^7,8 For the doubter, being double-minded and unstable in every way, must not expect to receive anything from the Lord.

²¹ Elijah then came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping with two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him, but if Baal, then follow him.” The people did not answer him a word.^(A)

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)

Serving Two Masters

²⁴ “No one can serve two masters, for a slave will either hate the one and love the other or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.^[a](A)

¹⁴ They have eyes full of adultery,^[a] insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children!

⁴¹ So these nations worshiped the Lord but also served their carved images; to this day their children and their children’s children continue to do as their ancestors did.^(A)

¹⁶ speaking of this as he does in all his letters. There are some things in them hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist^[a] to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures.

³³ So they worshiped the Lord but also served their own gods, after the manner of the nations from among whom they had been carried away.^(A)

Futile Reliance on the Nations