⁸ Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.^{(A) 9} Lament and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy into dejection. ¹⁰ Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.^(B)

²¹ But if the wicked turn away from all their sins that they have committed and keep all my statutes and do what is lawful and right, they shall surely live; they shall not die.^{(A) 22} None of the transgressions that they have committed shall be remembered against them, for the righteousness that they have done they shall live.^{(B) 23} Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, says the Lord God, and not rather that they should turn from their ways and live?^(C)

¹⁰ Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”^(A)

¹⁰ When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them, and he did not do it.^(A)

¹⁴ Again, though I say to the wicked, “You shall surely die,” yet if they turn from their sin and do what is lawful and right^(A)— ¹⁵ if the wicked restore the pledge, give back what they have taken by robbery, and walk in the statutes of life, committing no iniquity—they shall surely live; they shall not die.^{(B) 16} None of the sins that they have committed shall be remembered against them; they have done what is lawful and right; they shall surely live.^(C)

¹⁵ The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance: that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the foremost.^{(A) 16} But for that very reason I received mercy, so that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience as an example to those who would come to believe in him for eternal life.