³ But Zerubbabel, Joshua and the rest of the heads of the families of Israel answered, “You have no part with us in building a temple to our God. We alone will build it for the Lord, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia, commanded us.”^(A)

²⁰ I answered them by saying, “The God of heaven will give us success. We his servants will start rebuilding,^(A) but as for you, you have no share^(B) in Jerusalem or any claim or historic right to it.”

⁹ I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will not welcome us. ¹⁰ So when I come,^(A) I will call attention to what he is doing, spreading malicious nonsense about us. Not satisfied with that, he even refuses to welcome other believers.^(B) He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church.^(C)

⁴ the people of Israel.^(A) Theirs is the adoption to sonship;^(B) theirs the divine glory,^(C) the covenants,^(D) the receiving of the law,^(E) the temple worship^(F) and the promises.^{(G) 5} Theirs are the patriarchs,^(H) and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah,^(I) who is God over all,^(J) forever praised!^[a](K) Amen.

²¹ You have no part or share^(A) in this ministry, because your heart is not right^(B) before God.

²² You Samaritans worship what you do not know;^(A) we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.^{(B) 23} Yet a time is coming and has now come^(C) when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit^(D) and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.

¹⁶ “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves.^(A) Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.^(B)