¹⁶ They profess to know God, but they deny him by their actions; they are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.^(A)

⁷ You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied rightly about you when he said:

The Living Stone and a Chosen People

2 Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice and all guile, insincerity, envy, and all slander.^{(A) 2} Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation^(B)—

²¹ Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls.^(A)

²² But be doers of the word and not merely hearers who deceive themselves.^(B)

¹⁶ And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: when they hear the word, they immediately receive it with joy. ¹⁷ But they have no root and endure only for a while; then, when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away.^[a]

⁴ For it is impossible to restore again to repentance those who have once been enlightened and have tasted the heavenly gift and have shared in the Holy Spirit^{(A) 5} and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come^{(B) 6} and then have fallen away, since they are crucifying again the Son of God to their own harm and are holding him up to contempt.^(C)

³⁰ As for you, mortal, your people who talk together about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses say to one another, each to a neighbor, “Come and hear what the word is that comes from the Lord.” ³¹ They come to you as people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear your words, but they will not obey them. For flattery is on their lips, but their heart is set on their gain.^{[a](A) 32} To them you are like a singer of love songs,^[b] one who has a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument; they hear what you say, but they will not do it. ³³ When this comes—and come it will!—then they shall know that a prophet has been among them.^(B)