¹² I realized that God had not sent him, but that he had prophesied against me^(A) because Tobiah and Sanballat^(B) had hired him.

²² Because you disheartened the righteous with your lies,^(A) when I had brought them no grief, and because you encouraged the wicked not to turn from their evil ways and so save their lives,^(B)

¹³ cargoes of cinnamon and spice, of incense, myrrh and frankincense, of wine and olive oil, of fine flour and wheat; cattle and sheep; horses and carriages; and human beings sold as slaves.^(A)

³ In their greed^(A) these teachers will exploit you^(B) with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.

² Be shepherds of God’s flock^(A) that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be;^(B) not pursuing dishonest gain,^(C) but eager to serve;

⁷ Since an overseer^(A) manages God’s household,^(B) he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain.^(C)

³ not given to drunkenness,^(A) not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome,^(B) not a lover of money.^(C)

¹⁰ to another miraculous powers,^(A) to another prophecy,^(B) to another distinguishing between spirits,^(C) to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,^[a](D) and to still another the interpretation of tongues.^[b]

¹⁵ The person with the Spirit^(A) makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments,