^12 (A)“And you, son of man, say to ^(B)your people, ^(C)The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him when he transgresses, ^(D)and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall by it when he turns from his wickedness, ^(E)and the righteous shall not be able to live by his righteousness^[a] when he sins. ¹³ Though I say to the righteous that he shall surely live, yet ^(F)if he trusts in his righteousness and does injustice, none of his righteous deeds shall be remembered, but in his injustice that he has done he shall die. ¹⁴ Again, ^(G)though I say to the wicked, ^(H)‘You shall surely die,’ yet ^(I)if he turns from his sin and does what is just and right, ¹⁵ if the wicked ^(J)restores the pledge, ^(K)gives back what he has taken by robbery, and walks ^(L)in the statutes of life, not doing injustice, he shall surely live; he shall not die. ^16 (M)None of the sins that he has committed shall be remembered against him. He has done what is just and right; he shall surely live.

¹⁷ “Yet ^(N)your people say, ^(O)‘The way of the Lord is not just,’ when it is their own way that is not just. ^18 (P)When the righteous turns from his righteousness and does injustice, he shall die for it. ¹⁹ And ^(Q)when the wicked turns from his wickedness and does what is just and right, he shall live by this. ²⁰ Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ O house of Israel, ^(R)I will judge each of you according to his ways.”

A Life Pleasing to God

4 Finally, then, brothers,^[a] we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you ^(A)received from us ^(B)how you ought to walk and ^(C)to please God, just as you are doing, that you ^(D)do so more and more. ² For ^(E)you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. ³ For this is the will of God, ^(F)your sanctification:^{[b] (G)}that you abstain from sexual immorality; ⁴ that each one of you know how to control his own ^(H)body^[c] in holiness and ^(I)honor, ⁵ not in ^(J)the passion of lust ^(K)like the Gentiles ^(L)who do not know God; ⁶ that no one transgress and ^(M)wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is ^(N)an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. ⁷ For ^(O)God has not called us for ^(P)impurity, but in holiness. ⁸ Therefore ^(Q)whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, ^(R)who gives his Holy Spirit to you.

⁹ Now concerning ^(S)brotherly love ^(T)you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been ^(U)taught by God ^(V)to love one another, ¹⁰ for that indeed is what ^(W)you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to ^(X)do this more and more, ¹¹ and to aspire ^(Y)to live quietly, and ^(Z)to mind your own affairs, and ^(AA)to work with your hands, as we instructed you, ¹² so that you may ^(AB)walk properly before ^(AC)outsiders and be dependent on no one.

Jerusalem Struck Down

²¹ In the ^(A)twelfth year ^(B)of our exile, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month, ^(C)a fugitive from Jerusalem came to me and said, ^(D)“The city has been struck down.” ^22 (E)Now ^(F)the hand of the Lord had been upon me the evening before the fugitive came; and he had opened my mouth by the time the man came to me in the morning, so my mouth was opened, and I was no longer mute.

²³ The word of the Lord came to me: ^24 (G)“Son of man, the inhabitants of these ^(H)waste places in the land of Israel keep saying, ^(I)‘Abraham was only one man, yet he got possession of the land; but ^(J)we are many; the land is surely given us to possess.’ ²⁵ Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord God: ^(K)You eat flesh with the blood and ^(L)lift up your eyes to your idols and ^(M)shed blood; shall you then possess the land? ^26 (N)You rely on the sword, ^(O)you commit abominations, and ^(P)each of you defiles his neighbor's wife; shall you then possess the land? ²⁷ Say this to them, Thus says the Lord God: ^(Q)As I live, surely those who are in ^(R)the waste places shall fall by ^(S)the sword, and whoever is in the open field I will give to ^(T)the beasts to be devoured, and those who are in ^(U)strongholds and in caves shall die by ^(V)pestilence. ^28 (W)And I will make the land a desolation and a waste, and ^(X)her proud might shall come to an end, and ^(Y)the mountains of Israel shall be so desolate that none will pass through. ^29 (Z)Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I have made the land a desolation and a waste because of all their abominations that they have committed.

³⁰ “As for you, ^(AA)son of man, ^(AB)your people who talk together about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses, say to one another, each to his brother, ‘Come, and hear what the word is that comes from the Lord.’ ^31 (AC)And they come to you as people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear what you say but they will not do it; for ^(AD)with lustful talk in their mouths they act; their heart is set on their gain. ³² And behold, you are to them like one who sings lustful songs with a beautiful voice and ^(AE)plays^[a] well on an instrument, for ^(AF)they hear what you say, but they will not do it. ^33 (AG)When this comes—and come it will!—^(AH)then they will know that a prophet has been among them.”

Jesus Appears to Seven Disciples

21 After this Jesus ^(A)revealed himself ^(B)again to the disciples by ^(C)the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way. ² Simon Peter, ^(D)Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of ^(E)Cana in Galilee, ^(F)the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. ³ Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but ^(G)that night they caught nothing.

⁴ Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples ^(H)did not know that it was Jesus. ^5 (I)Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” ^6 (J)He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. ⁷ That disciple ^(K)whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, ^(L)he put on his outer garment, for he was ^(M)stripped for work, and ^(N)threw himself into the sea. ⁸ The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards^[a] off.

⁹ When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. ¹⁰ Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” ¹¹ So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn. ¹² Jesus said to them, ^(O)“Come and ^(P)have breakfast.” Now ^(Q)none of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. ¹³ Jesus came and ^(R)took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. ^14 (S)This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

Jesus and Peter

¹⁵ When they had ^(T)finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ^(U)“Simon, ^(V)son of John, ^(W)do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed ^(X)my lambs.” ¹⁶ He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, ^(Y)“Tend ^(Z)my sheep.” ¹⁷ He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him ^(AA)the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, ^(AB)you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed ^(AC)my sheep. ^18 (AD)Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, ^(AE)you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” ¹⁹ (This he said to show ^(AF)by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, ^(AG)“Follow me.”

Jesus and the Beloved Apostle

²⁰ Peter turned and saw ^(AH)the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, ^(AI)the one who also had leaned back against him during the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?” ²¹ When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?” ²² Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain ^(AJ)until ^(AK)I come, what is that to you? ^(AL)You follow me!” ²³ So the saying spread abroad among ^(AM)the brothers^[b] that this disciple was not to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?”

²⁴ This is the disciple ^(AN)who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things, and ^(AO)we know ^(AP)that his testimony is true.

²⁵ Now ^(AQ)there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that ^(AR)the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.