 ISBN-13: 978-1483985640

ISBN-10: 1483985644
LCCN: 2013911222
Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.7 x 0.9 inches
Paperback: 412 pages
BISAC: Religion / Christian Life / General
Website: www.walktruth.com
Book Description

Understand God’s Word - Walk in the truth contains the Lord’s instructions
and warnings to all people before the day of judgment. The Lord opened the first
seal and sent His angel on the white horse to lead His army to restore the whole
land. He sounded the trumpet and proclaimed that His time of restoration has
come.

The Lord speaks to the people through the Holy Bible, to make them
understand His word. He reveals all His commands to them, to make them walk
in the truth. He leads the believers and the churches to repent, to forgive their
sins. Ultimately, He is determined to bring back His chosen people and let them
enter the kingdom of heaven.

Organized into forty different chapters, each chapter is divided into two parts:
the first part consists of the Lord’s instructions and warnings aimed at showing
people how to walk in the truth, while the second part summarizes key verses of
the Holy Bible to help readers truly understand God’s word. Each chapter
demonstrates how he who wishes to enter the kingdom of heaven must obey all
of the Lord’s commands, and how a thorough understanding of the Holy Bible is
needed in order to do such.

Ms. Zhang Yun was called by the Lord to work on this book on February 22,
2012. She was asked to share FREE eBook with the believers, which contains the
first parts of all chapters. If readers are willing to read the whole content, they
may purchase paperback and eBook on

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 WORDS OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST

I determine to speak to you through the Holy Bible, to make you understand my word.
I determine to reveal all my commands to you, to make you walk in the truth.
I determine to display glory and might, to let the nations worship and serve before me.
I determine to lead the believers and the churches to repent, to forgive their sins.
I determine to bring back my chosen people, to let them enter the kingdom of heaven.
I determine to choose Israel once again, to let them enjoy the glory of the holy city.

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 DECLARATION OF OPENING THE FIRST SEAL

BY THE LORD JESUS CHRIST

I declare to the angels in heaven, to all nations on the earth and to evil spirits in the air:
I am sending my angel on the white horse to lead my army to restore the whole land.

I declare: He who listens to my angel, listens to me; he who rejects my angel, rejects me.
I declare: I will bring back my sheep, and no one can snatch them out of my hand.
I declare: I will care for my churches, and all my churches will be under my protection.
I declare: My army will overcome all the enemies which will be put under my feet.
I declare: I have sounded the trumpet throughout the land announcing that the time of
restoration has come.

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Table of Contents

Chapter 1 I Am the Lord Your God

Chapter 2 My Name Is Holy and Awesome
Chapter 3 My Authority Is Sovereign
Chapter 4 I Am Your Glorious God
Chapter 5 I Am Your Mighty God
Chapter 6 I Am Your Holy God
Chapter 7 I Am Your Righteous God
Chapter 8 I Am Your Merciful God
Chapter 9 I Am Your Faithful God
Chapter 10 I Am Your Wise God
Chapter 11 You Shall Fear Me
Chapter 12 You Shall Love Me
Chapter 13 You Shall Trust in Me
Chapter 14 You Shall Serve Me
Chapter 15 You Shall Give Thanks to Me
Chapter 16 You Shall Praise Me
Chapter 17 You Shall Worship Me
Chapter 18 I Choose Heavenly People
Chapter 19 You May Be Justified and Inherit Eternal Life
Chapter 20 The Baptism of Water and of the Holy Spirit
Chapter 21 You Shall Understand My Word
Chapter 22 You Shall Obey My Commands
Chapter 23 You Shall Live by the Holy Spirit
Chapter 24 You Shall Submit to My Discipline
Chapter 25 You Shall Repent for the Forgiveness of Sins

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Chapter 26 You Shall Stand Firm in the Faith
Chapter 27 You Shall Humble Yourselves before Me
Chapter 28 You Shall Guard Your Mouths
Chapter 29 You Shall Pray According to My Will
Chapter 30 You Shall Live Holy and Godly Lives
Chapter 31 You Shall Take Your Crosses and Follow Me
Chapter 32 You Shall Preach According to My Teaching
Chapter 33 You Shall Fulfill Your Duty to Me
Chapter 34 You Shall Be United with Me
Chapter 35 You Shall Keep Watch until I Come
Chapter 36 You Shall Discern Visions and Dreams
Chapter 37 You Shall Watch out for False Tongues
Chapter 38 You Shall Resist the Devil
Chapter 39 Church Authority and Responsibility
Chapter 40 My Judgment on the Last Day

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 Chapter 1

I Am the Lord Your God

(One)

I am the Alpha and the Omega. I am who is, and who was, and who is to come,
the Almighty.
I am the Maker of all things. By my word were the heavens made, their starry
host by the breath of my mouth. I spread out the northern skies over empty
space; I suspend the earth over nothing. I clothe you with skin and flesh and knit
you together with bones and sinews. I form the light and create darkness, I bring
prosperity and create disaster.
I am the true God; I am the living God, the eternal King. I am the Most High
over all the earth; I am exalted far above all gods. Righteousness and justice are
the foundation of my throne; love and faithfulness go before me. My plans stand
firm forever, the purposes of my heart through all generations. The heavens
proclaim my righteousness, and all the peoples see my glory.
I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God. I will not give
my glory to another or my praise to idols. Keep yourselves from idols. Do not
follow other gods to serve and worship them; do not provoke me to anger with
what your hands have made. For I am a consuming fire, a jealous God.
Woe to you idolaters! You exchanged my truth for a lie, and worshiped and
served created things rather than me. To whom will you compare me? Or who is
my equal? You have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug your
own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water. Although you wash yourself
with soda and use an abundance of soap, the stain of your guilt is still before me.
Woe to you idolaters! You claim to have fellowship with me yet walk in the
darkness. You follow the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the
air, the spirit who is at work in those who are disobedient. I know how many are
your offenses and how great your sins. Your wickedness will punish you; your
backsliding will rebuke you.

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 I will make the heavens tremble; and the earth will shake from its place at my
wrath, in the day of my burning anger. I will banish the names of the idols from
the land, and they will be remembered no more. I will remove both the prophets
and the spirit of impurity from the land. They will be tormented with burning
sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. And the smoke of their
torment rises for ever and ever. He who has ears, let him hear.

(Two)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made;
without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life
was the light of men. I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never
walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.
I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except
through me. Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under
heaven given to men by which you must be saved. Whoever acknowledges me
before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But
whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.
God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever
believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son
into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands
condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and
only Son.
To all who receive me, to those who believe in my name, I give the right to
become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human
decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. Anyone who has faith in me will do
what I have been doing, and he will do even greater things than these. You may
ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—just as
the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out
of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can
snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.

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 I am a merciful and faithful high priest, exalted above the heavens. Through
the eternal Spirit I offered myself unblemished to God. My blood cleansed your
consciences from acts that lead to death, so that you may serve the living God. I
am able to save completely those who come to God through me, because I
always live to intercede for them. He who has ears, let him hear.

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 Chapter 2

My Name Is Holy and Awesome

I AM WHO I AM. This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be

remembered from generation to generation. Exalt my name, for my name is holy.
Fear my name, for my name is awesome. Praise my name, for my name is
glorious. Trust in my name, for my name is mighty.
Woe to you who profane my holy name! You call on my name, but do not
keep my name holy. You pretend to be godly to deceive men. You pretend to be
zealous to alienate men. You pretend to be generous to buy over men. Your
consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. Don’t you know that evil men
and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived?
Woe to you who profane my holy name! You change my grace into a license
for immorality. You mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful
desires of sinful human nature, you entice people who are just escaping from
those who live in error. You produce false witnesses to dishonor my holy name.
Don’t you know that a false witness will not go unpunished, and he who pours
out lies will perish?
Woe to you who profane my holy name! Don’t you know that the church is
my household? You consider the church as a social place, misusing godliness for
financial gain. You treat the church as a trading place, defiling my sanctuary with
detestable practices. Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of
robbers to you?
Woe to you who profane my holy name! You drink the cup of demons and
have a part in the table of demons. Your feet rush into sin; you are swift to shed
innocent blood. You make your tongues as sharp as a serpent’s; the poison of
vipers is on your lips. You are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest, whose
waves cast up mire and mud. Don’t you know that there is no peace for the
wicked?
You are rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to listen to my
instruction. I know how stubborn you are; the sinews of your neck are iron; your

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foreheads are bronze. You look for light, but all is darkness; for brightness, but
you walk in deep shadows. How can I let myself be defamed? I will punish your
sin and expose your wickedness. He who has ears, let him hear.

