^9 (A)And call no man your father on earth, for ^(B)you have one Father, who is in heaven.

The Priests' Polluted Offerings

^6 (A)“A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am ^(B)a father, where is my honor? And if I am ^(C)a master, where is my fear? says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name. ^(D)But you say, ‘How have we despised your name?’

3 See ^(A)what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called ^(B)children of God; and so we are. The reason why ^(C)the world does not know us is that ^(D)it did not know him.

⁹ Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to ^(A)the Father of spirits ^(B)and live?

¹⁴ For all who are ^(A)led by the Spirit of God are ^(B)sons^[a] of God. ¹⁵ For ^(C)you did not receive ^(D)the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of ^(E)adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ^(F)“Abba! Father!” ^16 (G)The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷ and if children, then ^(H)heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, ^(I)provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

¹⁵ For ^(A)though you have countless^[a] guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For ^(B)I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

¹¹ If you then, ^(A)who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will ^(B)your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

Instructions for the Church

5 ^(A)Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, ^(B)younger men as brothers, ² older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity.