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My people are being destroyed
    because they don’t know me.
Since you priests refuse to know me,
    I refuse to recognize you as my priests.
Since you have forgotten the laws of your God,
    I will forget to bless your children.

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13 So my people will go into exile far away
    because they do not know me.
Those who are great and honored will starve,
    and the common people will die of thirst.

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Enthusiasm without knowledge is no good;
    haste makes mistakes.

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If the Good News we preach is hidden behind a veil, it is hidden only from people who are perishing. Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.

You see, we don’t go around preaching about ourselves. We preach that Jesus Christ is Lord, and we ourselves are your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.

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I want you to show love,[a]
    not offer sacrifices.
I want you to know me[b]
    more than I want burnt offerings.

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Footnotes

  1. 6:6a Greek version translates this Hebrew term as to show mercy. Compare Matt 9:13; 12:7.
  2. 6:6b Hebrew to know God.

The Lord’s Case against Israel

Hear the word of the Lord, O people of Israel!
    The Lord has brought charges against you, saying:
“There is no faithfulness, no kindness,
    no knowledge of God in your land.

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10 Why? Because you have turned from the God who can save you.
    You have forgotten the Rock who can hide you.
So you may plant the finest grapevines
    and import the most expensive seedlings.

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30 They rejected my advice
    and paid no attention when I corrected them.
31 Therefore, they must eat the bitter fruit of living their own way,
    choking on their own schemes.
32 For simpletons turn away from me—to death.
    Fools are destroyed by their own complacency.

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12 I am going to carry out all my threats against Eli and his family, from beginning to end. 13 I have warned him that judgment is coming upon his family forever, because his sons are blaspheming God[a] and he hasn’t disciplined them. 14 So I have vowed that the sins of Eli and his sons will never be forgiven by sacrifices or offerings.”

Samuel Speaks for the Lord

15 Samuel stayed in bed until morning, then got up and opened the doors of the Tabernacle[b] as usual. He was afraid to tell Eli what the Lord had said to him.

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Footnotes

  1. 3:13 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads his sons have made themselves contemptible.
  2. 3:15 Hebrew the house of the Lord.

But when you had eaten and were satisfied,
    you became proud and forgot me.

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14 Israel has forgotten its Maker and built great palaces,
    and Judah has fortified its cities.
Therefore, I will send down fire on their cities
    and will burn up their fortresses.”

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The priests did not ask,
    ‘Where is the Lord?’
Those who taught my word ignored me,
    the rulers turned against me,
and the prophets spoke in the name of Baal,
    wasting their time on worthless idols.

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16 “I’ll tell you—he will come and kill those farmers and lease the vineyard to others.”

“How terrible that such a thing should ever happen,” his listeners protested.

17 Jesus looked at them and said, “Then what does this Scripture mean?

‘The stone that the builders rejected
    has now become the cornerstone.’[a]

18 Everyone who stumbles over that stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone it falls on.”

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Footnotes

  1. 20:17 Ps 118:22.

‘These people honor me with their lips,
    but their hearts are far from me.

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“The words of a priest’s lips should preserve knowledge of God, and people should go to him for instruction, for the priest is the messenger of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. But you priests have left God’s paths. Your instructions have caused many to stumble into sin. You have corrupted the covenant I made with the Levites,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “So I have made you despised and humiliated in the eyes of all the people. For you have not obeyed me but have shown favoritism in the way you carry out my instructions.”

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16 “Blind guides! What sorrow awaits you! For you say that it means nothing to swear ‘by God’s Temple,’ but that it is binding to swear ‘by the gold in the Temple.’ 17 Blind fools! Which is more important—the gold or the Temple that makes the gold sacred? 18 And you say that to swear ‘by the altar’ is not binding, but to swear ‘by the gifts on the altar’ is binding. 19 How blind! For which is more important—the gift on the altar or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20 When you swear ‘by the altar,’ you are swearing by it and by everything on it. 21 And when you swear ‘by the Temple,’ you are swearing by it and by God, who lives in it. 22 And when you swear ‘by heaven,’ you are swearing by the throne of God and by God, who sits on the throne.

23 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens,[a] but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things. 24 Blind guides! You strain your water so you won’t accidentally swallow a gnat, but you swallow a camel![b]

25 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and self-indulgence! 26 You blind Pharisee! First wash the inside of the cup and the dish,[c] and then the outside will become clean, too.

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Footnotes

  1. 23:23 Greek tithe the mint, the dill, and the cumin.
  2. 23:24 See Lev 11:4, 23, where gnats and camels are both forbidden as food.
  3. 23:26 Some manuscripts do not include and the dish.

41 The religious leaders replied, “He will put the wicked men to a horrible death and lease the vineyard to others who will give him his share of the crop after each harvest.”

42 Then Jesus asked them, “Didn’t you ever read this in the Scriptures?

‘The stone that the builders rejected
    has now become the cornerstone.
This is the Lord’s doing,
    and it is wonderful to see.’[a]

43 I tell you, the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation that will produce the proper fruit. 44 Anyone who stumbles over that stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone it falls on.[b]

45 When the leading priests and Pharisees heard this parable, they realized he was telling the story against them—they were the wicked farmers.

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Footnotes

  1. 21:42 Ps 118:22-23.
  2. 21:44 This verse is not included in some early manuscripts. Compare Luke 20:18.

14 so ignore them. They are blind guides leading the blind, and if one blind person guides another, they will both fall into a ditch.”

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A Warning to the Priests

“Listen, you priests—this command is for you! Listen to me and make up your minds to honor my name,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “or I will bring a terrible curse against you. I will curse even the blessings you receive. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you have not taken my warning to heart. I will punish your descendants and splatter your faces with the manure from your festival sacrifices, and I will throw you on the manure pile.

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Israel Harvests the Whirlwind

“Sound the alarm!
    The enemy descends like an eagle on the people of the Lord,
for they have broken my covenant
    and revolted against my law.

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Even the stork that flies across the sky
    knows the time of her migration,
as do the turtledove, the swallow, and the crane.[a]
    They all return at the proper time each year.
But not my people!
    They do not know the Lord’s laws.

“‘How can you say, “We are wise because we have the word of the Lord,”
    when your teachers have twisted it by writing lies?
These wise teachers will fall
    into the trap of their own foolishness,
for they have rejected the word of the Lord.
    Are they so wise after all?

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Footnotes

  1. 8:7 The identification of some of these birds is uncertain.

Even an ox knows its owner,
    and a donkey recognizes its master’s care—
but Israel doesn’t know its master.
    My people don’t recognize my care for them.”

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139 I am overwhelmed with indignation,
    for my enemies have disregarded your words.

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61 Evil people try to drag me into sin,
    but I am firmly anchored to your instructions.

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For a long time Israel was without the true God, without a priest to teach them, and without the Law to instruct them.

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