Psalm 50:16
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
16 But to the wicked God says,
“What right have you to recite my statutes
or take my covenant on your lips?(A)
Romans 2:17-24
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The Jews and the Law
17 But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast of your relation to God(A) 18 and know his will and determine what really matters because you are instructed in the law, 19 and if you are sure that you are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20 a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth,(B) 21 you, then, who teach others, will you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal?(C) 22 You who forbid adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by your transgression of the law? 24 For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed[a] among the gentiles because of you.”(D)
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- 2.24 Or despised
Isaiah 55:6-7
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6 Seek the Lord while he may be found;
call upon him while he is near;(A)
7 let the wicked forsake their way
and the unrighteous their thoughts;
let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.(B)
Isaiah 29:13
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
13 The Lord said:
Because these people draw near with their mouths
and honor me with their lips,
while their hearts are far from me
and their worship of me is a human commandment learned by rote,(A)
Psalm 78:36-38
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
36 But they flattered him with their mouths;
they lied to him with their tongues.(A)
37 Their heart was not steadfast toward him;
they were not true to his covenant.
38 Yet he, being compassionate,
forgave their iniquity
and did not destroy them;
often he restrained his anger
and did not stir up all his wrath.(B)
Isaiah 1:11-15
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11 What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?
says the Lord;
I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams
and the fat of fed beasts;
I do not delight in the blood of bulls
or of lambs or of goats.(A)
12 When you come to appear before me,[a]
who asked this from your hand?
Trample my courts no more!(B)
13 Bringing offerings is futile;
incense is an abomination to me.
New moon and Sabbath and calling of convocation—
I cannot endure solemn assemblies with iniquity.(C)
14 Your new moons and your appointed festivals
my soul hates;
they have become a burden to me;
I am weary of bearing them.(D)
15 When you stretch out your hands,
I will hide my eyes from you;
even though you make many prayers,
I will not listen;
your hands are full of blood.(E)
Footnotes
- 1.12 Or see my face
Hebrews 8:9
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
9 not like the covenant that I made with their ancestors
on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt,
for they did not continue in my covenant,
and so I had no concern for them, says the Lord.
John 4:24
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24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”(A)
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Proverbs 26:7
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7 The legs of a lame person hang limp;
so does a proverb in the mouth of a fool.(A)
Psalm 25:14
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14 The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him,
and he makes his covenant known to them.(A)
2 Peter 2:15
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15 They have left the straight road and have gone astray, following the road of Balaam son of Bosor,[a] who loved the wages of doing wrong(A)
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- 2.15 Other ancient authorities read Beor
1 Corinthians 9:27
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27 but I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified.(A)
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Acts 19:13-16
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13 Then some itinerant Jewish exorcists tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.”(A) 14 Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. 15 But the evil spirit said to them in reply, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are you?” 16 Then the man with the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered them all, and so overpowered them that they fled out of the house naked and wounded.
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Matthew 7:22-23
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22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’(A) 23 Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you who behave lawlessly.’(B)
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Matthew 7:3-5
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3 Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye but do not notice the log in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.
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Ezekiel 20:37-38
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37 I will make you pass under the staff and will bring you within the bond of the covenant.(A) 38 I will purge out the rebels among you and those who transgress against me; I will bring them out of the land where they reside as aliens, but they shall not enter the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.(B)
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Ezekiel 18:27
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27 Again, when the wicked turn away from the wickedness they have committed and do what is lawful and right, they shall save their life.
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Jeremiah 7:4-7
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4 Do not trust in these deceptive words: “This is[a] the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.”
5 For if you truly amend your ways and your doings, if you truly act justly one with another,(A) 6 if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, and the widow or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own hurt,(B) 7 then I will dwell with you[b] in this place, in the land that I gave to your ancestors forever and ever.
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Isaiah 58:1-7
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False and True Worship
58 Shout out; do not hold back!
Lift up your voice like a trumpet!
Announce to my people their rebellion,
to the house of Jacob their sins.(A)
2 Yet day after day they seek me
and delight to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that practiced righteousness
and did not forsake the ordinance of their God;
they ask of me righteous judgments;
they want God on their side.[a](B)
3 “Why do we fast, but you do not see?
Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?”
Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day
and oppress all your workers.(C)
4 You fast only to quarrel and to fight
and to strike with a wicked fist.
Such fasting as you do today
will not make your voice heard on high.(D)
5 Is such the fast that I choose,
a day to humble oneself?
Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush
and to lie in sackcloth and ashes?
Will you call this a fast,
a day acceptable to the Lord?(E)
6 Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of injustice,
to undo the straps of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?(F)
7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them
and not to hide yourself from your own kin?(G)
Footnotes
- 58.2 Or they delight to draw near to God
Isaiah 48:22
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
22 “There is no peace,” says the Lord, “for the wicked.”(A)
Isaiah 48:1-2
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
God the Creator and Redeemer
48 Hear this, O house of Jacob,
who are called by the name of Israel
and who came forth from the loins[a] of Judah,
who swear by the name of the Lord
and invoke the God of Israel
but not in truth or right.(A)
2 For they call themselves after the holy city
and lean on the God of Israel;
the Lord of hosts is his name.(B)
Footnotes
- 48.1 Cn: Heb waters
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.