Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

We must warn you against entanglement with pagans

^14-16 Don’t link up with unbelievers and try to work with them. What common interest can there be between goodness and evil? How can light and darkness share life together? How can there be harmony between Christ and the devil? What business can a believer have with an unbeliever? What common ground can idols hold with the temple of God? For we, remember, are ourselves living temples of the living God, as God has said: ‘I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be my people’.

^17-18 Wherefore: ‘Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you’. ‘I will be a father to you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty’.

7 With these promises ringing in our ears, dear friends, let us keep clear of anything that smirches body or soul. Let us prove reverence for God by consecrating ourselves to him completely.