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 Chapter 3

My Authority Is Sovereign

I have established my throne in heaven, and my kingdom rules over all. The
day is mine, and mine also the night; I established the sun and moon. I set all the
boundaries of the earth; I made both summer and winter. The earth is mine, and
everything in it, the world, and all who live in it. All things are from me and
through me and to me.
I do whatever pleases me, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all
their depths. As I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will
stand. I am your Father. You are the clay, I am the potter; you are all the work of
my hand. I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on
whom I have compassion.
You are aliens and strangers in my sight, as were all your forefathers. You are
of few days and full of trouble. You spring up like a flower and wither away; like a
fleeting shadow, you do not endure. I raise the poor from the dust and lift the
needy from the ash heap. I foil the plans of the nations; I thwart the purposes of
the peoples.
Woe to you who profane my authority! You have a form of godliness but deny
its power. You despise my authority and think about evil things all the time. You
set yourselves up against me and ask men to submit to you. You tolerate the
children of the devil when they are scattering my sheep and destroying my
churches.
Woe to you who profane my authority! You do not accept the angels I send.
You do not listen to their words spoken in my name. When they exercise my
authority, you oppose them. When they exercise my righteousness, you
persecute them. Don’t you know that he who listens to them listens to me; he
who rejects them rejects me?
I will put on righteousness as my breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on
my head; I will put on the garments of vengeance and wrap myself in zeal as in a
cloak. According to what they have done, so will I repay wrath to my enemies and

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retribution to my foes; I will repay the islands their due. I will end their days in
futility and their years in terror. He who has ears, let him hear.

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 Chapter 4

I Am Your Glorious God

I am exalted over all the nations, my glory above the heavens. Splendor and
majesty are before me; strength and glory are in my sanctuary. I wrap myself in
light as with a garment; I stretch out the heavens like a tent and lay the beams of
my upper chambers on their waters. I make the clouds my chariot and ride on the
wings of the wind. I make winds my messengers, flames of fire my servants. The
heavens declare my glory; the skies proclaim the work of my hands.
I created you in my own image to make for myself a glorious name. You were
clean at the beginning, but you defiled yourselves with sins and became sons of
the darkness. However, I am gracious and compassionate. I will redeem my
people and establish my kingdom. The earth will be filled with the knowledge of
my glory, as the waters cover the sea.
Only my people can receive my glory and dwell with me in the holy city. Only
those who are holy can be my people, and they may inherit eternal life. Only
those who obey my commands can be holy, and they may be watched over by
me. Only those who understand my word can obey my commands, and they may
have the splendor of wisdom.
Woe to you who do not bring glory to me! You claim to know me, but by your
actions you deny me. You are not ready yet, but you still work in my name
everywhere. If you are not mature yet, so, how can you let your light shine before
men, that they may see your good deeds and praise me?
Woe to you who do not bring glory to me! You conceal your pride, and
pretend to be humble before men. You boast of spiritual gifts, and exalt your
horns before men. You accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to
obtain the praise that comes from me. You are dragged away by your own evil
desires, and you are giving praise to the devil.
In that day I will punish the powers in the heavens above and the kings on the
earth below. They will be herded together like prisoners bound in a dungeon;
they will be shut up in prison and be punished after many days. The moon will be

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abashed, the sun ashamed; for I will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and
before its elders, gloriously. He who has ears, let him hear.

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 Chapter 5

I Am Your Mighty God

I alone stretch out the heavens and tread on the waves of the sea. My way is
in the whirlwind and the storm, and clouds are the dust of my feet. My arm is
endued with power; my hand is strong, my right hand exalted. Death is naked
before me; destruction lies uncovered. Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of
the earth. Every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to me.
I am majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders. I exerted my
incomparably great power in Christ when I raised him from the dead and seated
him at my right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority,
power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present
age but also in the one to come. And I placed all things under his feet and
appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the
fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
I perform wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted.
I am able to do immeasurably more than all you ask or imagine, according to my
power that is at work within you. I speak in righteousness; I am mighty to save. I
am your rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save you. The man who makes me his
refuge will inherit the land and possess my holy mountain.
Woe to you who profane my might! You exalt your strength and despise my
power. You rely on your understanding and ignore my wisdom. You proclaim your
justice and renounce my righteousness. Your maxims are proverbs of ashes; your
defenses are defenses of clay.
Woe to you who profane my might! You know my will yet keep company with
evildoers. Although you were baptized, you dishonor my salvation. I did not spare
angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy
dungeons to be held for judgment. If you live according to the sinful nature, your
destiny will be destruction.
I am a God of retribution; I will repay in full. See, I am coming with fire, and
my chariots are like a whirlwind; I will bring down my anger with fury, and my

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rebuke with flames of fire. I will beckon to the Gentiles, I will lift up my banner to
the peoples. I will lead my children to strike all my enemies on the jaw, and break
the teeth of the wicked. He who has ears, let him hear.

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 Chapter 6

I Am Your Holy God

I have chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be my
people, my treasured possession. Be holy, because I am holy. Without holiness no
one will see me. Purify yourselves from everything that contaminates body and
spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for me. Make every effort to be found
spotless, blameless and at peace with me.
You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old
self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the
attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like me in true
righteousness and holiness. If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be
an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to me and prepared to do
any good work.
Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and
wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?
What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in
common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between my temple and
idols? For you are my temple. I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons
and daughters.
Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin! Such things
must come, but woe to the man through whom they come! If your right eye
causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one
part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your
right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to
lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.
Woe to you who profane my holiness! I set you free from the law of sin and
death. You have known the way of righteousness and then turn your backs on the
sacred command that was passed on to you. You are like a dog that returns to its
vomit; like a sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud. Don’t
you know that if you deliberately keep on sinning after you have received the
knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left?
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 Woe to you who profane my holiness! You greatly love to wander; you do not
restrain your feet. You are darkened in your understanding and separated from
my life because of the ignorance that is in you due to the hardening of your
hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, you have given yourselves over to sensuality so
as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more. Don’t you
know that every plant that I have not planted will be pulled up by the roots?
The present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of
judgment and destruction of ungodly men. In that day, the heavens will
disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and
everything in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way,
you ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to my day and speed its
coming. He who has ears, let him hear.

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 Chapter 7

I Am Your Righteous God

I am good and upright. Everything I do is right and all my ways are just. I
search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his
conduct, according to what his deeds deserve. To the faithful I show myself
faithful, to the blameless I show myself blameless, to the pure I show myself pure,
but to the crooked I show myself shrewd.
Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil
and his lips from deceitful speech. He must turn from evil and do good; he must
seek peace and pursue it. If a righteous man turns from his righteousness and
does evil, he will die for it. And if a wicked man turns away from his wickedness
and does what is just and right, he will live by doing so.
Blessed are they who maintain justice, who constantly do what is right. I am
their refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. I will let them walk in
the light of my presence, and lead them in the way everlasting. I will let them
receive the full rights of sons, and bring them into the glorious freedom of my
children.
Woe to you who profane my righteousness! You do not know my
righteousness and seek to establish your own. You entice men by evil intent. You
stir up trouble in the church. You follow the stubborn inclinations of your evil
hearts; you go backward and not forward. I looked for justice, but saw bloodshed;
for righteousness, but heard cries of distress.
Woe to you who profane my righteousness! You despise justice and distort all
that is right. You are eager to act corruptly in all you do. I train you and
strengthen you, but you plot evil against me. Don’t you know that anyone who
does what is good is from me; anyone who does what is evil has not seen me?
Woe to you who profane my righteousness! You trust in your great wealth
and grow strong by destroying others. You bring down the poor and needy, and
slay those whose ways are upright. You have turned justice into poison and the

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fruit of righteousness into bitterness. Don’t you know that evil men will be cut off;
only those who hope in me will inherit the land?
I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plumb line; hail
will sweep away your refuge, the lie, and water will overflow your hiding place.
Your covenant with death will be annulled; your agreement with the grave will
not stand. When the overwhelming scourge sweeps by, you will be beaten down
by it. As often as it comes it will carry you away; morning after morning, by day
and by night, it will sweep through. He who has ears, let him hear.

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 Chapter 8

I Am Your Merciful God

(One)

I am good to all; I have compassion on all I have made. I crown the year with
my bounty, and my carts overflow with abundance. I uphold all those who fall
and lift up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to me, and I give them
their food at the proper time. I open my hand and satisfy the desires of every
living thing.
In my love I cared for you, and put you in the Garden of Eden. I commanded
you not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, yet you were
enticed and broke my commands. Since you defiled yourselves, you must be
driven out of the Garden of Eden.
The earth was corrupt in my sight and was full of violence. I washed away all
the wicked by a flood for the sake of my holy name, only remaining the house of
Noah to let my righteousness dwell in it.
I am gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. I chose
Abraham to give my promises, to let you be my people. I chose Moses to give my
laws, to let you obey my commands. I chose the prophets to give my instructions
and warnings, to make you walk in the truth. I sent my only Son into the world, to
make you be justified and have eternal life.
When the full number of my people has come in, I will create new heavens
and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come
to mind. The Holy City, the new Jerusalem will come down out of heaven from
me. My dwelling will be with you, and I will live with you. You will be my people,
and I myself will be with you and be your God. He who has ears, let him hear.

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 (Two)

I am rich in mercy. Because of my great love for you, I made you alive with
Christ even when you were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been
saved. And I raised you up with Christ and seated you with him in the heavenly
realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages I might show the
incomparable riches of my grace, expressed in my kindness to you in Christ Jesus.
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from
yourselves, it is my gift—not by works, so that no one can boast. For you are my
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which I prepared in
advance for you to do.
In all things I work for the good of those who love me, who have been called
according to my purpose. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by
prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to me. And my
peace, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds
in Christ Jesus.
Woe to you who profane my love! You do not believe in me or trust in my
deliverance. Your love is like the morning mist, like the early dew that disappears.
You reject the words of righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come,
but are still saying that I love you so much. Don’t you know that I only love the
godly man who does my will?
Woe to you who profane my love! Your speech is smooth as butter, yet war is
in your heart. Your words are more soothing than oil, yet they are drawn swords.
You promise men freedom, while you yourselves are slaves of depravity. Don’t
you know that a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him?
Woe to you who profane my love! You treat men by worldly passions and
ignore their spiritual lives. You keep saying to those who despise me, “The LORD
says: You will have peace.” And to all who follow the stubbornness of their hearts
you say, “No harm will come to you.” You have no shame at all; you do not even
know how to blush.
Turn now, each of you, from your evil ways and your evil practices. Do not
forget this one thing: With me a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand
years are like a day. I am not slow in keeping my promise, as some understand

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slowness. I am patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to
come to repentance. He who has ears, let him hear.

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 Chapter 9

I Am Your Faithful God

I speak the truth; I declare what is right. My words are trustworthy; I let you
know through signs and witnesses. My words are powerful; I let you see through
wonders and miracles. What I have said, that will I bring about; what I have
planned, that will I do. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never
pass away.
Woe to you who profane my faithfulness! With your mouths you bless, but in
your hearts you curse. You walk in falsehood and your feet hurry after deceit. You
attack your friends; you violate your covenant. Lowborn men are but a breath,
the highborn are but a lie; if weighed on a balance, they are nothing; together
they are only a breath.
Woe to you who profane my faithfulness! You smear men with lies; all of you
are worthless physicians. Not a word from your mouth can be trusted; your heart
is filled with destruction. Your throat is an open grave; with your tongue you
speak deceit. Your teeth are spears and arrows; your tongues are sharp swords.
Woe to you who profane my faithfulness! You gather the faithless to give
testimony before me. You invite the proud to sing praises before me. At the
beginning your words are folly; at the end they are wicked madness. Should I not
punish you for this?
You have made a lie your refuge and falsehood your hiding place. I will bring
disaster on you, the fruit of your schemes, because you have not listened to my
words and have rejected my law. I the LORD have spoken. The time has come for
me to act. I will not hold back; I will not have pity, nor will I relent. He who has
ears, let him hear.

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 Chapter 10

I Am Your Wise God

I made the earth by my power; I founded the world by my wisdom and

stretched out the heavens by my understanding. I have made everything
beautiful in its time. I have also set eternity in your hearts; yet you cannot fathom
what I have done from beginning to end. As the heavens are higher than the
earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your
thoughts.
I am wonderful in counsel and magnificent in wisdom. I have destroyed the
wisdom of the wise, and have frustrated the intelligence of the intelligent. The
message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to you who
are being saved it is my power. Since in my wisdom the world through its wisdom
did not know me, I was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to
save those who believe.
Think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by
human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But I
chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; I chose the weak things
of the world to shame the strong. I chose the lowly things of this world and the
despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so
that no one may boast before me.
Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life,
by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter
envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth.
Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of
the devil. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder
and every evil practice.
Woe to you who profane my wisdom! You are wise in your own eyes and
clever in your own sight. You do not long for my wisdom but your own
understanding. You are skilled in doing evil; you know not how to do good. You
gain the whole world, yet forfeit your souls. You grope in darkness with no light;
you stagger like drunkards.
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 Woe to you who profane my wisdom! You find no pleasure in understanding
but delight in airing your own opinions. You simple ones love your simple ways,
mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge. You rejected me when I
called and no one gave heed when I stretched out my hand. Like sheep you are
destined for the grave, and death will feed on you.
I have hidden wisdom from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little
children. My power is made perfect in weakness. Do not deceive yourselves. If
any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a
“fool” so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in
my sight. He who has ears, let him hear.

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 Chapter 11

You Shall Fear Me

I am great and awesome. My glory covered the heavens and my praise filled
the earth. My splendor was like the sunrise; rays flashed from my hand, where
my power was hidden. Plague went before me; pestilence followed my steps. The
nations will fear my name; all the kings of the earth will revere my glory.
Everything I do will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing
taken from it. I do it so that you will revere me. You shall serve me with fear and
rejoice with trembling. To fear me is to act justly and to love mercy and to walk
humbly with me. To fear me is to hate evil; to hate pride and arrogance, evil
behavior and perverse speech.
My salvation is near those who fear me, that my glory may dwell in your land.
As high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is my love for those who fear
me; as far as the east is from the west, so far have I removed their transgressions
from them. As a father has compassion on his children, so I have compassion on
those who fear me.
Woe to you who do not fear me! You claim to fear me yet do not keep all my
commands. You say that my words are spirit and they are life, yet do not learn
the Holy Bible seriously. You oppose the visions of what is right, and ask men to
tell you pleasant things and prophesy illusions. You are godless, even in my
temple I find your wickedness.
Woe to you who do not fear me! You do not turn to me; you are like a faulty
bow. You use men’s fear to make them fear yourselves. You use men’s fear to
oppose those who refuse to associate with you. You are children of the devil and
enemies of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery.
Will you never stop perverting my right ways?
Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every
evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire. Not a
root or a branch will be left to them. But for you who revere my name, the sun of
righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like

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calves released from the stall. Then you will trample down the wicked; they will
be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I do these things. He who
has ears, let him hear.

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 Chapter 12

You Shall Love Me

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If
you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my
Father’s commands and remain in his love. Whoever has my commands and
obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my
Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the
love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful
man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not
from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the
man who does the will of God lives forever.
You must love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves
has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know
God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among you: He sent
me into the world that you might live through me. This is love: not that you loved
God, but that he loved you and sent me as an atoning sacrifice for your sins.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of
wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always
protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. And now these three
remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Woe to you hypocrites! You claim to be in the light but hate your brothers.
Don’t you know that you should not love with words or tongue but with actions
and in truth? You judge men by external appearance; you show partiality by
worldly wealth. Don’t you know that you should stop judging by mere
appearances, and make a right judgment?
Woe to you hypocrites! You receive the believers not by your love, but to ask
for my benefits. You help the believers not by your willingness, but to seek others’
praises. You do not examine yourselves before you eat of the bread and drink of

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the cup. Don’t you know that whoever eats my bread or drinks my cup in an
unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against my body and my blood?
Woe to you hypocrites! You are hardened and obstinate, but you pretend to
be devoted to me before men. You are proud and arrogant, but you pretend to
be humble before men. You are like unmarked graves, which men walk over
without knowing it. Don’t you know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom
of God?
All of you have become like one who is unclean, and all your righteous acts
are like filthy rags. Don’t you know that love comes from a pure heart and a good
conscience and a sincere faith? Like the blind you grope along the wall, feeling
your way like men without eyes. At midday you stumble as if it were twilight;
among the strong, you are like the dead. He who has ears, let him hear.

