AS)Luke, my ^(AT)fellow workers.

^25 (AU)The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be ^(AV)with your spirit.^[p]

Idolatrous Elders Condemned

14 Then some ^(A)elders of Israel came to me and ^(B)sat down before me. ² And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ³ “Son of man, these men have ^(C)set up their idols in their hearts and have ^(D)put in front of their faces the stumbling block of their wrongdoing. Should I let Myself be ^(E)consulted by them at all? ⁴ Therefore speak to them and tell them, ‘This is what the Lord ^[a]God says: “Anyone of the house of Israel who sets up his idols in his heart, puts in front of his face the stumbling block of his wrongdoing, and then comes to the prophet, I the Lord will let Myself answer him in ^[b]the matter in view of the ^(F)multitude of his idols, ⁵ in order to take hold of ^[c](G)the hearts of the house of Israel who have ^[d](H)turned away from Me due to all their idols.”’

⁶ “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “^(I)Repent and turn away from your idols, and turn your faces away from all your ^(J)abominations. ⁷ For anyone of the house of Israel, or of the ^(K)strangers who reside in Israel, who deserts Me, sets up his idols in his heart, puts in front of his face the stumbling block of his wrongdoing, and then comes to the prophet to request something of Me for himself, ^(L)I the Lord will let Myself answer him Myself. ⁸ I will ^(M)set My face against that person and make him a ^(N)sign and ^[e]a proverb, and I will eliminate him from among My people. So you will know that I am the Lord.

⁹ “But if the prophet is persuaded so that he speaks a word, it is I, the Lord, who have persuaded that prophet; and I will stretch out My hand against him and ^(O)eliminate him from among My people Israel. ¹⁰ And they will bear the punishment for their wrongdoing; as the wrongdoing of the inquirer is, so the wrongdoing of the prophet will be, ¹¹ in order that the house of Israel may no longer ^(P)stray from Me and no longer ^(Q)defile themselves with all their offenses. So they will be ^(R)My people, and I shall be their God,”’ declares the Lord God.”

The City Will Not Be Spared

¹² Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ¹³ “Son of man, if a country sins against Me by ^(S)being unfaithful, and I stretch out My hand against it, ^[f]destroy its ^(T)supply of bread, send famine against it, and eliminate from it both human and animal life, ¹⁴ even ^(U)though these three men, ^(V)Noah, ^(W)Daniel, and ^(X)Job were in its midst, by their own righteousness they could only save ^(Y)themselves,” declares the Lord God. ¹⁵ “If I were to cause ^(Z)vicious animals to pass through the land and they ^[g]depopulated it, and it became desolate so that no one would pass through it because of the animals, ¹⁶ though these three men were in its midst, as I live,” declares the Lord God, “they could not save either their sons or their daughters. ^(AA)They alone would be saved, but the country would be desolate. ¹⁷ Or if I were to ^(AB)bring a sword on that country and say, ‘A sword is to pass through the country,’ and I ^(AC)eliminated human and animal life from it, ¹⁸ even though these three men were in its midst, as I live,” declares the Lord God, “they could not save either their sons or their daughters, but they alone would be saved. ¹⁹ Or if I were to send a ^(AD)plague against that country and pour out My wrath on it in blood to eliminate man and animal from it, ²⁰ even though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in its midst, as I live,” declares the Lord God, “they could not save either their son or their daughter. They would save only themselves by their righteousness.”

²¹ For this is what the Lord God says: “How much more when ^(AE)I send My four ^[h]severe judgments against Jerusalem: sword, famine, vicious animals, and plague to eliminate human and animal life from it! ²² Yet, behold, ^[i]survivors will be left in it who will be brought out, both sons and daughters. Behold, they are going to come out to you, and you will ^(AF)see their conduct and actions; then you will be ^(AG)comforted for the disaster which I have brought against Jerusalem for everything which I have brought upon it. ²³ Then they will comfort you when you see their conduct and actions, for you will know that I have not done ^(AH)without reason whatever I did ^[j]to it,” declares the Lord God.

Jesus before Pilate

^28 (A)Then they *brought Jesus from ^(B)Caiaphas into ^(C)the ^[a]Praetorium, and it was early; and they themselves did not enter ^(D)the ^[b]Praetorium, so that ^(E)they would not be defiled, but might eat the Passover. ^29 (F)Therefore Pilate came out to them and *said, “What accusation are you bringing against this Man?” ³⁰ They answered and said to him, “If this Man were not ^[c]a criminal, we would not have handed Him over to you.” ³¹ So Pilate said to them, “Take Him yourselves, and judge Him according to your law.” The Jews said to him, “We are not ^[d]permitted to put anyone to death.” ³² This happened so that ^(G)the word of Jesus which He said, indicating what kind of death He was going to die, would be fulfilled.

³³ Therefore Pilate ^(H)entered the Praetorium again, and summoned Jesus and said to Him, “^(I)You are the King of the Jews?” ³⁴ Jesus answered, “Are you saying this ^[e]on your own, or did others tell you about Me?” ³⁵ Pilate answered, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests handed You over to me; what have You done?” ³⁶ Jesus answered, “^(J)My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not ^[f]of this realm.” ³⁷ Therefore Pilate said to Him, “So You are a king?” Jesus answered, “^(K)You say correctly that I am a king. For this purpose I have been born, and for this I have come into the world: ^(L)to testify to the truth. ^(M)Everyone who is of the truth listens to My voice.” ³⁸ Pilate *said to Him, “What is truth?”

And after saying this, he ^(N)came out again to the Jews and *said to them, “^(O)I find no grounds at all for charges in ^[g]His case. ^39 (P)However, you have a custom that I release one prisoner ^[h]for you at the Passover; therefore do you wish that I release ^[i]for you the King of the Jews?” ⁴⁰ So they shouted again, saying, “^(Q)Not this Man, but Barabbas.” Now Barabbas was a rebel.