¹² And you, son of man, say to ^[a]your fellow citizens, ‘The ^(A)righteousness of a righteous one will not save him on the day of his offense, and as for the wickedness of a wicked one, he will ^(B)not stumble because of it on the day when he turns from his wickedness; whereas a righteous one will not be able to live ^[b]by his righteousness on the day when he commits sin.’ ¹³ When I say to the righteous that he will certainly live, and he so trusts in his righteousness that he ^(C)commits injustice, none of his righteous deeds will be remembered; but for that same injustice of his which he has committed he will die. ¹⁴ But when I say to the wicked, ‘You will certainly die,’ and he ^(D)turns from his sin and practices ^(E)justice and righteousness, ¹⁵ if a wicked person returns a pledge, ^(F)pays back what he has taken by robbery, walks by the ^(G)statutes ^[c]which ensure life without committing injustice, he shall certainly live; he shall not die. ^16 (H)None of his sins that he has committed will be remembered against him. He has practiced justice and righteousness; he shall certainly live.

¹⁷ “Yet ^[d]your fellow citizens say, ‘The way of the Lord is not right,’ when it is their own way that is not right. ¹⁸ When the righteous turns from his righteousness and ^(I)commits injustice, then he shall die in ^[e]it. ¹⁹ But when the wicked turns from his wickedness and practices justice and righteousness, he will live by them. ²⁰ Yet you say, ‘^(J)The way of the Lord is not right.’ I will judge each of you according to his ways, house of Israel.”

Sanctification and Love

4 ^(A)Finally then, ^(B)brothers and sisters, we request and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received instruction from us as to how you ought to ^[a](C)walk and ^(D)please God (just as you actually do ^[b]walk), that you ^(E)excel even more. ² For you know what instructions we gave you ^[c]by the authority of the Lord Jesus. ³ For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you ^(F)abstain from sexual immorality; ⁴ that ^(G)each of you know how to ^[d]possess his own ^[e](H)vessel in sanctification and ^(I)honor, ⁵ not in ^[f](J)lustful passion, like the Gentiles who ^(K)do not know God; ⁶ and that no one violate the rights and ^(L)take advantage of his brother or sister ^(M)in the matter, because ^(N)the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also ^(O)told you previously and solemnly warned you. ⁷ For ^(P)God has not called us for ^[g](Q)impurity, but in sanctification. ⁸ Therefore, the one who rejects this is not rejecting man, but the God who ^(R)gives His Holy Spirit to you.

⁹ Now as to the ^(S)love of the brothers and sisters, you ^(T)have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are ^(U)taught by God to love one another; ¹⁰ for indeed ^(V)you practice it toward all the brothers and sisters who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers and sisters, to ^(W)excel even more, ¹¹ and to make it your ambition ^(X)to lead a quiet life and ^(Y)attend to your own business and ^(Z)work with your hands, just as we instructed you, ¹² so that you will ^[h](AA)behave properly toward ^(AB)outsiders and ^[i](AC)not be in any need.

Word of Jerusalem’s Capture

²¹ Now ^(A)in the ^(B)twelfth year of our exile, on the fifth of the tenth month, the survivor from Jerusalem came to me, saying, “^(C)The city has been ^[a]taken.” ²² Now the ^(D)hand of the Lord had been upon me in the evening, before the survivors came. And He ^(E)opened my mouth ^[b]at the time they came to me in the morning; so my mouth was ^(F)opened and I was no longer ^[c]speechless.

²³ Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ²⁴ “Son of man, they who ^(G)live in these ruins in the land of Israel are saying, ‘^(H)Abraham was only one, yet he possessed the land; so to ^(I)us who are many the land has been given as a possession.’ ²⁵ Therefore say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “You eat meat with the ^(J)blood in it, raise your eyes to your idols as you shed blood. ^(K)Should you then possess the land? ²⁶ You ^[d](L)rely on your sword, you commit abominations, and each of you defiles his neighbor’s wife. Should you then possess the land?”’ ²⁷ You shall say this to them: ‘This is what the Lord God says: “As I live, those who are in the places of ruins certainly will ^(M)fall by the sword, and whoever is in the ^[e]open field I will give to the animals to be devoured, and those who are in the strongholds and in the ^(N)caves will die of plague. ²⁸ And I will ^(O)make the land a desolation and a waste, and the ^(P)pride of her power will be brought to an end; and the mountains of Israel will be deserted so that no one will pass through. ²⁹ Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I make the land a desolation and a waste because of all their abominations which they have committed.”’