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 Chapter 13

You Shall Trust in Me

If you seek me, I will be found by you; but if you forsake me, I will reject you
forever. He who trusts in me must consider my words as bread, and take my
commands as life. He who trusts in me must maintain love and justice, and wait
for me always. He who trusts in me must submit to the Holy Spirit, and hold on to
his courage and the hope.
Those who trust in me are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but
endures forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so I surround my people
both now and forevermore. I am their bright lamp, to turn their darkness into
light. I am their glorious sword, to deliver them from the hands of their enemies. I
am their rock of refuge, to enable them to go on the heights.
Woe to you who do not trust in me! You do not trust in my truth but your
knowledge. You do not trust in my might but your power. You do not trust in my
instructions but your schemes. Don’t you know that if you commit to me
whatever you do, your plans will succeed?
Woe to you who do not trust in me! Your god is your stomach, and your glory
is in your shame. Your mind is on earthly things. You will be ashamed because of
the sacred oaks in which you have delighted; you will be disgraced because of the
gardens that you have chosen. You will be like an oak with fading leaves, like a
garden without water.
Woe to you who do not trust in me! You have turned away, you have
together become worthless. Your sins have been your downfall! You have fallen
into the pit you have dug; your feet are caught in the net you have hidden. You
have eyes to see but do not see, ears to hear but do not hear and hearts to
understand but do not understand.
You carry out plans that are not mine; you form an alliance but not by my
Spirit, heaping sin upon sin. I will cut off your haughty horns and crush your
outstretched necks. Though you dig down to the depths of the grave, from there

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my hand will take you. Though you climb up to the heavens, from there I will
bring you down. He who has ears, let him hear.

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 Chapter 14

You Shall Serve Me

Offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to me—this is your
spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world,
but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test
and approve what my will is—my good, pleasing and perfect will.
Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows
generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided
in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for I love a cheerful giver.
And I am able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times,
having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
Woe to you who do not serve me! With your mouths you seek my wills, but in
your hearts you look out for your own interests. With your mouths you serve me,
but in your hearts you serve money. With your mouths you please me, but in
your hearts you do it to please men. Don’t you know that friendship with the
world is hatred toward me?
Woe to you who do not serve me! You bring meaningless offerings and
trample my courts. You do not give the offerings according to your ability but in
small amounts. You do not give the offerings willingly and with honest intent.
Don’t you know that I test the heart and am pleased with integrity?
Woe to you who do not serve me! You build magnificent churches, yet do not
build the believers up. You count the number of people who believe the gospel,
yet do not count your fruit of the Spirit. You pay attention to the number of
people who worship me, yet ignore their spiritual needs. The best of you is like a
brier, the most upright worse than a thorn hedge.
Woe to you who do evil through offering! With your mouths you express
devotion, but your hearts are greedy for unjust gain. Your silver and gold have
made you stumble into sin. You tell men that you are sent to work by me, and ask
them to give you offerings. You say that he who does not want to give you

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offerings is not willing to serve me. Don’t you know that where your treasure is,
there your heart will be also?
Your iniquities have separated you from me; your sins have hidden my face
from you, so that I will not hear. For your hands are stained with blood, your
fingers with guilt. Your lips have spoken lies, and your tongue mutters wicked
things. Unless you cleanse yourselves through my word, you cannot enter the
narrow gate of the kingdom of heaven. He who has ears, let him hear.

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 Chapter 15

You Shall Give Thanks to Me

From the beginning I chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of
the Spirit and through belief in the truth. Lift up the cup of salvation and call on
my name; ascribe to me glory and strength. He who sacrifices thank offerings
honors me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him my salvation.
Woe to you who do not give thanks to me! You share your spiritual gifts with
others everywhere, but never test whether they come from me. With your
mouths you give thanks to me, but in your hearts you give thanks to yourselves.
You are grateful to me only to ask for my praise. Don’t you know that only those
who do my will can receive my praise?
Woe to you who do not give thanks to me! Your eyes are full of haughty looks,
and your hearts of greedy desires. Your mouths are filled with hypocritical words,
and your ears with insincere compliments. Don’t you know that I detest men of
perverse heart but I delight in those whose ways are blameless?
Woe to you who do not give thanks to me! You thank me by your greed, and
disgrace my holy name. You thank me by your guilt, and profane my
righteousness. You thank me by your evil desires, and fall my sheep. You shall
return to me, after examining your ways and testing them.
You conceive trouble and give birth to evil. The way of peace you do not know;
there is no justice in your paths. You have turned you into crooked roads; no one
who walks in them will know peace. I will turn my hand against you; I will
thoroughly purge away your dross and remove all your impurities. He who has
ears, let him hear.

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 Chapter 16

You Shall Praise Me

Praise be to me, from everlasting to everlasting. Sing to me, praise my name;

proclaim my salvation day after day. Declare my glory among the nations, my
marvelous deeds among all peoples. For great am I and most worthy of praise; I
am to be feared above all gods.
Woe to you who do not praise me! With your mouths you praise my name,
but in your hearts you revile my name. With your mouths you praise my glory,
but in your hearts you praise the devil. With your mouths you praise my might,
but in your hearts you doubt my might. Don’t you know that everyone who
praises my name must turn away from wickedness?
Woe to you who do not praise me! You gratify the cravings of your sinful
nature and follow its desires and thoughts. You say that you will see my face as
soon as you sing praises to me. You say that you will see my face as soon as you
cry out to me day and night. You say that you will see my face as soon as you
keep fasting. Don’t you know that I love justice, and only upright men will see my
face?
Woe to you who do not praise me! You misuse my promises and do not build
yourselves up. You say that all the believers are my people who are blessed. You
say that all the believers are my soldiers who will prevail. You say that all the
believers will enter the kingdom of heaven and have eternal life. You who walk in
the dark do not know where you are going.
Don’t you know that only those who are holy can be my people? Don’t you
know that only those who resist the devil by standing firm in the faith can be my
soldiers? Don’t you know that only those who do my will can enter the kingdom
of heaven and have eternal life? Don’t you know that many are invited, but few
are chosen?
You destroy the believers’ lives and turn them from the path. You growl like
bears; you moan mournfully like doves. You look for justice, but find none; for

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deliverance, but it is far away. Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen
to the music of your harps. He who has ears, let him hear.

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 Chapter 17

You Shall Worship Me

All the nations I have made will come and worship before me; they will bring
glory to my name. For I am great and do marvelous deeds; I alone am God. You
must worship me in the splendor of my holiness; worship me in spirit and truth.
Woe to you who do not worship me! Don’t you know that you must guard
your steps when you go to my house? Don’t you know that you must purify your
lips when you sing praises to me? Don’t you know that you must seek first my
kingdom and my righteousness when you pray to me? Don’t you know that you
must worship me acceptably with reverence and awe?
Woe to you who do not worship me! You do not worship me in the splendor
of my holiness, for your minds are full of guilt and impurity. You do not worship
me in spirit and truth, for your deeds are filled with deceit and crafty. I cannot
bear your evil assemblies; I have no pleasure in your appointed feasts.
Woe to you who do not worship me! You submit to the rules which are based
on human commands and teachings. They lack any value in restraining sensual
indulgence. You love to observe special days and months and seasons and years.
You know me—or rather are known by me—how is it that you are turning back to
those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all
over again?
Woe to you who do not worship me! You cling to deceit; you refuse to return.
You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s
desire. You worship me with your impure hearts, corrupt mouths and guilty
hands. Don’t you know that you must be wise about what is good, and innocent
about what is evil?
You rebel against the light; you do not know its ways or stay in its paths. Your
praises make me weary, and your prayers make me angry. I will unleash my anger
against you. I will judge you according to your conduct and repay you for all your
detestable practices. He who has ears, let him hear.

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 Chapter 18

I Choose Heavenly People

(To Israel)

Hear, O Israel: Jesus is my Son, the Messiah and your Savior. You shall say,
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
I have not forgotten the covenant I made with your forefathers. I have had
compassion on Jacob; I have chosen Israel once again. I have gathered you from
the nations and brought you back from the countries where you have been
scattered, and I have given you back the land of Israel again. I have laid bare my
holy arm in the sight of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth have seen my
salvation.
I have made an everlasting covenant with you; I have put my laws in your
minds and written them on your hearts. I will give you a new heart and put a new
spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of
flesh. I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful
to keep my laws. I want you to know that I have not done this for your sake. Be
ashamed and disgraced for your conduct, O house of Israel!
I will bind up your bruises and heal the wounds I inflicted. Those who are
wayward in spirit will gain understanding; those who complain will accept
instruction. Your righteousness will shine out like the dawn, your salvation like a
blazing torch. I will give you singleness of heart and action, so that you will always
fear me for your own good and the good of your children after you.
You will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown your heads.
Gladness and joy will overtake you, and sorrow and sighing will flee away. I will
give you eternal life, and let you draw water from the wells of salvation with joy. I
will put my sanctuary among you forever. My dwelling place will be with you; I
will be your God, and you will be my people.
Arise, shine, for your light has come, and my glory rises upon you. See,
darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but I rise upon

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you and my glory appear over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to
the brightness of your dawn. The sons of your oppressors will come bowing
before you; all who despise you will bow down at your feet and will call you the
City of the LORD, Zion of the Holy One of Israel. He who has ears, let him hear.

