Old/New Testament

Warnings Against Idol Worship

14 Some of the elders of Israel came to me. They sat down to talk with me. ² The word of the Lord came to me. He said, ³ “Son of man,^[a] these men came to talk to you. But they still have their filthy idols. They kept the things that made them sin. They still worship those statues, so why do they come to me for advice? Should I answer their questions? ⁴ But I will give them an answer. You must tell them this: ‘This is what the Lord God says: If any Israelites come to a prophet and ask me for advice, I myself will answer their questions. I, the Lord, will answer them even if they still have their filthy idols, even if they kept the things that made them sin, and even if they still worship those statues. I will speak to them in spite of all their filthy idols. ⁵ This is because I want to touch their hearts. I want to show them that I love them, even though they left me for their filthy idols.’

⁶ “So tell the family of Israel, ‘This is what the Lord God says: Come back to me and leave your filthy idols. Turn away from those terrible, false gods. ⁷ If any Israelites or foreigners who live in Israel come to me for advice, I will give them an answer. I, the Lord, will answer them even if they still have their filthy idols, even if they kept the things that made them sin, and even if they worship those statues. This is the answer I will give them: ⁸ I will turn against them and destroy them. They will be an example to others. People will laugh at them. I will remove them from my people. Then you will know that I am the Lord! ⁹ And if a prophet is foolish enough to give his own answer, I, the Lord, will show him how foolish he is! I will use my power against him. I will destroy him and remove him from among my people, Israel. ¹⁰ So both the one who came for advice and the prophet who gave an answer will get the same punishment. ¹¹ Why? So that those prophets will stop leading my people away from me, and my people will stop being filthy with sin. Then they will be my special people, and I will be their God.’” This is what the Lord God said.

Jerusalem Will Be Punished

¹² Then the word of the Lord came to me. He said, ¹³ “Son of man, I will punish any nation that leaves me and sins against me. I will stop their food supply. I might cause a famine and remove the people and animals from that country. ¹⁴ I would punish that country even if Noah, Daniel, and Job^[b] lived there. They could save their own lives by their goodness, but they could not save the whole country.” This is what the Lord God said.

¹⁵ “Or I might send wild animals through that country to kill all the people. Then no one would travel through that country because of the wild animals. ¹⁶ If Noah, Daniel, and Job lived there, those three men could save their own lives. But I promise by my own life that they could not save the lives of other people—not even their own sons and daughters! That evil country would be destroyed.” This is what the Lord God said.

¹⁷ “Or I might send an enemy army to fight against that country. The soldiers would destroy that country—I would remove all the people and animals from that country. ¹⁸ If Noah, Daniel, and Job lived there, those three men could save their own lives. But I promise by my own life that they could not save the lives of other people—not even their own sons and daughters! That evil country would be destroyed.” This is what the Lord God said.

¹⁹ “Or I might send a disease against that country. I will pour my anger down on the people. I will remove all the people and animals from that country. ²⁰ If Noah, Daniel, and Job lived there, those three men could save their own lives because they are good men. But I promise by my own life that they could not save the lives of other people—not even their own sons and daughters!” This is what the Lord God said.

²¹ Then the Lord God said, “So think how bad it will be for Jerusalem. I will send all four of those punishments against that city! I will send enemy soldiers, hunger, disease, and wild animals against that city. I will remove all the people and animals from that country. ²² Some of the people will escape from that country. They will bring their sons and daughters and come to you for help. Then you will see how bad those people really are, and you will feel better about all the troubles that I am bringing to Jerusalem. ²³ You will see how they live and all the bad things they do. Then you will know that I had a good reason for punishing them.” This is what the Lord God said.