³⁰ “But as for you, son of man, ^[f]your fellow citizens who talk with one another about you by the walls and in the doorways of the houses, speak one with another, each with his brother, saying, ‘^(Q)Come now and hear what the ^[g]message is that comes from the Lord.’ ³¹ And they come to you as people come, and sit before you as My people and hear your words, but they do not do them; for they do the lustful desires expressed by their ^(R)mouth, and their heart follows their unlawful ^(S)gain. ³² And behold, you are to them like a love song by one who has a ^(T)beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument; for they hear your words but they do not practice them. ³³ So when it ^(U)comes—^[h]as it certainly will—then they will know that a prophet has been among them.”

Jesus Appears at the Sea of Galilee

21 After these things Jesus ^[a](A)revealed Himself ^(B)again to the disciples at the ^(C)Sea of Tiberias, and He revealed Himself in this way: ² Simon Peter, ^(D)Thomas who was called ^[b]Didymus, ^(E)Nathanael of ^(F)Cana in Galilee, ^(G)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 are also coming with you.” They went out and got into the boat; and ^(H)that night they caught nothing.

⁴ But when the day was now breaking, Jesus stood on the beach; yet the disciples did not ^(I)know that it was Jesus. ⁵ So Jesus *said to them, “Children, ^(J)you do not have any fish to eat, do you?” They answered Him, “No.” ⁶ And He said to them, “^(K)Cast the net on the right-hand side of the boat, and you will find the fish.” So they cast it, and then they were not able to haul it in because of the great quantity of fish. ^7 (L)Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved *said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” So when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment (for he was stripped for work), and threw himself into the sea. ⁸ But the other disciples came in the little boat, for they were not far from the land, but about ^[c]two hundred cubits away, dragging the net full of fish.

⁹ So when they got out on the land, they *saw a charcoal ^(M)fire already ^[d]made and ^(N)fish placed on it, and bread. ¹⁰ Jesus *said to them, “Bring some of the ^(O)fish which you have now caught.” ¹¹ So Simon Peter went up and hauled the net to land, full of large fish, 153; and although there were so many, the net was not torn.

Jesus Provides

¹² Jesus *said to them, “Come and have ^(P)breakfast.” None of the disciples ventured to inquire of Him, “Who are You?” knowing that it was the Lord. ¹³ Jesus *came and *took ^(Q)the bread and *gave it to them, and the ^(R)fish likewise. ¹⁴ This was now the ^(S)third time that Jesus revealed Himself to the disciples, after He was raised from the dead.

The Love Question

¹⁵ Now when they had ^(T)finished breakfast, Jesus *said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you ^[e](U)love Me more than these?” He *said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I ^[f]love You.” He *said to him, “Tend ^(V)My lambs.” ¹⁶ He *said to him again, a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you ^[g]love Me?” He *said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I ^[h]love You.” He *said to him, “^(W)Shepherd My sheep.” ¹⁷ He *said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you ^[i]love Me?” Peter was ^[j]hurt because He said to him ^(X)the third time, “Do you ^[k]love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, ^(Y)You know all things; You know that I ^[l]love You.” Jesus *said to him, “^(Z)Tend My sheep.

Our Times Are in His Hand

¹⁸ Truly, truly I tell you, when you were younger, you used to put on your belt and walk wherever you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will put your belt on you, and bring you where you do not want to go.” ¹⁹ Now He said this, ^(AA)indicating by ^(AB)what kind of death he would glorify God. And when He had said this, He *said to him, “^(AC)Follow Me!”

²⁰ Peter turned around and *saw the ^(AD)disciple whom Jesus loved following them—the one who also had ^(AE)leaned back on His chest at the supper and said, “Lord, who is the one who is betraying You?” ²¹ So Peter, upon seeing him, *said to Jesus, “Lord, and what about this man?” ²² Jesus *said to him, “If I want him to remain ^(AF)until I come, what is that to you? You ^(AG)follow Me!” ²³ Therefore this ^[m]account went out among ^(AH)the brothers, that that disciple would not die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but only, “If I want him to remain ^(AI)until I come, what is that to you?”

²⁴ This is the disciple who ^(AJ)is testifying about these things and wrote these things, and we know that his testimony is true.

²⁵ But there are also ^(AK)many other things which Jesus did, which, if they were written in detail, I expect that even the world itself would not contain the books that would be written.