(To All the Believers)

I chose you in Jesus Christ before the creation of the world to be holy and
blameless in my sight. In love I predestined you to be adopted as my sons
through Jesus Christ, in accordance with my pleasure and will—to the praise of
my glorious grace, which I have freely given you in the One I love. In him you have
redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the
riches of my grace that I lavished on you with all wisdom and understanding. And
I made known to you the mystery of my will according to my good pleasure,
which I purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached
their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one
head, even Christ.
You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people
belonging to me, that you may declare the praises of me who called you out of
darkness into my wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are
my people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
The anointing you received from me remains in you, and you do not need
anyone to teach you. But as my anointing teaches you about all things and as that
anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in me.
Continue in me, so that when I appear you may be confident and unashamed
before me at my coming.
On the holy mountain I will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a
banquet of aged wine—the best of meats and the finest of wines. On this
mountain I will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers
all nations; I will swallow up death forever. I will wipe away the tears from all
faces; I will remove the disgrace of my people from all the earth. He who has ears,
let him hear.

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 Chapter 19

You May Be Justified and Inherit Eternal Life

A man is justified by faith apart from observing the law. The law was given
through Moses; grace and truth came through me. No one will be declared
righteous in God’s sight by observing the law; rather, through the law you
become conscious of sin. But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has
been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness
from God comes through faith in me to all who believe. There is no difference, for
all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his
grace through the redemption that came by me.
I myself am your peace. I have made the two one and have destroyed the
barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in my flesh the law with its
commandments and regulations. My purpose was to create in myself one new
man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of
them to God through the cross, by which I put to death their hostility. I came and
preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.
For through me you both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens
with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of
the apostles and prophets, with me as the chief cornerstone. In me the whole
building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in
me you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by
his Spirit.
Since you have been justified through faith, you have peace with God through
me, through whom you have gained access by faith into this grace in which you
now stand. And you rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but you
also rejoice in your sufferings, because you know that suffering produces
perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not
disappoint you, because God has poured out his love into your hearts by the Holy
Spirit, whom he has given you.

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 Woe to you who justify yourselves in the eyes of men! You claim to be devout,
yet neglect justice and the love of God. You fast and pray in order to obtain my
rewards. You give testimony in order to show your own favor. You quarrel about
words in order to catch men. Don’t you know that anyone who does wrong will
be repaid for his wrong?
Woe to you who justify yourselves in the eyes of men! You teach false
doctrines and do not agree to my sound instruction and to godly teaching. You
speak abusively against whatever you do not understand; and what things you do
understand by instinct, like unreasoning animals. Don’t you know that you will
encounter woes when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers
treated the false prophets?
Woe to you who justify yourselves in the eyes of men! How can you claim to
be saved without renouncing secret and shameful ways? How can you claim to be
my disciples without keeping my commands? How can you claim to be holy
without bearing spiritual fruit? How can you claim to have eternal life without
finding the narrow gate of the kingdom of heaven?
In that day, nothing impure will ever enter the holy city, nor will anyone who
does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in
my book of life. Let him who does wrong continue to do wrong; let him who is
vile continue to be vile; let him who does right continue to do right; and let him
who is holy continue to be holy. He who has ears, let him hear.

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 Chapter 20

The Baptism of Water and of the Holy Spirit

God saved you, not because of righteous things you had done, but because of
his mercy. He saved you through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy
Spirit, whom he poured out on you generously through me, so that, having been
justified by his grace, you might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. No
one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.
Those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not
receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of
sonship. And by him you cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with your
spirit that you are God’s children. Now if you are children, then you are
heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with me, if indeed you share in my sufferings in
order that you may also share in my glory.
Woe to you who do not understand the baptism! Don’t you know that all of
you who were baptized into me have clothed yourselves with me? Don’t you
know that you must renounce your sins and live holy lives after being baptized?
Don’t you know that you must deny yourselves and take up your crosses and
follow me after being baptized? Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom
you were sealed for the day of redemption.
Woe to you who go on sinning after being baptized! You died to sin; how can
you live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of you who were baptized
into me were baptized into my death? You were therefore buried with me
through baptism into death in order that, just as I was raised from the dead
through the glory of the Father, you too may live a new life.
Woe to you who do evil through the baptism! You distort the baptism of the
Holy Spirit to trap the believers. You arbitrarily place your hands on the believers
to transmit sins. How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be
punished who has trampled me under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing
the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of
grace?

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 I will not impose any other burden on you. Only hold on to what you have
until I come. To him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give
authority over the nations—“He will rule them with an iron scepter; he will dash
them to pieces like pottery”—just as I have received authority from my Father. I
will also give him the morning star. He who has ears, let him hear.

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 Chapter 21

You Shall Understand My Word

My word is flawless. It can build you up and give you an inheritance among all
those who are sanctified. My word is living and active. Sharper than any
double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and
marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. My word is enduring.
The grass withers and the flowers fall, but my word stands forever.
The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. Like new born
babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation,
now that you have tasted I am good. If anyone is ashamed of me and my words,
the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the
glory of the Father and of the holy angels.
The holy Scriptures are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in
me. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting
and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly
equipped for every good work. No prophecy of Scripture came about by the
prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man,
but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
Woe to you who profane my word! You do not know the Scriptures or the
power of God. You hear the word and at once receive it with joy. But since you
have no root, you last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes
because of the word, you quickly fall away. You hear the word, but the worries of
this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. You have
rejected faith and good conscience, and so have shipwrecked your faith.
Woe to you who profane my word! You do not put up with sound doctrine.
Instead, to suit your own desires, you gather around you a great number of
teachers to say what your itching ears want to hear. You turn your ears away
from the truth and turn aside to myths. If your eyes are good, your whole body
will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of
darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

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 Woe to you who profane my word! You are loaded down with sins and are
swayed by all kinds of evil desires, always learning but never able to acknowledge
the truth. You forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain
foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe
and who know the truth. Don’t you know that everything God created is good,
and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving?
I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in
me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that
it will be even more fruitful. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains
in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If
anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and
withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. He who
has ears, let him hear.

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 Chapter 22

You Shall Obey My Commands

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all
your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it:
Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two
commandments. If what you have heard from the beginning remains in you, you
also will remain in me and in the Father. And this is what he promised you—even
eternal life.
If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the
truth, and the truth will set you free. If anyone loves me, he will obey my
teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home
with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you
hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
You know that you have come to know me if you obey my commands. The
man who says, “I know him,” but does not do what I command is a liar, and the
truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys my word, God’s love is truly made
complete in him. This is how you know you are in me: Whoever claims to live in
me must walk as I did.
Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that
leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow
the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Not everyone who says to me,
“Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of
my Father who is in heaven. You shall keep this command without spot or blame
until my appearing.
Woe to you who do not obey my commands! Why do you call me, “Lord,
Lord,” and do not do what I say? You say that obeying a few commands means
obeying me. Don’t you know that anyone who obeys me must obey all my
commands? Don’t you know that anyone who disobeys me will be thrown into
the lake of burning sulfur?

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 Woe to you who do not obey my commands! You elders take care of the
churches according to your will. You pastors preach my word by human wisdom.
You deacons serve the believers by natural instincts. You consider yourselves
religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on your tongues, you deceive yourselves
and your religion is worthless.
Woe to you who do not obey my commands! You break the command of God
for the sake of your tradition. You know the truth and yet join the wicked. He
who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you
do not belong to God. Because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart,
you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his
righteous judgment will be revealed.
I will send out my angels, and they will weed out of my kingdom everything
that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace,
where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine
like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.

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 Chapter 23

You Shall Live by the Holy Spirit

God anointed you, set his seal of ownership on you, and put his Spirit in your
hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. You have not received the
spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that you may understand what
God has freely given you. This is what you speak, not in words taught you by
human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in
spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come
from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand
them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man makes judgments
about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man’s judgment.
To each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To
one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the
message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same
Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers,
to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another
speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of
tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to
each one, just as he determines.
Live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For
the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is
contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do
not do what you want. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things
there is no law. Those who belong to me have crucified the sinful nature with its
passions and desires. Since you live by the Spirit, you must keep in step with the
Spirit. Do not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
Woe to you who blaspheme against the Holy Spirit! The Holy Spirit guides you
into the truth, yet you use his grace to abandon the truth. The Holy Spirit leads
you to walk in the right paths, yet you use your freedom as a cover-up for evil.

