Punishment for Wickedness Foretold

7 Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ² “And you, son of man, this is what the Lord ^[a]God says to the land of Israel: ‘An ^(A)end! The end is coming on the four corners of the land. ³ Now the end is upon you, for I will send My anger against you; I will judge you according to your ways and ^[b]bring all your abominations upon you. ⁴ And My eye will have no pity on you, nor will I spare you, but I will ^[c](B)bring your ways upon you, and your abominations will be among you; then you will ^(C)know that I am the Lord!’

⁵ “This is what the Lord ^[d]God says: ‘A ^(D)disaster, a unique disaster, behold, it is coming! ⁶ An end ^[e]is coming; the end has come! It has ^(E)awakened against you; behold, it has come! ⁷ Your ^[f]doom has come to you, you inhabitant of the land. The ^(F)time has come, the ^(G)day is near—panic rather than joyful shouting on the mountains. ⁸ Now I will shortly ^(H)pour out My wrath on you and expend My anger against you; I will ^(I)judge you according to your ways and ^[g]bring on you all your abominations. ⁹ My eye will have no pity nor will I spare you. I will ^[h]repay you according to your ways, while your abominations are in your midst; then you will know that I, the Lord, am striking.

¹⁰ ‘Behold, the day! Behold, it is coming! Your ^[i]doom has gone forth; the ^(J)rod has budded, arrogance has blossomed. ¹¹ Violence ^[j]has grown into a rod of ^(K)wickedness. None of them shall remain, none of their ^[k]people, none of their ^(L)wealth, nor anything eminent among them. ¹² The ^(M)time has come, the day has arrived. Let neither the ^(N)buyer rejoice nor the seller mourn; for ^(O)wrath is against all their multitude. ¹³ Indeed, the seller will not ^[l](P)regain ^[m]what he sold as long as ^[n]they both live; for the vision regarding all their multitude will not ^[o]be averted, nor will any of them maintain his life by his wrongdoing.

¹⁴ ‘They have ^(Q)blown the trumpet and made everything ready, but no one is going to the battle, for My wrath is against all ^[p]their multitude. ¹⁵ The ^(R)sword is outside the city and the plague and the famine are within. Anyone who is in the field will die by the sword, while famine and the plague will consume those in the city. ¹⁶ Even when their survivors ^(S)escape, they will be on the mountains like ^(T)doves of the valleys, all of them ^(U)moaning, each over his own wrongdoing. ¹⁷ All ^(V)hands will hang limp, and all ^[q]knees will drip with water. ¹⁸ They will ^(W)put on sackcloth and ^(X)shuddering will overwhelm them; and shame will be on all faces, and a ^[r](Y)bald patch on all their heads. ¹⁹ They will ^(Z)fling their silver into the streets, and their gold will become an abhorrent thing; their ^(AA)silver and their gold will not be able to save them on the day of the wrath of the Lord. They cannot satisfy their ^[s]appetite, nor can they fill their stomachs, because their wrongdoing has become a cause of stumbling.

The Temple Profaned

²⁰ Moreover, they transformed the splendor of His jewels into pride, and ^(AB)they made the images of their abominations and their detestable things with it; therefore I will make it an abhorrent thing to them. ²¹ And I will hand it over to the ^(AC)foreigners as plunder, and to the wicked of the earth as spoils; and they will profane it. ²² I will also turn My ^(AD)face away from them, and they will profane My treasure; then robbers will enter and profane it.

²³ ‘^(AE)Make the ^[t]chain, for the land is full of ^[u](AF)bloody crimes, and the city is ^(AG)full of violence. ²⁴ Therefore, I will bring the worst of the ^(AH)nations, and they will take possession of their houses. I will also put an end to the ^(AI)pride of the strong ones, and their ^(AJ)holy places will be profaned. ²⁵ When anguish comes, they will seek ^(AK)peace, but there will be none. ^26 (AL)Disaster will come upon disaster and ^(AM)rumor will be added to rumor; then they will seek a ^(AN)vision from a prophet, but the ^(AO)Law will be lost from the priest, and ^(AP)counsel from the elders. ²⁷ The king will mourn, the prince will be ^(AQ)clothed in horror, and the hands of the people of the land will ^[v]tremble. I will deal with them because of their conduct, and by their judgments I will judge them. And they will know that I am the Lord.’”

On Life and Conduct

Lawsuits Discouraged

6 Does any one of you, when he has a ^[a]case against ^[b]his neighbor, dare to go to law before the unrighteous and ^(A)not before the ^[c]saints? ² Or ^(B)do you not know that ^(C)the ^[d]saints will judge ^(D)the world? If the world is judged by you, are you not competent to form the smallest ^[e]law courts? ^3 (E)Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more matters of this life? ⁴ So if you have law courts dealing with matters of this life, ^[f]do you appoint them as judges who are of no account in the church? ^5 (F)I say this to your shame. Is it so, that there is not among you anyone wise who will be able to decide between his ^(G)brothers and sisters, ⁶ but brother goes to law with brother, and that before ^(H)unbelievers?

⁷ Actually, then, it is already a defeat for you, that you have lawsuits with one another. ^(I)Why not rather suffer the wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? ⁸ On the contrary, you yourselves do wrong and defraud. And this to your ^(J)brothers and sisters!

⁹ Or ^(K)do you not know that the unrighteous will not ^(L)inherit the kingdom of God? ^(M)Do not be deceived; ^(N)neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor ^[g]homosexuals, ¹⁰ nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor those habitually drunk, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will ^(O)inherit the kingdom of God. ^11 (P)Such were some of you; but you were ^(Q)washed, but you were ^(R)sanctified, but you were ^(S)justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and ^[h]in the Spirit of our God.

The Body Is the Lord’s

^12 (T)All things are permitted for me, but not all things are of benefit. All things are permitted for me, but I will not be mastered by anything. ^13 (U)Food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food, however God will ^(V)do away with both ^[i]of them. But the body is not for sexual immorality, but ^(W)for the Lord, and ^(X)the Lord is for the body. ¹⁴ Now God has not only ^(Y)raised the Lord, but ^(Z)will also raise us up through His power. ^15 (AA)Do you not know that ^(AB)your bodies are parts of Christ? Shall I then take away the parts of Christ and make them parts of a prostitute? ^[j](AC)Far from it! ¹⁶ Or ^(AD)do you not know that the one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body with her? For He says, “^(AE)The two shall become one flesh.” ¹⁷ But the one who joins himself to the Lord is ^(AF)one spirit with Him. ^18 (AG)Flee sexual immorality. Every other sin that a person commits is outside the body, but the ^[k]sexually immoral person sins against his own body. ¹⁹ Or ^(AH)do you not know that ^(AI)your body is a ^[l]temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from ^[m]God, and that ^(AJ)you are not your own? ²⁰ For ^(AK)you have been bought for a price: therefore glorify God in ^(AL)your body.