²⁷ “Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel, and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “In this too your fathers have ^(A)blasphemed Me, by being unfaithful to Me. ²⁸ When I brought them into the land concerning which I had raised My hand in an oath to give them, and ^(B)they saw all the high hills and all the thick trees, there they offered their sacrifices and provoked Me with their offerings. There they also sent up their ^(C)sweet aroma and poured out their drink offerings. ²⁹ Then I said to them, ‘What is this ^[a]high place to which you go?’ So its name is called ^[b]Bamah to this day.” ’ ³⁰ Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Are you defiling yourselves in the manner of your ^(D)fathers, and committing harlotry according to their ^(E)abominations? ³¹ For when you offer ^(F)your gifts and make your sons pass through the fire, you defile yourselves with all your idols, even to this day. So shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live,” says the Lord God, “I will ^(G)not be inquired of by you. ^32 (H)What you have in your mind shall never be, when you say, ‘We will be like the Gentiles, like the families in other countries, serving wood and stone.’

God Will Restore Israel

³³ “As I live,” says the Lord God, “surely with a mighty hand, ^(I)with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out, I will rule over you. ³⁴ I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you are scattered, with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out. ³⁵ And I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there ^(J)I will plead My case with you face to face. ^36 (K)Just as I pleaded My case with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will plead My case with you,” says the Lord God.

³⁷ “I will make you ^(L)pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the ^(M)covenant; ^38 (N)I will purge the rebels from among you, and those who transgress against Me; I will bring them out of the country where they dwell, but ^(O)they shall not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

³⁹ “As for you, O house of Israel,” thus says the Lord God: ^(P)“Go, serve every one of you his idols—and hereafter—if you will not obey Me; ^(Q)but profane My holy name no more with your gifts and your idols. ⁴⁰ For ^(R)on My holy mountain, on the mountain height of Israel,” says the Lord God, “there ^(S)all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, shall serve Me; there ^(T)I will accept them, and there I will require your offerings and the firstfruits of your ^[c]sacrifices, together with all your holy things. ⁴¹ I will accept you as a ^(U)sweet aroma when I bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you have been scattered; and I will be hallowed in you before the Gentiles. ^42 (V)Then you shall know that I am the Lord, ^(W)when I bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for which I raised My hand in an oath to give to your fathers. ⁴³ And ^(X)there you shall remember your ways and all your doings with which you were defiled; and ^(Y)you shall ^[d]loathe yourselves in your own sight because of all the evils that you have committed. ^44 (Z)Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have dealt with you ^(AA)for My name’s sake, not according to your wicked ways nor according to your corrupt doings, O house of Israel,” says the Lord God.’ ”

Paul’s Conduct^(A)

2 For you yourselves know, brethren, that our coming to you was not in vain. ² But ^[a]even after we had suffered before and were spitefully treated at ^(B)Philippi, as you know, we were ^(C)bold in our God to speak to you the gospel of God in much conflict. ^3 (D)For our exhortation did not come from error or uncleanness, nor was it in deceit.

⁴ But as ^(E)we have been approved by God ^(F)to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, ^(G)not as pleasing men, but God ^(H)who tests our hearts. ⁵ For ^(I)neither at any time did we use flattering words, as you know, nor a ^[b]cloak for covetousness—^(J)God is witness. ^6 (K)Nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, when ^(L)we might have ^(M)made demands ^(N)as apostles of Christ. ⁷ But ^(O)we were gentle among you, just as a nursing mother cherishes her own children. ⁸ So, affectionately longing for you, we were well pleased ^(P)to impart to you not only the gospel of God, but also ^(Q)our own lives, because you had become dear to us. ⁹ For you remember, brethren, our ^(R)labor and toil; for laboring night and day, ^(S)that we might not be a burden to any of you, we preached to you the gospel of God.

^10 (T)You are witnesses, and God also, ^(U)how devoutly and justly and blamelessly we behaved ourselves among you who believe; ¹¹ as you know how we exhorted, and comforted, and ^[c]charged every one of you, as a father does his own children, ^12 (V)that you would walk worthy of God ^(W)who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.

Their Conversion

¹³ For this reason we also thank God ^(X)without ceasing, because when you ^(Y)received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it ^(Z)not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively ^(AA)works in you who believe. ¹⁴ For you, brethren, became imitators ^(AB)of the churches of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus. For ^(AC)you also suffered the same things from your own countrymen, just as they did from the Judeans, ^15 (AD)who killed both the Lord Jesus and ^(AE)their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they do not please God ^(AF)and are ^[d]contrary to all men, ^16 (AG)forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved, so as always ^(AH)to fill up the measure of their sins; ^(AI)but wrath has come upon them to the uttermost.

Israel’s Wicked Leaders

²³ And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ²⁴ “Son of man, say to her: ‘You are a land that is ^(A)not ^[a]cleansed or rained on in the day of indignation.’ ^25 (B)The conspiracy of her ^[b]prophets in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing the prey; they ^(C)have devoured ^[c]people; ^(D)they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in her midst. ^26 (E)Her priests have ^[d]violated My law and ^(F)profaned My holy things; they have not ^(G)distinguished between the holy and unholy, nor have they made known the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they have hidden their eyes from My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them. ²⁷ Her ^(H)princes in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, to shed blood, to destroy ^[e]people, and to get dishonest gain. ^28 (I)Her prophets plastered them with untempered mortar, ^(J)seeing false visions, and divining ^(K)lies for them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord God,’ when the Lord had not spoken. ²⁹ The people of the land have used oppressions, committed robbery, and mistreated the poor and needy; and they wrongfully ^(L)oppress the stranger. ^30 (M)So I sought for a man among them who would ^(N)make a wall, and ^(O)stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one. ³¹ Therefore I have ^(P)poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; and I have recompensed ^(Q)their deeds on their own heads,” says the Lord God.

Jesus’ Side Is Pierced

^31 (A)Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, ^(B)that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a ^(C)high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. ³² Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was 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 immediately ^(D)blood and water came out. ³⁵ And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is ^(E)true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may ^(F)believe. ³⁶ For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, ^(G)“Not one of His bones shall be broken.” ³⁷ And again another Scripture says, ^(H)“They shall look on Him whom they pierced.”

Jesus Buried in Joseph’s Tomb^(I)

^38 (J)After this, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, ^(K)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 the body of Jesus. ³⁹ And ^(L)Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of ^(M)myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds. ⁴⁰ Then they took the body of Jesus, and ^(N)bound it in strips of linen with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury. ⁴¹ Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. ⁴² So ^(O)there they laid Jesus, ^(P)because of the Jews’ Preparation Day, for the tomb was nearby.