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The Holy Spirit gives you gifts for your good, yet you use his gifts to boast about
yourselves all day long. How long will you harbor wicked thoughts?
Woe to you who blaspheme against the Holy Spirit! You consider your sinful
nature as the fire of the Holy Spirit. You consider your evil desires as the guidance
of the Holy Spirit. You consider your wicked schemes as the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Don’t you know that the one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that
nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the
Spirit will reap eternal life?
He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me
scatters. Every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy
against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son
of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be
forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come. He who has ears, let him hear.

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 Chapter 24

You Shall Submit to My Discipline

My eyes examine the nations; my judgments are in all the earth. Guard your
heart, for it is the wellspring of life. Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your
gaze directly before you. Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that
are firm. Do not swerve to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.
In your hearts you plan your courses, but I determine your steps. In your
struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.
And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons:
“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when
he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes
everyone he accepts as a son.”
Endure hardship as discipline; I am treating you as sons. For what son is not
disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes
discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Your fathers
disciplined you for a little while as they thought best; but I discipline you for your
good, that you may share in my holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time,
but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace
for those who have been trained by it.
Woe to you who ignore my discipline! You say that he who was baptized does
not need my discipline. You say that he who loves me does not need my
discipline. You say that he who has mature life does not need my discipline. Don’t
you know that anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted
with the teaching about righteousness? Don’t you know that solid food is for the
mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from
evil?
Woe to you who despise my discipline! You do not accept my advice and
spurn my rebuke. You hate my instruction and cast my words behind you. You do
not consider my discipline as warning, even hide snares for others. Don’t you
know that those who despise my discipline will eat the fruit of their ways and be
filled with the fruit of their schemes?
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 You all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of you has turned to his own way.
Return to me, and I will return to you. Strengthen your feeble arms and weak
knees. “Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled,
but rather healed. If you do not repent, I will spare you no longer. He who has
ears, let him hear.

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 Chapter 25

You Shall Repent for the Forgiveness of Sins

Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near. You should repent and turn to God
and prove your repentance by your deeds. I have not come to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance. Everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no
permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets
you free, you will be free indeed.
Count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in me. Therefore do not let sin
reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts
of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to
God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of
your body to him as instruments of righteousness.
You were once darkness, but now you are light in me. Live as children of light
(for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and
find out what pleases me. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness,
but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient
do in secret.
It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual
immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is
holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know
God. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually
sins against his own body.
Woe to you who do not repent! You are pure in your own eyes and yet are
not cleansed of your filth. You conceal your sins by hiding your guilt in your
hearts. Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him
as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to
sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?
Woe to you adulterers! You never stop sinning with eyes full of adultery. Your
houses lead down to death and your paths to the spirits of the dead. Don’t you
know that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed

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adultery with her in his heart? Don’t you know that your bodies are my members?
Shall you then take my members and unite them with a prostitute? Never!
Give careful thought to your ways. It is impossible for you who have once
been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the
Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of
the coming age, if you fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to
your loss you are crucifying me all over again and subjecting me to public disgrace.
He who has ears, let him hear.

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 Chapter 26

You Shall Stand Firm in the Faith

Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to

him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek
him. It is by grace you have been saved, through faith. If you confess with your
mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised me from the
dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified,
and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
Now faith is being sure of what you hope for and certain of what you do not
see. Look to Abraham. When God called him he was but one, and God blessed
him and made him many. If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can
say to this mountain, “Move from here to there” and it will move. If you believe,
you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.
Just as you received me as Lord, continue to live in me, rooted and built up in
me, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with
thankfulness. Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test
yourselves. Imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been
promised. Hold unswervingly to the hope you profess, for God is faithful.
A person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone. As the body
without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. He who comes to me
and hears my words and puts them into practice is like a man building a house,
who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the
torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the
one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who
built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck
that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.
Consider it pure joy, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you
know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must
finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. Do
not lose heart. Though outwardly you are wasting away, yet inwardly you are
being renewed day by day. For your light and momentary troubles are achieving
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for you an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So you fix your eyes not on
what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is
unseen is eternal.
Prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the
grace to be given you when I am revealed. See to it that none of you has a sinful,
unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one
another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened
by sin’s deceitfulness. You have come to share in me if you hold firmly till the end
the confidence you had at first. He who has ears, let him hear.

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 Chapter 27

You Shall Humble Yourselves before Me

You shall serve me with great humility. Clothe yourselves with humility
toward one another; be humble in every mind and action. I oppose the proud but
give grace to the humble. Unless you change and become like little children, you
will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like a child is
the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
I esteem the one who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my
word. I guide him in what is right and teach him my way. I crown him with
salvation, brighten his face with wisdom, and surround him with my favor as with
a shield. He will inherit the land and enjoy great peace.
Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast works through
the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch
without yeast—as you really are. But, “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.” For
it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom I
commend. Humble yourselves before me, and I will lift you up.
Woe to you arrogant men! You close up your callous hearts, and your mouths
speak with arrogance. Your eyes are ever so haughty; your glances are so
disdainful. You flatter the honorable and hate the base. You accept the feasts of
the rich and deny the desires of the poor. Don’t you know that what is highly
valued among men is detestable in my sight?
Woe to you arrogant men! You behave with overweening pride and blurt out
folly. You devote yourselves to myths and endless genealogies. You boast about
your own knowledge and love foolish controversies. You claim to be my great
servants because you have converted many people. Your boasts are empty. Don’t
you know that pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall?
Woe to you arrogant men! Your flattering lips speak with deception. With
your mouths you speak gently to men, but in your hearts you look down on them.
You seem to be humble, but think highly of yourselves. You seem to serve men,

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but cause them to stumble. Don’t you know that I will cut off all flattering lips and
every boastful tongue?
Your mouths lay claim to heaven, and your tongues take possession of the
earth. I will bring down your pride despite the cleverness of your hands. In that
day, the eyes of the arrogant man will be humbled and the pride of men brought
low; I alone will be exalted. I will turn your glory into shame, and turn your cities
into ruins. He who has ears, let him hear.

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 Chapter 28

You Shall Guard Your Mouths

The tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider
what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world
of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole
course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. Therefore you must guard
your mouths and your tongues. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a
perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.
Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings
good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things
out of the evil stored up in him. Put away perversity from your mouths; keep
corrupt talk far from your lips. Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your
months, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs,
that it may benefit those who listen. Anyone who is angry with his brother will be
subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, “Raca,” is
answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, “You fool!” will be in danger
of the fire of hell.
Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others,
you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. You,
therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at
whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you
who pass judgment do the same things. Therefore judge nothing before the
appointed time; wait till I come. I will bring to light what is hidden in darkness
and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his
praise from God.
Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth,
for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do
not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black.
Simply let your “Yes” be “Yes,” and your “No,” “No”; anything beyond this comes
from the evil one.

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 You say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there,
carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will
happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while
and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live
and do this or that.” All such boasting is evil. Anyone, then, who knows the good
he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.
Do not be quick with your mouths; do not be hasty in your hearts to utter
anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be
few. When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise.
Men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word
they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words
you will be condemned.
I will come with thousands upon thousands of my holy ones to judge
everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in
the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against
me. These men are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires;
they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage. He who
has ears, let him hear.

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 Chapter 29

You Shall Pray According to My Will

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will
be opened to you. If two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will
be done for you by my Father in heaven. Confess your sins to each other and pray
for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is
powerful and effective.
Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. Always pray in the Holy
Spirit and do not give up. When you ask, you must believe and not doubt. I have
the supremacy in everything, therefore you should say “May the Lord’s will be
done.” If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish,
and it will be given you.
Do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or
“What shall we wear?” For the pagans run after all these things, and your
heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his
righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not
worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has
enough trouble of its own.
When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father,
who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward
you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they
will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father
knows what you need before you ask him.
Woe to you who pray to me falsely! You do not cry out to me from your
hearts but wail upon your beds. You willfully put me to the test by demanding
worldly things you crave. You make lengthy prayers for a show; you honor me
with your lips, but your hearts are far from me. Don’t you know that only if you
obey my commands and do what pleases me, you can receive from me anything
you ask?

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 Woe to you who pray to me falsely! You seek my kingdom, but follow your
ungodly desires. You seek my power, but your words and deeds are against me.
You seek my wisdom, but ruin your lives in darkness. Although you know my
righteous decree that those who do evil deserve death, you not only continue to
do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
Woe to you who pray to me falsely! I have covered myself with a cloud so
that no prayer can get through. You want something but don’t get it. You kill and
covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not
have, because you do not ask me. When you ask, you do not receive, because
you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
You follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit. When you
spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer
many prayers, I will not listen. Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil
deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! If you do not repent, I
will spit you out of my mouth. He who has ears, let him hear.

