Matthew 15:9
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9 in vain do they worship me,
teaching human precepts as doctrines.’ ”(A)
Isaiah 29:13
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13 The Lord said:
Because these people draw near with their mouths
and honor me with their lips,
while their hearts are far from me
and their worship of me is a human commandment learned by rote,(A)
Mark 7:7
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7 in vain do they worship me,
teaching human precepts as doctrines.’
1 Timothy 1:4
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4 and not to occupy themselves with myths and endless genealogies that promote speculations rather than the divine training[a] that is known by faith.(A)
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- 1.4 Gk the household management of God
Titus 1:14
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14 not paying attention to Jewish myths or to commandments of those who reject the truth.(A)
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Colossians 2:18-22
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18 Do not let anyone disqualify you, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, initiatory visions,[a] puffed up without cause by a human way of thinking,[b] 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.(A)
Warnings against False Teachers
20 If with Christ you died to the elemental principles[c] of the world, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations,(B) 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.(C)
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1 Timothy 4:6-7
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A Good Minister of Jesus Christ
6 If you put these instructions before the brothers and sisters, you will be a good servant[a] of Christ Jesus, nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound teaching that you have followed.(A) 7 Have nothing to do with profane and foolish tales. Train yourself in godliness,(B)
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- 4.6 Or deacon
Hebrews 13:9
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9 Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by regulations about food,[a] which have not benefited those who observe them.(A)
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- 13.9 Gk not by foods
James 2:20
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20 Do you want to be shown, you senseless person, that faith apart from works is worthless?[a]
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- 2.20 Other ancient authorities read dead or empty
Isaiah 58:1-3
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False and True Worship
58 Shout out; do not hold back!
Lift up your voice like a trumpet!
Announce to my people their rebellion,
to the house of Jacob their sins.(A)
2 Yet day after day they seek me
and delight to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that practiced righteousness
and did not forsake the ordinance of their God;
they ask of me righteous judgments;
they want God on their side.[a](B)
3 “Why do we fast, but you do not see?
Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?”
Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day
and oppress all your workers.(C)
Footnotes
- 58.2 Or they delight to draw near to God
1 Samuel 25:21
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21 Now David had said, “Surely it was in vain that I protected all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him, but he has returned me evil for good.(A)
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Deuteronomy 12:32
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32 [a]You must diligently observe everything that I command you; do not add to it or take anything from it.(A)
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- 12.32 13.1 in Heb
Exodus 20:7
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7 “You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.(A)
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Isaiah 1:13-15
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13 Bringing offerings is futile;
incense is an abomination to me.
New moon and Sabbath and calling of convocation—
I cannot endure solemn assemblies with iniquity.(A)
14 Your new moons and your appointed festivals
my soul hates;
they have become a burden to me;
I am weary of bearing them.(B)
15 When you stretch out your hands,
I will hide my eyes from you;
even though you make many prayers,
I will not listen;
your hands are full of blood.(C)
Ecclesiastes 5:2-7
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2 [a]Never be rash with your mouth nor let your heart be quick to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you upon earth; therefore let your words be few.(A)
3 For dreams come with many cares, and a fool’s voice with many words.
4 When you make a vow to God, do not delay fulfilling it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Fulfill what you vow.(B) 5 It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not fulfill it.(C) 6 Do not let your mouth lead you into sin, and do not say before the messenger that it was a mistake; why should God be angry at your words and destroy the work of your hands?
7 With many dreams come vanities and a multitude of words,[b] but fear God.(D)
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Proverbs 30:5-6
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5 Every word of God proves true;
he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.(A)
6 Do not add to his words,
lest he rebuke you, and you be found a liar.(B)
Psalm 73:13
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13 All in vain I have kept my heart clean
and washed my hands in innocence.(A)
Psalm 39:6
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6 Surely everyone goes about like a shadow.
Surely for nothing they are in turmoil;
they heap up and do not know who will gather.(A)
Leviticus 26:20
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20 Your strength shall be spent to no purpose: your land shall not yield its produce, and the trees of the land shall not yield their fruit.(A)
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Leviticus 26:16
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16 I in turn will do this to you: I will bring terror on you, consumption and fever that waste the eyes and cause life to pine away. You shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.(A)
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Revelation 22:18
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18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this book;(A)
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1 Timothy 4:1-3
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False Asceticism
4 Now the Spirit expressly says that in later[a] times some will renounce[b] the faith by paying attention to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons,(A) 2 through the hypocrisy of liars whose consciences are seared with a hot iron. 3 They forbid marriage and abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.(B)
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Malachi 3:14
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14 You have said, “It is vain to serve God. What do we profit by keeping his command or by going about as mourners before the Lord of hosts?(A)
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1 Corinthians 15:2
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2 through which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you—unless you have come to believe in vain.(A)
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