The Worship God Demands

The Lord Vindicates Zion

The Reign and Indignation of God

¹⁷ Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go into the gardens, following the one in the center, eating the flesh of pigs, vermin, and rodents, shall come to an end together, says the Lord,^{(P) 18} for I know^[d] their works and their thoughts.

I am^[e] coming to gather all nations and tongues, and they shall come and shall see my glory,^{(Q) 19} and I will set a sign among them. From them I will send survivors to the nations, to Tarshish, Put,^[f] and Lud, to Meshech,^[g] Tubal, and Javan, to the coastlands far away that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory, and they shall declare my glory among the nations.^{(R) 20} They shall bring all your kindred from all the nations as an offering to the Lord, on horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and on mules, and on dromedaries, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the Lord, just as the Israelites bring a grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord.^{(S) 21} And I will also take some of them as priests and as Levites, says the Lord.^(T)

²⁴ And they shall go out and look at the dead bodies of the people who have rebelled against me, for their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.^(W)

⁸ Watch out that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental principles^[a] of the world, and not according to Christ.^{(A) 9} For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, ¹⁰ and you have come to fullness in him, who is the head of every ruler and authority.^{(B) 11} In him also you were circumcised with a spiritual circumcision,^[b] by the removal of the body^[c] of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ;^{(C) 12} when you were buried with him in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.^{(D) 13} And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God^[d] made you^[e] alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses,^{(E) 14} erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross. ¹⁵ He disarmed^[f] the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it.^(F)

¹⁶ Therefore, do not let anyone condemn you in matters of food or^[g] drink or of observing festivals, new moons, or Sabbaths.^{(G) 17} These are only a shadow of what is to come, but the body belongs to Christ. ¹⁸ Do not let anyone disqualify you, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, initiatory visions,^[h] puffed up without cause by a human way of thinking,^{[i] 19} and not holding fast to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and tendons, grows with a growth that is from God.^(H)

Warnings against False Teachers

²⁰ If with Christ you died to the elemental principles^[j] of the world, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations,^{(I) 21} “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? ²² All these regulations refer to things that perish with use; they are simply human commands and teachings.^{(J) 23} These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-imposed piety, humility, and severe treatment of the body, but they are of no value in checking self-indulgence.^[k]

The New Life in Christ

3 So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.^{(K) 2} Set your minds on the things that are above, not on the things that are on earth, ³ for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.^{(L) 4} When Christ who is your^[l] life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.^(M)

⁵ Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry).^{(N) 6} On account of these the wrath of God is coming on those who are disobedient.^{[m](O) 7} These are the ways you also once followed, when you were living that life.^{[n] 8} But now you must get rid of all such things: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive^[o] language from your mouth.^{(P) 9} Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices ¹⁰ and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator.^{(Q) 11} In that renewal^[p] there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, enslaved and free, but Christ is all and in all!^(R)

¹² Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.^{(S) 13} Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord^[q] has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. ¹⁴ Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. ¹⁵ And let the peace of Christ^[r] rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.^{(T) 16} Let the word of Christ^[s] dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God.^{[t](U) 17} And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.^(V)

The Greatest Commandment

³⁴ When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, ³⁵ and one of them, an expert in the law, asked him a question to test him.^{(A) 36} “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” ³⁷ He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’^{(B) 38} This is the greatest and first commandment. ³⁹ And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’^{(C) 40} On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”^(D)

The Question about David’s Son

⁴¹ Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them this question: ⁴² “What do you think of the Messiah?^[a] Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.”^{(E) 43} He said to them, “How is it then that David by the Spirit^[b] calls him Lord, saying,

⁴⁵ “If David thus calls him Lord, how can he be his son?” ⁴⁶ No one was able to give him an answer, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.^(G)

Jesus Denounces Scribes and Pharisees

23 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, ² “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’s seat;^{(H) 3} therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it, but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach. ⁴ They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear,^[c] and lay them on the shoulders of others, but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them.^{(I) 5} They do all their deeds to be seen by others, for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long.^{(J) 6} They love to have the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues^{(K) 7} and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to have people call them rabbi. ⁸ But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers and sisters.^{(L) 9} And call no one your father on earth, for you have one Father, the one in heaven.^{(M) 10} Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Messiah.^{[d] 11} The greatest among you will be your servant.^{(N) 12} All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.^(O)

¹³ “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you lock people out of the kingdom of heaven. For you do not go in yourselves, and when others are going in you stop them.^{[e](P) 15} Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cross sea and land to make a single convert, and you make the new convert twice as much a child of hell^[f] as yourselves.

¹⁶ “Woe to you, blind guides who say, ‘Whoever swears by the sanctuary is bound by nothing, but whoever swears by the gold of the sanctuary is bound by the oath.’^{(Q) 17} You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the sanctuary that has made the gold sacred?^{(R) 18} And you say, ‘Whoever swears by the altar is bound by nothing, but whoever swears by the gift that is on the altar is bound by the oath.’ ¹⁹ How blind you are! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred?^{(S) 20} So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it, ²¹ and whoever swears by the sanctuary swears by it and by the one who dwells in it, ²² and whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by the one who is seated upon it.^(T)

²³ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. It is these you ought to have practiced without neglecting the others.^{(U) 24} You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel!

²⁵ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. ²⁶ You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and of the plate,^[g] so that the outside also may become clean.

²⁷ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful but inside are full of the bones of the dead and of all kinds of uncleanness. ²⁸ So you also on the outside look righteous to others, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

²⁹ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous, ³⁰ and you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ ³¹ Thus you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets. ³² Fill up, then, the measure of your ancestors. ³³ You snakes, you brood of vipers! How can you escape the judgment of hell?^{[h] 34} For this reason I send you prophets, sages, and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town, ³⁵ so that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. ³⁶ Truly I tell you, all this will come upon this generation.

The Lament over Jerusalem

³⁷ “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! ³⁸ See, your house is left to you, desolate.^{[i] 39} For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’ ”^(V)