²⁹ And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he ^(A)changed his mind and went.

²⁸ Because he considered and turned away from all the transgressions that he had committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die. ²⁹ Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ O house of Israel, are my ways not just? Is it not your ways that are not just?

³⁰ “Therefore ^(A)I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, declares the Lord God. ^(B)Repent and turn from all your transgressions, ^(C)lest iniquity be your ruin.^{[a] 31 (D)}Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed, and ^(E)make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! ^(F)Why will you die, O house of Israel? ^32 (G)For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord God; ^(H)so turn, and live.”

The New Life

¹⁷ Now this I say and ^(A)testify in the Lord, ^(B)that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, ^(C)in the futility of their minds. ¹⁸ They ^(D)are darkened in their understanding, ^(E)alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to ^(F)their hardness of heart. ¹⁹ They ^(G)have become callous and ^(H)have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.

By Grace Through Faith

2 ^(A)And you were ^(B)dead in the trespasses and sins ^2 (C)in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following ^(D)the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in ^(E)the sons of disobedience— ³ among whom we all once lived in ^(F)the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body^[a] and the mind, and ^(G)were by nature ^(H)children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.^{[b] 4} But^[c] God, being ^(I)rich in mercy, ^(J)because of the great love with which he loved us, ⁵ even ^(K)when we were dead in our trespasses, ^(L)made us alive together with Christ—^(M)by grace you have been saved— ⁶ and raised us up with him and ^(N)seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷ so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable ^(O)riches of his grace in ^(P)kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For ^(Q)by grace you have been saved ^(R)through faith. And this is ^(S)not your own doing; ^(T)it is the gift of God, ^9 (U)not a result of works, ^(V)so that no one may boast. ¹⁰ For ^(W)we are his workmanship, ^(X)created in Christ Jesus ^(Y)for good works, ^(Z)which God prepared beforehand, ^(AA)that we should walk in them.

One in Christ

¹¹ Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called ^(AB)the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— ¹² remember ^(AC)that you were at that time separated from Christ, ^(AD)alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to ^(AE)the covenants of promise, ^(AF)having no hope and without God in the world. ¹³ But now in Christ Jesus you who once were ^(AG)far off have been brought near ^(AH)by the blood of Christ.

¹¹ And ^(A)such were some of you. But ^(B)you were washed, ^(C)you were sanctified, ^(D)you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

²⁰ but declared first ^(A)to those in Damascus, ^(B)then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also ^(C)to the Gentiles, that they should ^(D)repent and ^(E)turn to God, performing deeds ^(F)in keeping with their repentance.

¹⁷ “But ^(A)when he ^(B)came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! ¹⁸ I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, ^(C)I have sinned against ^(D)heaven and before you.

³¹ Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, ^(A)the tax collectors and ^(B)the prostitutes go into ^(C)the kingdom of God before you.

^2 (A)“Repent, for ^(B)the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”^{[a] 3} For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said,

⁴ Now John wore ^(E)a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was ^(F)locusts and ^(G)wild honey. ⁵ Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, ⁶ and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, ^(H)confessing their sins.

⁷ But when he saw many of ^(I)the Pharisees and ^(J)Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, ^(K)“You brood of ^(L)vipers! Who warned you to flee from ^(M)the wrath to come? ⁸ Bear fruit ^(N)in keeping with repentance.