²⁷ “Therefore, ^(A)son of man, speak to the house of Israel and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: In this also your fathers blasphemed me, by ^(B)dealing treacherously with me. ²⁸ For when I had brought them into the land that ^(C)I swore to give them, then wherever they saw ^(D)any high hill or any leafy tree, there they offered their sacrifices and there they presented ^(E)the provocation of their offering; there they sent up their pleasing aromas, and there they poured out their drink offerings. ²⁹ (I said to them, ^(F)‘What is the high place to which you go?’ So its name is called Bamah^[a] to this day.)

³⁰ “Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: ^(G)Will you defile yourselves after the manner of your fathers and go ^(H)whoring after their detestable things? ³¹ When you present your gifts and ^(I)offer up your children in fire,^[b] you defile yourselves with all your idols to this day. And ^(J)shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? ^(K)As I live, declares the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you.

^32 (L)“What is in your mind shall never happen—the thought, ^(M)‘Let us be like the nations, like the tribes of the countries, ^(N)and worship wood and stone.’

The Lord Will Restore Israel

^33 (O)“As I live, declares the Lord God, ^(P)surely with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and ^(Q)with wrath poured out I will be king over you. ^34 (R)I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you are scattered, with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out. ^35 (S)And I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, ^(T)and there I will enter into judgment with you ^(U)face to face. ^36 (V)As I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you, declares the Lord God. ³⁷ I will make you ^(W)pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant. ^38 (X)I will purge out the rebels from among you, and those who transgress against me. ^(Y)I will bring them out of the land where they sojourn, ^(Z)but they shall not enter the land of Israel. ^(AA)Then you will know that I am the Lord.

³⁹ “As for you, O house of Israel, thus says the Lord God: ^(AB)Go serve every one of you his idols, now and hereafter, if you will not listen to me; ^(AC)but my holy name you shall no more profane with your gifts and your idols.

^40 (AD)“For on my holy mountain, the mountain height of Israel, declares the Lord God, there ^(AE)all the house of Israel, all of them, shall serve me in the land. ^(AF)There I will accept them, and there I will require your contributions and the choicest of your gifts, with all your sacred offerings. ⁴¹ As a pleasing aroma I will accept you, when ^(AG)I bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you have been scattered. And ^(AH)I will manifest my holiness among you in the sight of the nations. ^42 (AI)And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I bring you into the land of Israel, the country that ^(AJ)I swore to give to your fathers. ^43 (AK)And there you shall remember your ways and all your deeds with which you have defiled yourselves, ^(AL)and you shall loathe yourselves for all the evils that you have committed. ⁴⁴ And you shall know that I am the Lord, ^(AM)when I deal with you for my name's sake, ^(AN)not according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt deeds, O house of Israel, declares the Lord God.”

Paul's Ministry to the Thessalonians

2 For you yourselves know, brothers,^[a] that our ^(A)coming to you ^(B)was not in vain. ² But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated ^(C)at Philippi, as you know, ^(D)we had boldness in our God ^(E)to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much ^(F)conflict. ³ For ^(G)our appeal does not spring from ^(H)error or ^(I)impurity or ^(J)any attempt to deceive, ⁴ but just as we have been approved by God ^(K)to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not ^(L)to please man, but to please God ^(M)who tests our hearts. ^5 (N)For we never came with words of flattery,^[b] as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—^(O)God is witness. ^6 (P)Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, ^(Q)though we could have made ^(R)demands as ^(S)apostles of Christ. ⁷ But we were ^(T)gentle^[c] among you, ^(U)like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. ⁸ So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God ^(V)but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.

⁹ For you remember, brothers, ^(W)our labor and toil: we ^(X)worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. ¹⁰ You are witnesses, and ^(Y)God also, ^(Z)how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you believers. ¹¹ For you know how, ^(AA)like a father with his children, ¹² we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and ^(AB)charged ^(AC)you to walk in a manner worthy of God, ^(AD)who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.

¹³ And ^(AE)we also thank God constantly^[d] for this, that when you received ^(AF)the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it ^(AG)not as the word of men^[e] but as what it really is, the word of God, ^(AH)which is at work in you believers. ¹⁴ For you, brothers, ^(AI)became imitators of ^(AJ)the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For ^(AK)you suffered the same things from your own countrymen ^(AL)as they did from the Jews,^{[f] 15 (AM)}who killed both the Lord Jesus and ^(AN)the prophets, and drove us out, and displease God and ^(AO)oppose all mankind ^16 (AP)by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that they might be saved—so as always ^(AQ)to fill up the measure of their sins. But ^(AR)wrath has come upon them at last!^[g]

²³ And the word of the Lord came to me: ²⁴ “Son of man, say to her, You are a land that is ^(A)not cleansed ^(B)or rained upon in the day of indignation. ^25 (C)The conspiracy of her prophets in her midst is ^(D)like a roaring lion ^(E)tearing the prey; they have devoured human lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in her midst. ^26 (F)Her priests ^(G)have done violence to my law and ^(H)have profaned my holy things. ^(I)They have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they taught the difference between the unclean and the clean, and ^(J)they have disregarded my Sabbaths, ^(K)so that I am profaned among them. ^27 (L)Her princes in her midst are like wolves ^(M)tearing the prey, ^(N)shedding blood, destroying lives to get dishonest gain. ²⁸ And ^(O)her prophets have smeared whitewash for them, ^(P)seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord God,’ when the Lord has not spoken. ²⁹ The people of the land ^(Q)have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy, and ^(R)have extorted from the sojourner without justice. ^30 (S)And I sought for a man among them ^(T)who should build up the wall ^(U)and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none. ³¹ Therefore ^(V)I have poured out my indignation upon them. I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath. I have returned ^(W)their way upon their heads, declares the Lord God.”

Jesus' Side Is Pierced

³¹ Since it was ^(A)the day of Preparation, and ^(B)so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was ^(C)a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. ³² So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other ^(D)who had been crucified with him. ³³ But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. ³⁴ But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out ^(E)blood and water. ^35 (F)He who saw it has borne witness—^(G)his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—^(H)that you also may believe. ^36 (I)For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: ^(J)“Not one of his bones ^(K)will be broken.” ³⁷ And again another Scripture says, ^(L)“They will look on him whom they have pierced.”

Jesus Is Buried

^38 (M)After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly ^(N)for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body. ^39 (O)Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus^[a] by night, came ^(P)bringing a mixture of ^(Q)myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds^[b] in weight. ⁴⁰ So they took the body of Jesus and ^(R)bound it in ^(S)linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. ⁴¹ Now in the place where he was crucified there was a ^(T)garden, and ^(U)in the garden a new tomb ^(V)in which no one had yet been laid. ⁴² So because of the Jewish ^(W)day of Preparation, ^(X)since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.