Jerusalem, the Vine, Will Be Burned

15 Then the word of the Lord came to me. He said, ² “Son of man,^[c] are the pieces of wood from a grapevine^[d] any better than the little branches cut from trees in the forest? ³ Can you use that wood from a grapevine to make anything? Can you use that wood to make pegs to hang dishes on? ⁴ People throw that wood into the fire. The ends burn, and the middle is scorched. ⁵ If you cannot make anything from that wood before it is burned, you surely cannot make anything from that wood after it is burned! ⁶ So people throw the pieces of wood from a grapevine into the fire. It is just like wood from any other tree in the forest. In the same way I will throw the people living in Jerusalem into the fire!” This is what the Lord God said. ⁷ “I will punish those people. But some of them will be like the sticks that don’t burn completely. They will be punished, but they will not be destroyed completely. You will see that I punished them, and you will know that I am the Lord! ⁸ I will destroy that country because the people left me to worship false gods.” This is what the Lord God said.

Love All People

2 My dear brothers and sisters, you are believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. So don’t treat some people better than others. ² Suppose someone comes into your meeting wearing very nice clothes and a gold ring. At the same time a poor person comes in wearing old, dirty clothes. ³ You show special attention to the person wearing nice clothes. You say, “Sit here in this good seat.” But you say to the poor person, “Stand there!” or “Sit on the floor by our feet!” ⁴ Doesn’t this show that you think some people are more important than others? You set yourselves up as judges—judges who make bad decisions.

⁵ Listen, my dear brothers and sisters. God chose the poor people in the world to be rich in faith. He chose them to receive the kingdom God promised to those who love him. ⁶ But you show no respect to those who are poor. And you know that the rich are the ones who always try to control your lives. And they are the ones who take you to court. ⁷ And the rich are the ones who insult the wonderful name of Christ, the name by which you are known.

⁸ One law rules over all other laws. This royal law is found in the Scriptures: “Love your neighbor^[a] the same as you love yourself.”^[b] If you obey this law, you are doing right. ⁹ But if you are treating one person as more important than another, you are sinning. You are guilty of breaking God’s law.

¹⁰ You might follow all of God’s law. But if you fail to obey only one command, you are guilty of breaking all the commands in that law. ¹¹ God said, “Don’t commit adultery.”^[c] The same God also said, “Don’t kill.”^[d] So if you don’t commit adultery, but you kill someone, you are guilty of breaking all of God’s law.

¹² You will be judged by the law that makes people free. You should remember this in everything you say and do. ¹³ Yes, you must show mercy to others. If you do not show mercy, then God will not show mercy to you when he judges you. But the one who shows mercy can stand without fear before the Judge.

Faith and Good Works

¹⁴ My brothers and sisters, if a person claims to have faith but does nothing, that faith is worth nothing. Faith like that cannot save anyone. ¹⁵ Suppose a brother or sister in Christ comes to you in need of clothes or something to eat. ¹⁶ And you say to them, “God be with you! I hope you stay warm and get plenty to eat,” but you don’t give them the things they need. If you don’t help them, your words are worthless. ¹⁷ It is the same with faith. If it is just faith and nothing more—if it doesn’t do anything—it is dead.

¹⁸ But someone might argue, “Some people have faith, and others have good works.” My answer would be that you can’t show me your faith if you don’t do anything. But I will show you my faith by the good I do. ¹⁹ You believe there is one God. That’s good, but even the demons believe that! And they shake with fear.

²⁰ You fool! Faith that does nothing is worth nothing. Do you want me to prove this to you? ²¹ Our father Abraham was made right with God by what he did. He offered his son Isaac to God on the altar. ²² So you see that Abraham’s faith and what he did worked together. His faith was made perfect by what he did. ²³ This shows the full meaning of the Scriptures that say, “Abraham believed God, and because of this faith he was accepted as one who is right with God.”^[e] Abraham was called “God’s friend.”^{[f] 24} So you see that people are made right with God by what they do. They cannot be made right by faith alone.

²⁵ Another example is Rahab. She was a prostitute, but she was made right with God by something she did. She helped those who were spying for God’s people. She welcomed them into her home and helped them escape by a different road.^[g]

²⁶ A person’s body that does not have a spirit is dead. It is the same with faith—faith that does nothing is dead!