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11 You rulers make decisions based on bribes;
    you priests teach God’s laws only for a price;
you prophets won’t prophesy unless you are paid.
    Yet all of you claim to depend on the Lord.
“No harm can come to us,” you say,
    “for the Lord is here among us.”

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23 Your leaders are rebels,
    the companions of thieves.
All of them love bribes
    and demand payoffs,
but they refuse to defend the cause of orphans
    or fight for the rights of widows.

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13 “From the least to the greatest,
    their lives are ruled by greed.
From prophets to priests,
    they are all frauds.

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This is what the Lord says:
    “You false prophets are leading my people astray!
You promise peace for those who give you food,
    but you declare war on those who refuse to feed you.

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But don’t be fooled by those who promise you safety simply because the Lord’s Temple is here. They chant, “The Lord’s Temple is here! The Lord’s Temple is here!”

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Care for the flock that God has entrusted to you. Watch over it willingly, not grudgingly—not for what you will get out of it, but because you are eager to serve God.

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11 They must be silenced, because they are turning whole families away from the truth by their false teaching. And they do it only for money.

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18 When Simon saw that the Spirit was given when the apostles laid their hands on people, he offered them money to buy this power. 19 “Let me have this power, too,” he exclaimed, “so that when I lay my hands on people, they will receive the Holy Spirit!”

20 But Peter replied, “May your money be destroyed with you for thinking God’s gift can be bought!

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Both their hands are equally skilled at doing evil!
    Officials and judges alike demand bribes.
The people with influence get what they want,
    and together they scheme to twist justice.

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    even though you call yourself the holy city
and talk about depending on the God of Israel,
    whose name is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

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He must not be a heavy drinker[a] or be violent. He must be gentle, not quarrelsome, and not love money.

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Footnotes

  1. 3:3 Greek must not drink too much wine; similarly in 3:8.

10 I will give their wives to others
    and their farms to strangers.
From the least to the greatest,
    their lives are ruled by greed.
Yes, even my prophets and priests are like that.
    They are all frauds.

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Now testify against me in the presence of the Lord and before his anointed one. Whose ox or donkey have I stolen? Have I ever cheated any of you? Have I ever oppressed you? Have I ever taken a bribe and perverted justice? Tell me and I will make right whatever I have done wrong.”

“No,” they replied, “you have never cheated or oppressed us, and you have never taken even a single bribe.”

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