Israel’s Continuing Rebellion

1 In the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, certain of the ^yelders of Israel came to inquire of the Lord, and sat before me. 2 And the word of the Lord came to me: 3 “Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God, Is it to inquire of me that you come? As I live, declares the Lord God, ^zI will not be inquired of by you. 4 Will you judge them, son of man, ^awill you judge them? ^bLet them know the abominations of their fathers, 5 and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: On the day when I ^cchose Israel, ^dI swore¹ to the offspring of the house of Jacob, making myself known to them in the land of Egypt; I swore to them, saying, I am the Lord your God. 6 On that day I swore to them that I would bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had ^esearched out for them, a land ^fflowing with milk and honey, the most ^gglorious of all lands. 7 And I said to them, ‘Cast away the detestable things your eyes feast on, every one of you, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.’ 8 But they rebelled against me and were not willing to listen to me. None of them cast away the detestable things their eyes feasted on, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt.

“Then I said I would ^hpour out my wrath upon them and ⁱspend my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt. 9 But I acted for the sake of my name, that it should ^jnot be ^kprofaned in the sight of the nations among whom they lived, ^lin whose sight I made myself known to them in bringing them out of the land of Egypt. 10 So ^mI led them out of the land of Egypt ⁿand brought them into the wilderness. 11 I gave them my statutes and made known to them my rules, ^oby which, if a person does them, he shall live. 12 Moreover, ^pI gave them my ^qSabbaths, as a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them. 13 But the house of Israel ^rrebelled against me in the wilderness. They did not walk in my statutes but rejected my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live; and ^smy Sabbaths they greatly profaned.

“Then ^tI said I would pour out my wrath upon them in the wilderness, to make a ^ufull end of them. 14 But I acted ^vfor the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I had brought them out. 15 Moreover, ^wI swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land that I had given them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most glorious of all lands, 16 because they rejected my rules and did not walk in my statutes, and profaned my Sabbaths; for their heart went after their idols. 17 Nevertheless, my eye spared them, and I did not destroy them or make a full end of them in the wilderness.

18 “And I said to their children in the wilderness, ‘Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers, nor keep their rules, nor defile yourselves with their idols. 19 ^xI am the Lord your God; ^ywalk in my statutes, and be careful to obey my rules, 20 and keep my Sabbaths holy that they may be a sign between me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God.’ 21 But the children rebelled against me. They did not walk in my statutes and were not careful to obey my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live; they profaned my Sabbaths.

“Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them and spend my anger against them in the wilderness. 22 But I withheld my hand and acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I had brought them out. 23 Moreover, ^zI swore to them in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the nations and disperse them through the countries, 24 because they had not obeyed my rules, but had rejected my statutes and profaned my Sabbaths, and their eyes were set on their fathers’ idols. 25 Moreover, I gave them statutes that were not good and rules by which they could not have life, 26 and I defiled them through their very gifts in their ^aoffering up all their firstborn, that I might devastate them. I did it that they might know that I am the Lord.

27 “Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: In this also your fathers blasphemed me, by dealing treacherously with me. 28 For when I had brought them into the land that I swore to give them, then wherever they saw any ^bhigh hill or any leafy tree, there they offered their sacrifices and there they presented the provocation of their offering; there they sent up their ^cpleasing aromas, and there they poured out their drink offerings. 29 (I said to them, ‘What is the high place to which you go?’ So its name is called Bamah² to this day.)

30 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: Will you defile yourselves after the manner of your fathers and go whoring after their detestable things? 31 When you present your gifts and offer up your children in fire,³ you defile yourselves with all your idols to this day. And ^dshall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live, declares the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you.

32 “What is in your mind shall never happen—the thought, ‘Let us be like the nations, like the tribes of the countries, and worship ^ewood and stone.’

The Lord Will Restore Israel

33 “As I live, declares the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out ^fI will be king over you. 34 I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you are scattered, with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out. 35 And I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will ^genter into judgment with you face to face. 36 As I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you, declares the Lord God. 37 I will make you ^hpass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant. 38 I will purge out the rebels from among you, and those who transgress against me. I will bring them out of the land where they sojourn, but ⁱthey shall not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

39 “As for you, O house of Israel, thus says the Lord God: ^jGo serve every one of you his idols, now and hereafter, if you will not listen to me; but my holy name you shall no more ^kprofane with your gifts and your idols.

40 “For on my holy mountain, the mountain height of Israel, declares the Lord God, there all the house of Israel, all of them, shall serve me in the land. There I will ^laccept them, and there I will require your contributions and the choicest of your gifts, with all your sacred offerings. 41 As a pleasing aroma I will accept you, when I bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you have been scattered. And I will ^mmanifest my holiness among you in the sight of the nations. 42 And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I bring you into the land of Israel, the country that I swore to give to your fathers. 43 And there you shall ⁿremember your ways and all your deeds with which you have defiled yourselves, and you shall ^oloathe yourselves for all the evils that you have committed. 44 And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I deal with you ^pfor my name’s sake, not according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt deeds, O house of Israel, declares the Lord God.”

45 ⁴ And the word of the Lord came to me: 46 “Son of man, set your face toward the southland;⁵ preach against the south, and prophesy against the forest land in the Negeb. 47 Say to the forest of the Negeb, Hear the word of the Lord: Thus says the Lord God, Behold, ^qI will kindle a fire in you, and it shall devour every green tree in you and every dry tree. The blazing flame shall not be quenched, and all faces ^rfrom south to north shall be scorched by it. 48 All flesh shall see that I the Lord have kindled it; it shall not be quenched.” 49 Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! They are saying of me, ^s‘Is he not a maker of ^tparables?’”

Lawsuits Against Believers

1 When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous instead of the saints? 2 Or do you not know that the saints will ^mjudge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? 3 Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life! 4 So if you have such cases, why do you lay them before those who have no standing in the church? 5 ⁿI say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers, 6 but brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers? 7 To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. ^oWhy not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? 8 But you yourselves wrong and defraud—even your own brothers!¹

9 ^pOr do you not know that the unrighteous² will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the ^qsexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality,³ 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And ^rsuch were some of you. But you were ^swashed, you were ^tsanctified, you were ^ujustified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Flee Sexual Immorality

12 ^v“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. 13 ^w“Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14 And ^xGod raised the Lord and will also ^yraise us up ^zby his power. 15 Do you not know that your bodies are ^amembers of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! 16 Or do you not know that he who is joined⁴ to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, ^b“The two will become one flesh.” 17 But he who is joined to the Lord becomes ^cone spirit with him. 18 Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin⁵ a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that ^dyour body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? ^eYou are not your own, 20 for you were ^fbought with a price. So ^gglorify God in your body.

1 Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God ^vin vain. 2 For he says,

Behold, ^xnow is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. 3 We put no ^yobstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, 4 but as servants of God ^zwe commend ourselves in every way: ^aby great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, 5 beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; 6 by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; 7 by truthful speech, and the ^bpower of God; with the ^cweapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; 8 through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; 9 as unknown, and yet well known; as ^ddying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; 10 as sorrowful, yet ^ealways rejoicing; as poor, yet making many ^frich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.

11 We have spoken freely to you,¹ Corinthians; our heart is wide open. 12 You are not restricted by us, but ^gyou are restricted in your own affections. 13 In return (I speak as to children) widen your hearts also.

The Temple of the Living God

14 Do not be ^hunequally yoked with unbelievers. For ⁱwhat partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or ^jwhat fellowship has light with darkness? 15 ^kWhat accord has Christ with Belial?² Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For ^lwe are the temple of the living God; as God said,