The Lord's Mercy on Israel

¹⁶ “And ^(D)in that day, declares the Lord, you will call me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer will you call me ‘My Baal.’ ¹⁷ For ^(E)I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be remembered by name no more. ¹⁸ And ^(F)I will make for them a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground. And ^(G)I will abolish^[b] the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in ^(H)safety. ¹⁹ And I will betroth you to me ^(I)forever. ^(J)I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. ^20 (K)I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And ^(L)you shall know the Lord.

¹⁶ By this we know love, that ^(A)he laid down his life for us, and ^(B)we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. ¹⁷ But ^(C)if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet ^(D)closes his heart against him, ^(E)how does God's love abide in him? ¹⁸ Little children, let us not ^(F)love in word or talk but in deed and ^(G)in truth.

¹⁹ By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; ²⁰ for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. ²¹ Beloved, ^(H)if our heart does not condemn us, ^(I)we have confidence before God; ²² and ^(J)whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and ^(K)do what pleases him. ²³ And this is his commandment, ^(L)that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and ^(M)love one another, ^(N)just as he has commanded us. ^24 (O)Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God,^[a] and God^[b] in him. And ^(P)by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.

What Defiles a Person

¹⁰ And he called the people to him and said to them, ^(A)“Hear and understand: ^11 (B)it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.” ¹² Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were ^(C)offended when they heard this saying?” ¹³ He answered, ^(D)“Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted ^(E)will be rooted up. ¹⁴ Let them alone; ^(F)they are blind guides.^[a] And ^(G)if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.” ¹⁵ But Peter said to him, ^(H)“Explain the parable to us.” ¹⁶ And he said, ^(I)“Are you also still without understanding? ¹⁷ Do you not see that ^(J)whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled?^{[b] 18} But ^(K)what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. ¹⁹ For out of the heart come ^(L)evil thoughts, ^(M)murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, ^(N)slander. ^20 (O)These are what defile a person. But ^(P)to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.”