16 But to the wicked person, God says:

“What right have you to recite my laws
    or take my covenant(A) on your lips?(B)

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13 The Lord says:

“These people(A) come near to me with their mouth
    and honor me with their lips,(B)
    but their hearts are far from me.(C)
Their worship of me
    is based on merely human rules they have been taught.[a](D)

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 29:13 Hebrew; Septuagint They worship me in vain; / their teachings are merely human rules

11 “The multitude of your sacrifices—
    what are they to me?” says the Lord.
“I have more than enough of burnt offerings,
    of rams and the fat of fattened animals;(A)
I have no pleasure(B)
    in the blood of bulls(C) and lambs and goats.(D)
12 When you come to appear before me,
    who has asked this of you,(E)
    this trampling of my courts?
13 Stop bringing meaningless offerings!(F)
    Your incense(G) is detestable(H) to me.
New Moons,(I) Sabbaths and convocations(J)
    I cannot bear your worthless assemblies.
14 Your New Moon(K) feasts and your appointed festivals(L)
    I hate with all my being.(M)
They have become a burden to me;(N)
    I am weary(O) of bearing them.
15 When you spread out your hands(P) in prayer,
    I hide(Q) my eyes from you;
even when you offer many prayers,
    I am not listening.(R)

Your hands(S) are full of blood!(T)

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36 But then they would flatter him with their mouths,(A)
    lying to him with their tongues;
37 their hearts were not loyal(B) to him,
    they were not faithful to his covenant.
38 Yet he was merciful;(C)
    he forgave(D) their iniquities(E)
    and did not destroy them.
Time after time he restrained his anger(F)
    and did not stir up his full wrath.

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It will not be like the covenant
    I made with their ancestors(A)
when I took them by the hand
    to lead them out of Egypt,
because they did not remain faithful to my covenant,
    and I turned away from them,
declares the Lord.

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27 No, I strike a blow to my body(A) and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.(B)

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The Jews and the Law

17 Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and boast in God;(A) 18 if you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law; 19 if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, 20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of little children, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth— 21 you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal?(B) 22 You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?(C) 23 You who boast in the law,(D) do you dishonor God by breaking the law? 24 As it is written: “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”[a](E)

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Footnotes

  1. Romans 2:24 Isaiah 52:5 (see Septuagint); Ezek. 36:20,22

13 Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits(A) tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, “In the name of the Jesus(B) whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.” 14 Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. 15 One day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?” 16 Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.

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24 God is spirit,(A) and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

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22 Many will say to me on that day,(A) ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’(B) 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’(C)

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“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

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37 I will take note of you as you pass under my rod,(A) and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant.(B) 38 I will purge(C) you of those who revolt and rebel against me. Although I will bring them out of the land where they are living, yet they will not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord.(D)

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27 But if a wicked person turns away from the wickedness they have committed and does what is just and right, they will save their life.(A)

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Do not trust(A) in deceptive(B) words and say, “This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord!” If you really change(C) your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly,(D) if you do not oppress(E) the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood(F) in this place, and if you do not follow other gods(G) to your own harm, then I will let you live in this place, in the land(H) I gave your ancestors(I) for ever and ever.

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True Fasting

58 “Shout it aloud,(A) do not hold back.
    Raise your voice like a trumpet.(B)
Declare to my people their rebellion(C)
    and to the descendants of Jacob their sins.(D)
For day after day they seek(E) me out;
    they seem eager to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that does what is right
    and has not forsaken(F) the commands of its God.
They ask me for just decisions
    and seem eager for God to come near(G) them.
‘Why have we fasted,’(H) they say,
    ‘and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled(I) ourselves,
    and you have not noticed?’(J)

“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please(K)
    and exploit all your workers.
Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,(L)
    and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today
    and expect your voice to be heard(M) on high.
Is this the kind of fast(N) I have chosen,
    only a day for people to humble(O) themselves?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed(P)
    and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?(Q)
Is that what you call a fast,
    a day acceptable to the Lord?

“Is not this the kind of fasting(R) I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice(S)
    and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed(T) free
    and break every yoke?(U)
Is it not to share your food with the hungry(V)
    and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter(W)
when you see the naked, to clothe(X) them,
    and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?(Y)

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Seek(A) the Lord while he may be found;(B)
    call(C) on him while he is near.
Let the wicked forsake(D) their ways
    and the unrighteous their thoughts.(E)
Let them turn(F) to the Lord, and he will have mercy(G) on them,
    and to our God, for he will freely pardon.(H)

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22 “There is no peace,”(A) says the Lord, “for the wicked.”(B)

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Stubborn Israel

48 “Listen to this, you descendants of Jacob,
    you who are called by the name of Israel(A)
    and come from the line of Judah,(B)
you who take oaths(C) in the name of the Lord(D)
    and invoke(E) the God of Israel—
    but not in truth(F) or righteousness—
you who call yourselves citizens of the holy city(G)
    and claim to rely(H) on the God of Israel—
    the Lord Almighty is his name:(I)

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Like the useless legs of one who is lame
    is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.(A)

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14 The Lord confides(A) in those who fear him;
    he makes his covenant known(B) to them.

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15 They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam(A) son of Bezer,[a] who loved the wages of wickedness.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Peter 2:15 Greek Bosor

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