Old/New Testament

14 Some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat before me. ² The word of Adonai came to me saying: ³ “Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts. They have put the stumbling block of their iniquity right before their faces. Should I let them inquire of me at all? ⁴ Therefore speak to them, and say to them, thus says Adonai Elohim: ‘Every man from the house of Israel who sets up idols in his heart and puts the stumbling block of his iniquity right before his face, and then comes to the prophet—I, Adonai, will answer him as he comes with the multitude of his idols, ⁵ so I may take hold of the house of Israel in their hearts. For they have all become estranged from Me through their idols.’”

⁶ Therefore say to the house of Israel, thus says Adonai Elohim: “Return, turn away from your idols; turn your faces from all your abominations. ⁷ For anyone from the house of Israel or the outsiders who dwell in Israel who breaks himself away from Me takes idols into his heart, puts the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face and then comes to the prophet to inquire of Me through him—I, Adonai, will answer him Myself. ⁸ I will set My face against that man. I will make him a sign and a proverb and cut him off from among My people. Then you will know that I am Adonai.

⁹ “When the prophet is deceived and speaks a word, I, Adonai, have deceived that prophet. I will stretch out My hand against him. I will destroy him from among My people Israel. ¹⁰ They will bear their punishment—the punishment of the prophet will be the same as the punishment of the inquirer— ¹¹ so that the house of Israel will not wander again from Me or defile themselves again with all their transgressions. They will be My people and I will be their God.” It is a declaration of Adonai.

¹² The word of Adonai came to me saying, ¹³ “Son of man, suppose a land sins against Me by trespassing grievously and I stretch out My hand over it, break off its staff of bread, send famine upon it and cut it off from man and beast. ¹⁴ Even if these three men—Noah, Daniel and Job—be in it, they would only deliver their own souls by their righteousness.” It is a declaration of Adonai.

¹⁵ “If I cause evil beasts to pass through the land and they ravage it and make it a wasteland, so that no one would pass through because of the beasts, ¹⁶ even if these three men were in it, as I live, says Adonai, they will not deliver sons or daughters. They would only deliver themselves, but the land will be desolate. ¹⁷ Or if I bring a sword on that land and say: ‘Let the sword go through the land,’ so that I cut off man and beast from it; ¹⁸ though these three men were in it, as I live, says Adonai, they will not deliver sons or daughters, for they will only deliver themselves.

¹⁹ “Or, suppose I were to send a plague to that land and pour out My fury upon it in blood, to cut off man and beast from it. ²⁰ Even if Noah, Daniel and Job were in it, as I live, says Adonai, they would not deliver either a son or a daughter. They would deliver only themselves by their righteousness.”

²¹ For thus Adonai says: “How much more if I send My four dreadful judgments against Jerusalem—the sword, the famine, the evil beasts and the plague—to cut man and beast off from it. ²² Yet behold, survivors would remain in it who would be brought out, both sons and daughters. Behold, when they come to you and you see their ways and their deeds, you would be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought against Jerusalem, all that I have brought on it. ²³ They would comfort you when you see their ways and their deeds. So you will know that I had not done all that I had done without cause.” It is a declaration of Adonai.

Vine Wood for the Fire

15 The word of Adonai came to me saying: ² “Son of man, how can the wood of a vine be better than the branch of any tree that is among the trees of the forest? ³ Can wood be taken from it to make anything useful? Can a peg be made from it to hang anything on? ⁴ Behold, when it is cast in the fire for fuel, both ends are devoured in fire and the middle is charred—is it useful for any work? ⁵ Look, when it was whole, it was not useful for any work—how much less, when the fire has devoured it and it is charred, will it be useful for any work? ⁶ Therefore thus says Adonai Elohim: Like the vine’s wood among the trees of the forest that I have given to the fire for fuel, so I will give up the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ⁷ I will set My face against them. Even if they come out of the fire, the fire will yet devour them. So you will know that I am Adonai, when I set My face against them. ⁸ I will make the land desolate, because they have acted so faithlessly.” It is a declaration of Adonai.

Honor the Poor Person

2 My brothers and sisters, do not hold the faith of our glorious Lord Yeshua the Messiah while showing favoritism. ^{[a] 2} For if a man with a gold ring and fine clothes comes into your synagogue, and a poor person in filthy clothes also comes in; ³ and you pay special attention to the one wearing the fine clothing and you say, “Sit here in a good place”; and you say to the poor person, “Stand there,” or “Sit by my footstool”; ⁴ haven’t you made distinctions between yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?

⁵ Listen, my dear brothers and sisters. Didn’t God choose the poor in this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom that He promised to those who love Him? ⁶ But you have dishonored the poor person. Isn’t it the rich who oppress you and drag you into court? ⁷ Don’t they blaspheme the good name by which you were called? ⁸ If, however, you fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well. ⁹ But if you show favoritism, you are committing sin and are convicted by the Torah as transgressors. ¹⁰ For whoever keeps the whole Torah but stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. ¹¹ For the one who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not commit murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the Torah. ^{[b] 12} So speak and act as those who will be judged according to a Torah that gives freedom. ¹³ For judgment is merciless to the one who does not show mercy.^[c] Mercy triumphs over judgment.

Show Faith with Works

¹⁴ What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone says he has faith, but does not have works? Can such faith save him? ¹⁵ If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, ¹⁶ and one of you says to them, “Go in shalom, keep warm and well fed,” but you do not give them what the body needs, what good is that? ¹⁷ So also faith, if it does not have works, is dead by itself.

¹⁸ But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith without works and I will show you faith by my works. ¹⁹ You believe that God is one. You do well. The demons also believe—and shudder! ²⁰ But do you want to know, you empty person, that faith without works is dead? ²¹ Wasn’t Abraham our father proved righteous by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? ²² You see that faith worked together with his works, and by the works his faith was made complete. ²³ The Scripture was fulfilled that says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness”^[d]—and he was called God’s friend. ^{[e] 24} You see that a man is proved righteous by works and not by faith alone. ²⁵ And likewise, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute also proved righteous by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out another way? ^{[f] 26} For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.