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 Chapter 30

You Shall Live Holy and Godly Lives

I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who
believes in me will never be thirsty. Come to me, all you who are weary and
burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for
I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke
is easy and my burden is light.
Make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge;
and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to
perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly
kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will
keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of me. But
if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that
he has been cleansed from his past sins.
Let my peace rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were
called to peace. And be thankful. Let my word dwell in you richly as you teach
and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and
spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do,
whether in word or deed, do it all in my name, giving thanks to God the Father
through me.
Accept one another, just as I accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.
Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate
with people of low position. Do not be conceited. Each of you should please his
neighbor for his good, to build him up. Do not give up meeting together, as some
are in the habit of doing, but encourage one another—and all the more as you
see the Day approaching.
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, but store up treasures in
heaven. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life.
Do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. When
you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is

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doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is
done in secret, will reward you.
Since a man is united to his wife, the two will become one flesh. So they are
no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not
separate. Husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies; wives ought to
submit to their husbands as to me. A husband must not divorce his wife; a wife
must not separate from her husband. Anyone who divorces his wife and marries
another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman
commits adultery.
Children, obey your parents in me, for this is right. “Honor your father and
mother” —which is the first commandment with a promise—“that it may go well
with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” Fathers, do not
exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in my training and instruction.
Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their
eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for
me. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for me, not for
men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from me as a reward.
Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that
you also have a Master in heaven.
Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no
authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have
been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is
rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring
judgment on themselves. Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay
taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
Requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving should be made for
everyone—for kings and all those in authority, that you may live peaceful and
quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God your Savior,
who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For
there is one God and one mediator between God and men, I, who gave myself as
a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time.
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are
those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will
inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for
they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed

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are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for
they will be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of
righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. He who has ears, let him hear.

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 Chapter 31

You Shall Take Your Crosses and Follow Me

If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to
the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world,
but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.
Remember the words I spoke to you: “No servant is greater than his master.” If
they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.
Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come
to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn “a man against his father, a
daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—a
man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.” No one who puts his
hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.
Anyone who loves the world more than me cannot be my disciple. Anyone
who does not give up everything cannot be my disciple. Anyone who does not
take his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. Blessed are you when people
insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of
me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same
way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single
seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it,
while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever
serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father
will honor the one who serves me.
You have been crucified with me and you no longer live, but I live in you.
None of you lives to himself alone and none of you dies to himself alone. If you
live, you live to me; and if you die, you die to me. So, whether you live or die, you
belong to me. He who has ears, let him hear.

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 Chapter 32

You Shall Preach According to My Teaching

Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever
believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be
condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they
will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes
with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all;
they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.
The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted
in his field. Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the
largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and
perch in its branches. The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and
mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough.
Woe to you who do not preach the gospel! Don’t you know that the harvest is
plentiful, but the workers are few? Don’t you know that freely you have received,
freely give? Don’t you know that you did not choose me, but I chose you and
appointed you to go and bear fruit? Don’t you know that this gospel of the
kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations?
Woe to you who preach the gospel falsely! You darken my counsel with words
without knowledge. The appeal you make springs from error and impure motives;
you are trying to trick men. Don’t you know that you should preach not according
to worldly wisdom but according to God’s grace? Don’t you know that you should
not try to please men but God, who tests your hearts?
Woe to you who preach the gospel falsely! You boast about worldly benefits
and ignore my instructions. You boast about your achievements and pretend to
give glory to me. Don’t you know that you should present to men the word of
God in its fullness? Don’t you know that I sent you to reap what you have not
worked for; others have done the hard work and you have reaped the benefits of
their labor?

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 Woe to you who preach the gospel but do not guard your lives! You run like a
man running aimlessly; You fight like a man beating the air. You do not beat your
bodies and make them your slaves so that after you have preached to others, you
yourselves will be disqualified for the prize. Don’t you know that you should
conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of my gospel? Don’t you know that only if
you hold firmly to my word, you can be saved by this gospel?
No one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or
children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as
much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and
fields—and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life. But
many who are first will be last, and the last first. He who has ears, let him hear.

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 Chapter 33

You Shall Fulfill Your Duty to Me

Since you are my chosen instruments, you shall consider your lives worth
nothing to you, if only you may finish the race and complete the task I have given
you—the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace. Forgetting what is behind
and straining toward what is ahead, you should press on toward the goal to win
the prize for which God has called you heavenward in me.
Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and
whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as I did not come to be served,
but to serve, and to give my life as a ransom for many. Whoever exalts himself
will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. Always give
yourselves fully to my work, because you know that your labor in me is not in
vain. When you have done everything you were told to do, should say, “We are
unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.”
Endure hardship like my good soldier. No one serving as a soldier gets
involved in civilian affairs—he wants to please his commanding officer. Fight the
good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called
when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. Say
“No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and live self-controlled, upright and
godly lives in this present age, while you wait for the blessed hope—my glorious
appearing.
Woe to you wicked servants! You use false love to capture the believers. You
peddle the word of God for profit. Your meetings do more harm than good. You,
eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced yourselves with
many griefs. Don’t you know that you cannot serve both God and Money?
Woe to you wicked servants! You do not care for the believers, but accuse
them for no reason. You do not serve the believers, but love to be served. You
are slack in your work, but rule over others as leaders. Don’t you know that
whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and
whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much?

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 Woe to you wicked servants! You do not fulfill your duty, and still claim to be
my good servants. You turn my churches into the devil’s places, and make my
sheep harassed and helpless. Don’t you know that whoever has will be given
more, and he will have an abundance; whoever does not have, even what he has
will be taken from him?
Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge
of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? It will
be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. I tell
you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But suppose that
servant is wicked and says to himself, “My master is staying away a long time,”
and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with
drunkards. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not
expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign
him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of
teeth. He who has ears, let him hear.

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 Chapter 34

You Shall Be United with Me

The cup of thanksgiving is for which you give thanks a participation in my

blood. And the bread is that you break a participation in my body. There is one
body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were
called—one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over
all and through all and in all.
You are not to be called “Rabbi,” for you have only one Master and you are all
brothers. And do not call anyone on earth “father,” for you have one Father, and
he is in heaven. Nor are you to be called “teacher,” for you have one Teacher, the
Christ.
To each one of you grace has been given as I apportioned it. I gave some to be
apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors
and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that my body may
be built up until you all reach unity in the faith and in my knowledge and become
mature, attaining to the whole measure of my fullness.
As God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with
compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other
and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as I
forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together
in perfect unity.
In me you are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the
others. God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor
to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but
that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every
part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. You shall be
one in me, just as my Father is in me and I am in my Father. He who has ears, let
him hear.

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 Chapter 35

You Shall Keep Watch until I Come

No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the
Son, but only the Father. Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on
what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had
known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and
would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because
the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.
Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. Be
careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and
the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap. For it
will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth. Be always on
the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen,
and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.
You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. You do not belong to the
night or to the darkness. So then, do not be like others, who are asleep, but be
alert and self-controlled. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get
drunk, get drunk at night. But since you belong to the day, you should be
self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of
salvation as a helmet.
Woe to you who do not keep watch! Don’t you know that you are my slaves
who were bought at a price? Don’t you know that you should come back to your
senses as you ought and stand firm in the faith? Don’t you know that if you think
you are standing firm, be careful that you do not fall? Don’t you know that those
who are slaves of depravity will be punished by everlasting fire?
Woe to you who are not ready! You pollute your bodies, yet desire to wear
white clothes and walk with me. Don’t you know that the servant who knows his
master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be
beaten with many blows? Don’t you know that from everyone who has been
given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted
with much, much more will be asked?
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 You know very well that my day will come like a thief in the night. While
people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly,
as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. Blessed is he who
stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be
shamefully exposed. He who has ears, let him hear.

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 Chapter 36

You Shall Discern Visions and Dreams

You ought to discern visions and dreams according to these: Those which are
against the Holy Bible are false; those which have no peace in your spirits are
false; those which destroy your spiritual lives are false. I will give you visions and
dreams according to my will. He who has not gained them does not need to seek
all day long. He who has gained them should speak in the Holy Spirit.
Woe to you who do evil through false visions and false dreams! You claim
that your visions and dreams come from me, and prophesy lies in my name. Yet I
tell you: I have not sent you or appointed you or spoken to you. You are
prophesying to men false visions, divinations, idolatries and the delusions of your
own minds.
When you see it is written: “In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit
on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see
visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and
women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.” then you
say that all of you can prophesy, see visions and dream dreams. You disobey my
commands and ignore my corrections, where do your spirits come from? Where
do your prophecies, visions and dreams come from?
I will make you eat bitter food and drink poisoned water. Night will come over
you, without visions, and darkness, without divination. The sun will set for you,
and the day will go dark for you. You will be ashamed and disgraced. You will all
cover your faces because there is no answer from me. He who has ears, let him
hear.

