^14 (A)“Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in ^(B)sincerity and in truth, and ^(C)put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of ^[a]the River and ^(D)in Egypt. Serve the Lord! ¹⁵ And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, ^(E)choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether ^(F)the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of ^[b]the River, or ^(G)the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. ^(H)But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

¹⁶ So the people answered and said: “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods; ¹⁷ for the Lord our God is He who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way that we went and among all the people through whom we passed. ¹⁸ And the Lord drove out from before us all the people, including the Amorites who dwelt in the land. ^(I)We also will serve the Lord, for He is our God.”

¹⁹ But Joshua said to the people, ^(J)“You cannot serve the Lord, for He is a ^(K)holy God. He is ^(L)a jealous God; ^(M)He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins. ^20 (N)If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, ^(O)then He will turn and do you harm and consume you, after He has done you good.”

²¹ And the people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve the Lord!”

²² So Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that ^(P)you have chosen the Lord for yourselves, to serve Him.”

And they said, “We are witnesses!”

²³ “Now therefore,” he said, ^(Q)“put away the foreign gods which are among you, and ^(R)incline your heart to the Lord God of Israel.”

²⁴ And the people ^(S)said to Joshua, “The Lord our God we will serve, and His voice we will obey!”

²³ And ^(A)about that time there arose a great commotion about ^(B)the Way. ²⁴ For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of ^[a]Diana, brought ^(C)no small profit to the craftsmen. ²⁵ He called them together with the workers of similar occupation, and said: “Men, you know that we have our prosperity by this trade. ²⁶ Moreover you see and hear that not only at Ephesus, but throughout almost all Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away many people, saying that ^(D)they are not gods which are made with hands. ²⁷ So not only is this trade of ours in danger of falling into disrepute, but also the temple of the great goddess Diana may be despised and ^[b]her magnificence destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worship.”

²⁸ Now when they heard this, they were full of wrath and cried out, saying, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians!” ²⁹ So the whole city was filled with confusion, and rushed into the theater with one accord, having seized ^(E)Gaius and ^(F)Aristarchus, Macedonians, Paul’s travel companions. ³⁰ And when Paul wanted to go in to the people, the disciples would not allow him. ³¹ Then some of the ^[c]officials of Asia, who were his friends, sent to him pleading that he would not venture into the theater. ³² Some therefore cried one thing and some another, for the assembly was confused, and most of them did not know why they had come together. ³³ And they drew Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward. And ^(G)Alexander ^(H)motioned with his hand, and wanted to make his defense to the people. ³⁴ But when they found out that he was a Jew, all with one voice cried out for about two hours, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians!”

⁵³ Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless ^(A)you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. ^54 (B)Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. ⁵⁵ For My flesh is ^[a]food indeed, and My blood is ^[b]drink indeed. ⁵⁶ He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood ^(C)abides in Me, and I in him. ⁵⁷ As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. ^58 (D)This is the bread which came down from heaven—not ^(E)as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.”

⁵⁹ These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.

Many Disciples Turn Away

^60 (F)Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, “This is a ^[c]hard saying; who can understand it?”

⁶¹ When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples ^[d]complained about this, He said to them, “Does this ^[e]offend you? ^62 (G)What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before? ^63 (H)It is the Spirit who gives life; the ^(I)flesh profits nothing. The ^(J)words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. ⁶⁴ But ^(K)there are some of you who do not believe.” For ^(L)Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him. ⁶⁵ And He said, “Therefore ^(M)I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.”

^66 (N)From that time many of His disciples went ^[f]back and walked with Him no more. ⁶⁷ Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?”

⁶⁸ But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have ^(O)the words of eternal life. ^69 (P)Also we have come to believe and know that You are the ^[g]Christ, the Son of the living God.”

⁷⁰ Jesus answered them, ^(Q)“Did I not choose you, the twelve, ^(R)and one of you is a devil?” ⁷¹ He spoke of ^(S)Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would ^(T)betray Him, being one of the twelve.