12 “But if you turn away and ally yourselves with the survivors of these nations that remain among you and if you intermarry with them(A) and associate with them,(B)

Read full chapter

Do not intermarry with them.(A) Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons,

Read full chapter

those who turn back from following(A) the Lord
    and neither seek(B) the Lord nor inquire(C) of him.”

Read full chapter

24 “But if a righteous person turns(A) from their righteousness and commits sin and does the same detestable things the wicked person does, will they live? None of the righteous things that person has done will be remembered. Because of the unfaithfulness(B) they are guilty of and because of the sins they have committed, they will die.(C)

Read full chapter

Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister[a](A) is still in the darkness.(B)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 1 John 2:9 The Greek word for brother or sister (adelphos) refers here to a believer, whether man or woman, as part of God’s family; also in verse 11; and in 3:15, 17; 4:20; 5:16.

18 For they mouth empty, boastful words(A) and, by appealing to the lustful desires of the flesh, they entice people who are just escaping(B) from those who live in error. 19 They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for “people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.”(C) 20 If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing(D) our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ(E) and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning.(F) 21 It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them.(G) 22 Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,”[a](H) and, “A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud.”

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 2 Peter 2:22 Prov. 26:11

38 And,

“But my righteous[a] one will live by faith.(A)
    And I take no pleasure
    in the one who shrinks back.”[b](B)

39 But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Hebrews 10:38 Some early manuscripts But the righteous
  2. Hebrews 10:38 Hab. 2:4 (see Septuagint)

Warning Against Idolatry

14 Do not be yoked together(A) with unbelievers.(B) For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?(C) 15 What harmony is there between Christ and Belial[a]?(D) Or what does a believer(E) have in common with an unbeliever?(F) 16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols?(G) For we are the temple(H) of the living God.(I) As God has said:

“I will live with them
    and walk among them,
and I will be their God,
    and they will be my people.”[b](J)

17 Therefore,

“Come out from them(K)
    and be separate,
says the Lord.
Touch no unclean thing,
    and I will receive you.”[c](L)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 2 Corinthians 6:15 Greek Beliar, a variant of Belial
  2. 2 Corinthians 6:16 Lev. 26:12; Jer. 32:38; Ezek. 37:27
  3. 2 Corinthians 6:17 Isaiah 52:11; Ezek. 20:34,41

Love in Action

Love must be sincere.(A) Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.(B)

Read full chapter

66 From this time many of his disciples(A) turned back and no longer followed him.

Read full chapter

45 Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first.(A) That is how it will be with this wicked generation.”

Read full chapter

Woe to the sinful nation,
    a people whose guilt is great,(A)
a brood of evildoers,(B)
    children given to corruption!(C)
They have forsaken(D) the Lord;
    they have spurned the Holy One(E) of Israel
    and turned their backs(F) on him.

Read full chapter

But those who turn(A) to crooked ways(B)
    the Lord will banish(C) with the evildoers.

Peace be on Israel.(D)

Read full chapter

34 They did not destroy(A) the peoples
    as the Lord had commanded(B) them,
35 but they mingled(C) with the nations
    and adopted their customs.

Read full chapter

The words of their mouths(A) are wicked and deceitful;(B)
    they fail to act wisely(C) or do good.(D)

Read full chapter

23 Moreover, in those days I saw men of Judah who had married(A) women from Ashdod, Ammon and Moab.(B) 24 Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod or the language of one of the other peoples, and did not know how to speak the language(C) of Judah. 25 I rebuked them and called curses down on them. I beat some of the men and pulled out their hair. I made them take an oath(D) in God’s name and said: “You are not to give your daughters in marriage to their sons, nor are you to take their daughters in marriage for your sons or for yourselves.(E) 26 Was it not because of marriages like these that Solomon king of Israel sinned? Among the many nations there was no king like him.(F) He was loved by his God,(G) and God made him king over all Israel, but even he was led into sin by foreign women.(H)

Read full chapter

11 you gave through your servants the prophets when you said: ‘The land you are entering(A) to possess is a land polluted(B) by the corruption of its peoples. By their detestable practices(C) they have filled it with their impurity from one end to the other. 12 Therefore, do not give your daughters in marriage to their sons or take their daughters for your sons. Do not seek a treaty of friendship with them(D) at any time, that you may be strong(E) and eat the good things(F) of the land and leave it to your children as an everlasting inheritance.’(G)

Read full chapter

Ezra’s Prayer About Intermarriage

After these things had been done, the leaders came to me and said, “The people of Israel, including the priests and the Levites, have not kept themselves separate(A) from the neighboring peoples with their detestable practices, like those of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites,(B) Ammonites,(C) Moabites,(D) Egyptians and Amorites.(E) They have taken some of their daughters(F) as wives for themselves and their sons, and have mingled(G) the holy race(H) with the peoples around them. And the leaders and officials have led the way in this unfaithfulness.”(I)

Read full chapter

As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods,(A) and his heart was not fully devoted(B) to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been.

Read full chapter

They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry(A) with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love.

Read full chapter

Saul’s Growing Fear of David

18 After David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan(A) became one in spirit with David, and he loved(B) him as himself.(C) From that day Saul kept David with him and did not let him return home to his family. And Jonathan made a covenant(D) with David because he loved him as himself.

Read full chapter

12 Be careful not to make a treaty(A) with those who live in the land where you are going, or they will be a snare(B) among you. 13 Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and cut down their Asherah poles.[a](C) 14 Do not worship any other god,(D) for the Lord, whose name(E) is Jealous, is a jealous God.(F)

15 “Be careful not to make a treaty(G) with those who live in the land; for when they prostitute(H) themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you and you will eat their sacrifices.(I) 16 And when you choose some of their daughters as wives(J) for your sons and those daughters prostitute themselves to their gods,(K) they will lead your sons to do the same.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 34:13 That is, wooden symbols of the goddess Asherah

His heart was drawn to Dinah(A) daughter of Jacob;(B) he loved(C) the young woman and spoke tenderly(D) to her.

Read full chapter

24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united(A) to his wife, and they become one flesh.(B)

Read full chapter

Bible Gateway Recommends