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 Chapter 37

You Shall Watch out for False Tongues

You should know how to discern the tongues: Those who speak in true
tongues always speak according to the instructions; those who speak in false
tongues ignore the instructions and speak arbitrarily before men. Those who
speak in true tongues are humble and love to serve men; those who speak in
false tongues are arrogant and love to rule men. Those who speak in true tongues
always test in the Holy Spirit; those who speak in false tongues refuse to test
because of the trap of the devil.
Woe to you who speak in false tongues! You accept the devil’s orders through
false tongues. You praise the devil’s works through false tongues. You spread the
devil’s curses through false tongues. You have planted wickedness, you have
reaped evil, you have eaten the fruit of deception. Don’t you know that in regard
to evil you should be infants, but in your thinking you should be adults?
Woe to you who speak in false tongues! You use false tongues to deceive my
sheep, in order to lead them astray. You use false tongues to destroy my sheep,
in order to make them be defiled. You teach false tongues to make my sheep
imitate the sound of the devil. You promote false tongues to make my sheep
follow the steps of the devil. Are you not a brood of rebels, the offspring of liars?
Your speech mumbles out of the dust; your voice comes ghostlike from the
earth. Whom are you mocking? At whom do you sneer and stick out your tongue?
I will expose your righteousness and your works, and they will not benefit you. If
you do not repent, I will soon come to you and will fight against you with the
sword of my mouth. He who has ears, let him hear.

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 Chapter 38

You Shall Resist the Devil

(One)

You should know Satan’s schemes. Satan said in his heart, “I will ascend to
heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the
mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend
above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” Satan was a
murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in
him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of
lies. Satan is a stumbling block to you; he does not have in mind the things of God,
but the things of men. Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light to deceive
you.
Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a
roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Be strong in me and in my mighty
power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the
devil’s schemes. For your struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the
rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against
the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor
of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your
ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the
belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in
place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of
peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can
extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and
the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all
occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and
always keep on praying for all the saints.
You know that you are children of God, and that the whole world is under the
control of the evil one. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have
overcome the world. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and

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scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.
However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your
names are written in heaven. I am faithful, and I will strengthen and protect you
from the evil one. The devil will be thrown into the lake of burning sulfur. He will
be tormented day and night for ever and ever. He who has ears, let him hear.

(Two)

Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from
God. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that
acknowledges that I have come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does
not acknowledge me is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist. You are
from God, and whoever knows God listens to you; but whoever is not from God
does not listen to you. This is how you recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit
of falsehood.
Do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just
as I am righteous. He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has
been sinning from the beginning. The reason I appeared was to destroy the
devil’s work. No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed
remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. This is
how you know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are:
Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who
does not love his brother.
Woe to you false Christs and false prophets! You oppose and exalt yourselves
over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that you set yourselves up
in God’s temple, proclaiming yourselves to be God. You are foolish prophets; you
follow your own spirit and have seen nothing. You come to men in sheep’s
clothing, but inwardly you are ferocious wolves. By your fruit they will recognize
you.
Woe to you false Christs and false prophets! You steal from one another
words supposedly from me. You speak false words and lying visions. I did not
send you, yet you have run with your message; I did not speak to you, yet you
have prophesied. You masquerade as servants of righteousness. Your end will be
what your actions deserve.

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 Woe to you false Christs and false prophets! You are in accordance with the
work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders,
and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. I will send my
angels to expose your wicked schemes. Just as Moses and Aaron did before the
wicked, my angels will do the same before you.
You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to
hell? My storm will burst out in wrath, a driving wind swirling down on the heads
of the wicked. I will overthrow you with the breath of my mouth and destroy you
by the splendor of my coming. Your worm will not die, nor will your fire be
quenched, and you will be loathsome to all mankind. He who has ears, let him
hear.

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 Chapter 39

Church Authority and Responsibility

(One)

I am the head of the body, the church; I am the beginning and the firstborn
from among the dead. I loved the church and gave myself up for her to make her
holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present
her to myself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish,
but holy and blameless. The church is the pillar and foundation of the truth; the
gates of Hades will not overcome it.
You are my body, and each one of you is a part of it. And in the church God
has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers
of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those
with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues.
Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully
administering God’s grace in its various forms.
You elders ought to be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care,
serving as overseers—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God
wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over
those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when I appear, you
will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.
Since an overseer is entrusted with God’s work, he must be blameless—not
overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not
pursuing dishonest gain. Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is
good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. He must hold firmly to
the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others
by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.
Deacons are to be men worthy of respect, sincere, not indulging in much wine,
and not pursuing dishonest gain. They must keep hold of the deep truths of the

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faith with a clear conscience. They must first be tested; and then if there is
nothing against them, let them serve as deacons. In the same way, their wives
are to be women worthy of respect, not malicious talkers but temperate and
trustworthy in everything.
Be like-minded, have the same love, be one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing
out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than
yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to
the interests of others. Live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be
completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.
Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your
crown. Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never
again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the
city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my
God; and I will also write on him my new name. He who has ears, let him hear.

(Two)

Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has
made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with
his own blood. Do not do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. Aim
for perfection, listen to the appeal, be of one mind, live in peace.
Woe to you deceitful workmen! You elders are fallen into temptation by
worldly power and wealth. You pastors feed my sheep by your own
interpretation. You deacons do my work by your sinful desires. On the outside
you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and
wickedness.
Woe to you deceitful workmen! You are convinced that you are a guide for
the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, an instructor of the foolish, a
teacher of infants. You who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You shut the
kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let
those enter who are trying to.
Woe to you deceitful workmen! You invite shepherds to preach without
examining their actions. You send fellow workers to work without testing their

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hearts. You distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after you. You
commit adultery and live a lie. You strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no
one turns from his wickedness.
Woe to you deceitful workmen! You know all the believers should love one
another, yet you deceive and slander them. You know all the churches should be
united into one, yet you divide and destroy them. Don’t you know that you act in
the same spirit and follow the same course? Don’t you know that if you keep on
biting and devouring each other, you will be destroyed by each other?
I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.
Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your
deeds complete in the sight of my God. Remember, therefore, what you have
received and heard; obey it, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come
like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you. He who has
ears, let him hear.

(Three)

Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke
and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. Do your best to
present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be
ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. Keep your head in all
situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties
of your ministry.
Woe to you false shepherds! You do not practice what you preach; everything
you do is done for men to see. You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but
inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You ask men to follow your
shameful ways and bring the way of truth into disrepute. In your greed you
exploit men with stories you have made up.
Woe to you false shepherds! You say that all your prayers will be answered,
and all your praises will be acceptable. You say that all the believers are my
priests, and all the churches are my temples. Your teaching spreads like gangrene.
You are blind guides. Don’t you know that if a blind man leads a blind man, both
will fall into a pit?

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 Woe to you false shepherds! You undermine piety and hinder devotion to
God. You care for yourselves rather than for my flock. You have not strengthened
the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back
the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally.
Woe to you false shepherds! My sheep were scattered because there was no
shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild
animals. They wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. I am
against you and will hold you accountable for my sheep. I myself will search for
my sheep and look after them.
Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. Here I
am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I
will come in and eat with him, and he with me. To him who overcomes, I will give
the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my
Father on his throne. He who has ears, let him hear.

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 Chapter 40

My Judgment on the Last Day

Immediately after the distress of those days, the sun will be darkened, and
the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly
bodies will be shaken. At that time my sign will appear in the sky, and all the
nations of the earth will mourn. They will see me coming on the clouds of the sky,
with power and great glory. And I will send my angels with a loud trumpet call,
and they will gather my elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens
to the other.
All who are in their graves will hear my voice and come out—those who have
done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be
condemned. I will sit on my throne in heavenly glory and will give to each person
according to what he has done. To those who by persistence in doing good seek
glory, honor and immortality, I will give eternal life. But for those who are
self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and
anger.
My judgments are true and just. Everyone whose name is found written in the
book of life will be delivered. Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of
the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever
and ever. If anyone’s name is not found written in the book of life, he will be
thrown into the lake of fire. Those who do not know God and do not obey my
gospel will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from my
presence and from the majesty of my power.
Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone
according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the
Last, the Beginning and the End. He who has ears, let him hear.

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