Good News [1976], GOOD NEWS BIBLE WITH DEUTEROCANONICALS / APOCRYPHA Today's English Version (AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY, New York) [word count] [B15000].
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God's Judgment
1 Do you, my friend, pass judgment
on others? You have no
excuse at all, whoever you are. For
when you judge others and then do
the same things which they do, you
condemn yourself. note
2 We know that
God is right when he judges the people
who do such things as these.
3 But you, my friend, do those very
things for which you pass judgment
on others! Do you think you will escape
God's judgment?
4 Or perhaps
you despise his great kindness, tolerance,
and patience. Surely you know
that God is kind, because he is trying
to lead you to repent. note
5 But you have
a hard and stubborn heart, and so
you are making your own punishment
even greater on the Day when
God's anger and righteous judgments
will be revealed.
6 For God
will reward every person according
to what he has done. note
7 Some people
keep on doing good, and seek glory,
honor, and immortal life; to them
God will give eternal life.
8 Other
people are selfish and reject what is
right, in order to follow what is
wrong; on them God will pour out
his anger and fury.
9 There will be
suffering and pain for all those who
do what is evil, for the Jews first and
also for the Gentiles.
10 But God will
give glory, honor, and peace to all
who do what is good, to the Jews
first and also to the Gentiles.
11 For
God judges everyone by the same
standard. note
12 The Gentiles do not have the
Law of Moses; they sin and are lost
apart from the Law. The Jews have
the Law; they sin and are judged by
the Law.
13 For it is not by hearing
the Law that people are put right
with God, but by doing what the
Law commands.
14 The Gentiles do
not have the Law; but whenever
they do by instinct what the Law
commands, they are their own law,
even though they do not have the
Law.
15 Their conduct shows that
what the Law commands is written
in their hearts. Their consciences
also show that this is true, since
their thoughts sometimes accuse
them and sometimes defend them.
16 And so, according to the Good
News I preach, this is how it will be
on that Day when God through
Jesus Christ will judge the secret
thoughts of all.
The Jews and the Law
17 What about you? You call yourself
a Jew; you depend on the Law
-- --
and boast about God;
18 you know
what God wants you to do, and you
have learned from the Law to
choose what is right;
19 you are sure
that you are a guide for the blind, a
light for those who are in darkness,
20 an instructor for the foolish, and a
teacher for the ignorant. You are
certain that in the Law you have the
full content of knowledge and of
truth.
21 You teach others—why
don't you teach yourself? You
preach, “Do not steal”—but do you
yourself steal?
22 You say, “Do not
commit adultery”—but do you commit
adultery? You detest idols—but
do you rob temples?
23 You boast
about having God's law—but do you
bring shame on God by breaking his
law?
24 The scripture says, “Because
of you Jews, the Gentiles speak evil
of God.” note
25 If you obey the Law, your circumcision
is of value; but if you disobey
the Law, you might as well
never have been circumcised.
26 If
the Gentile, who is not circumcised,
obeys the commands of the Law,
will not God regard him as though
he were circumcised?
27 And so you
Jews will be condemned by the Gentiles
because you break the Law,
even though you have it written
down and are circumcised; but they
obey the Law, even though they are
not physically circumcised.
28 After
all, who is a real Jew, truly circumcised?
It is not the man who is a Jew
on the outside, whose circumcision
is a physical thing.
29 Rather, the real
Jew is the person who is a Jew on
the inside, that is, whose heart has
been circumcised, and this is the
work of God's Spirit, not of the written
Law. Such a person receives his
praise from God, not from man. note
Good News [1976], GOOD NEWS BIBLE WITH DEUTEROCANONICALS / APOCRYPHA Today's English Version (AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY, New York) [word count] [B15000].
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