Ritual and Moral Holiness

19 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

² “Speak to all the congregation of the Israelites and say to them: You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.^{(A) 3} You shall each revere your mother and father, and you shall keep my Sabbaths: I am the Lord your God.^{(B) 4} Do not turn to idols or make cast images for yourselves: I am the Lord your God.^(C)

⁵ “When you offer a sacrifice of well-being to the Lord, offer it in such a way that it is acceptable on your behalf. ⁶ It shall be eaten on the same day you offer it or on the next day, and anything left over until the third day shall be consumed in fire. ⁷ If any of it is eaten on the third day, it is an abomination; it will not be acceptable. ⁸ All who eat it shall be subject to punishment, because they have profaned what is holy to the Lord, and any such person shall be cut off from the people.

⁹ “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest.^{(D) 10} You shall not strip your vineyard bare or gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the alien: I am the Lord your God.

¹¹ “You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; and you shall not lie to one another.^{(E) 12} And you shall not swear falsely by my name, profaning the name of your God: I am the Lord.^(F)

¹³ “You shall not defraud your neighbor; you shall not steal; and you shall not keep for yourself the wages of a laborer until morning.^{(G) 14} You shall not revile the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind; you shall fear your God: I am the Lord.^(H)

¹⁵ “You shall not render an unjust judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great: with justice you shall judge your neighbor.^{(I) 16} You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand idly by when the blood^[a] of your neighbor is at stake: I am the Lord.^(J)

¹⁷ “You shall not hate in your heart anyone of your kin; you shall reprove your neighbor, or you will incur guilt yourself.^{(K) 18} You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.^(L)

Psalm 15

Who Shall Abide in God’s Sanctuary?

A Psalm of David.

The Glorious New Creation

Jeremiah’s Letter to the Exiles in Babylon

29 These are the words of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the remaining elders among the exiles and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. ² This was after King Jeconiah and the queen mother, the court officials, the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the artisans, and the smiths had departed from Jerusalem.^{(A) 3} The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah son of Shaphan and Gemariah son of Hilkiah, whom King Zedekiah of Judah sent to Babylon to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. It said: ⁴ Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon:^{(B) 5} Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. ⁶ Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease.^{(C) 7} But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.^{(D) 8} For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let the prophets and the diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to your dreams that you dream,^{(E) 9} for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them, says the Lord.^(F)

¹⁰ For thus says the Lord: Only when Babylon’s seventy years are completed will I visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place.^{(G) 11} For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.^{(H) 12} Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you.^{(I) 13} When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart,^{(J) 14} I will let you find me, says the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.^(K)

Judging Others

7 “Do not judge, so that you may not be judged.^{(A) 2} For the judgment you give will be the judgment you get, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. ³ Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye but do not notice the log in your own eye? ⁴ Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is in your own eye? ⁵ You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.

The Golden Rule

¹² “In everything do to others as you would have them do to you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.^(A)

Being Subject to Authorities

13 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God.^{(A) 2} Therefore whoever resists authority resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. ³ For rulers are not a terror to good conduct but to bad. Do you wish to have no fear of the authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive its approval,^{(B) 4} for it is God’s agent for your good. But if you do what is wrong, you should be afraid, for the authority^[a] does not bear the sword in vain! It is the agent of God to execute wrath on the wrongdoer. ⁵ Therefore one must be subject, not only because of wrath but also because of conscience.^{(C) 6} For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s agents, busy with this very thing. ⁷ Pay to all what is due them: taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.

Love for One Another

⁸ Owe no one anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.^{(D) 9} The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; you shall not murder; you shall not steal; you shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”^{(E) 10} Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.^(F)

The New Heaven and the New Earth

21 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.^{(A) 2} And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.^{(B) 3} And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,

⁵ And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.”^{(E) 6} Then he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life.^{(F) 7} Those who conquer will inherit these things, and I will be their God, and they will be my children. ⁸ But as for the cowardly, the faithless,^[f] the polluted, the murderers, the sexually immoral,^[g] the sorcerers, the idolaters, and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”^(G)