If your brother sins against you, go and confront him privately. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over.
But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’
If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, regard him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
Again, I tell you truly that if two of you on the earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven.
. . .
But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, arguments, and quarrels about the law, because these things are pointless and worthless.
Reject a divisive man after a first and second admonition,
knowing that such a man is corrupt and sinful; he is self-condemned.
But now I am writing you not to associate with anyone who claims to be a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a verbal abuser, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.
Brothers, if someone is caught in a trespass, you who are spiritual should restore him with a spirit of gentleness. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.
But as for you, brothers, do not grow weary in well-doing.
Take note of anyone who does not obey the instructions we have given in this letter. Do not associate with him, so that he may be ashamed.
Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.
Now if anyone has caused grief, he has not grieved me but all of you—to some degree, not to overstate it.
The punishment imposed on him by the majority is sufficient for him.
So instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.
Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love for him.
My purpose in writing you was to see if you would stand the test and be obedient in everything.
. . .
Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from any brother who leads an undisciplined life that is not in keeping with the tradition you received from us.
Now I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who create divisions and obstacles that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Turn away from them.
For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.
My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back,
consider this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and cover over a multitude of sins.
Do not entertain an accusation against an elder, except on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
But those who persist in sin should be rebuked in front of everyone, so that the others will stand in fear of sin.
Anyone who runs ahead without remaining in the teaching of Christ does not have God. Whoever remains in His teaching has both the Father and the Son.
If anyone comes to you but does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your home or even greet him.
But now I am writing you not to associate with anyone who claims to be a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a verbal abuser, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.
What business of mine is it to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside?
God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked man from among you.”
It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is intolerable even among pagans: A man has his father’s wife.
And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have been stricken with grief and have removed from your fellowship the man who did this?
Although I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit, and I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did this, just as if I were present.
When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, along with the power of the Lord Jesus,
hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the Day of the Lord.
. . .
No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields a harvest of righteousness and peace to those who have been trained by it.
Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.
And the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick. The Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail.
Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.
Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth yielded its crops.
. . .
But avoid irreverent, empty chatter, which will only lead to more ungodliness,
and the talk of such men will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus,
who have deviated from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already occurred, and they undermine the faith of some.
If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, regard him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
Now I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who create divisions and obstacles that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Turn away from them.
If your brother sins against you, go and confront him privately. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over.
But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’
If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, regard him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
Take note of anyone who does not obey the instructions we have given in this letter. Do not associate with him, so that he may be ashamed.
Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.
leave your gift there before the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.
Reconcile quickly with your adversary, while you are still on the way to court. Otherwise, he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison.
Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property.
With his wife’s full knowledge, he kept back some of the proceeds for himself, but brought a portion and laid it at the apostles’ feet.
Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and withhold some of the proceeds from the land?
Did it not belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? How could you conceive such a deed in your heart? You have not lied to men, but to God!”
On hearing these words, Ananias fell down and died. And great fear came over all who heard what had happened.
. . .
A lone witness is not sufficient to establish any wrongdoing or sin against a man, regardless of what offense he may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.
Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they watch over your souls as those who must give an account. To this end, allow them to lead with joy and not with grief, for that would be of no advantage to you.
But the LORD said to Joshua, “Stand up! Why have you fallen on your face?
Israel has sinned; they have transgressed My covenant that I commanded them, and they have taken some of what was devoted to destruction. Indeed, they have stolen and lied, and they have put these things with their own possessions.
This is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies. They will turn their backs and run from their enemies, because they themselves have been set apart for destruction. I will no longer be with you unless you remove from among you whatever is devoted to destruction.
“Do not judge, or you will be judged.
For with the same judgment you pronounce, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but fail to notice the beam in your own eye?
How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while there is still a beam in your own eye?
You hypocrite! First take the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
“It is true,” Achan replied, “I have sinned against the LORD, the God of Israel. This is what I did:
When I saw among the spoils a beautiful cloak from Shinar, two hundred shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.”
So Joshua sent messengers who ran to the tent, and there it all was, hidden in his tent, with the silver underneath.
They took the things from inside the tent, brought them to Joshua and all the Israelites, and spread them out before the LORD.
Then Joshua, together with all Israel, took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the cloak, the bar of gold, his sons and daughters, his oxen and donkeys and sheep, his tent, and everything else he owned, and brought them to the Valley of Achor.
. . .
At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
Jesus invited a little child to stand among them.
“Truly I tell you,” He said, “unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
And whoever welcomes a little child like this in My name welcomes Me.
. . .
When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, along with the power of the Lord Jesus,
hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the Day of the Lord.
The punishment imposed on him by the majority is sufficient for him.
So instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.
Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love for him.
Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from any brother who leads an undisciplined life that is not in keeping with the tradition you received from us.
For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not undisciplined among you,
nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. Instead, in labor and toil, we worked night and day so that we would not be a burden to any of you.
Not that we lack this right, but we wanted to offer ourselves as an example for you to imitate.
For even while we were with you, we gave you this command: “If anyone is unwilling to work, he shall not eat.”
. . .
We realize that law is not enacted for the righteous, but for the lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinful, for the unholy and profane, for killers of father or mother, for murderers,
for the sexually immoral, for homosexuals, for slave traders and liars and perjurers, and for anyone else who is averse to sound teaching
that agrees with the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted.
Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who submit to or perform homosexual acts,
nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.
My son, do not reject the discipline of the LORD, and do not loathe His rebuke;
for the LORD disciplines the one He loves, as does a father the son in whom he delights.
What business of mine is it to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside?
God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked man from among you.”
First to those in Damascus and Jerusalem, then to everyone in the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I declared that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds worthy of their repentance.
And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not take lightly the discipline of the Lord, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you.
For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastises every son He receives.”
Endure suffering as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?
If you do not experience discipline like everyone else, then you are illegitimate children and not true sons.
Do not withhold discipline from a child; although you strike him with a rod, he will not die.
Strike him with a rod, and you will deliver his soul from Sheol.
Therefore, keep in mind how far you have fallen. Repent and perform the deeds you did at first. But if you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.
But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be under a curse!
As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be under a curse!
And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not take lightly the discipline of the Lord, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you.
For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastises every son He receives.”
Endure suffering as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?
If you do not experience discipline like everyone else, then you are illegitimate children and not true sons.
Furthermore, we have all had earthly fathers who disciplined us, and we respected them. Should we not much more submit to the Father of our spirits and live?
. . .
You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be a friend of the world renders himself an enemy of God.
The Israelites, however, acted unfaithfully regarding the things devoted to destruction. Achan son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of what was set apart. So the anger of the LORD burned against the Israelites.
Meanwhile, Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-aven to the east of Bethel, and told them, “Go up and spy out the land.” So the men went up and spied out Ai.
On returning to Joshua, they reported, “There is no need to send all the people; two or three thousand men are enough to go up and attack Ai. Since the people of Ai are so few, you need not wear out all our people there.”
So about three thousand men went up, but they fled before the men of Ai.
And the men of Ai struck down about thirty-six of them, chasing them from the gate as far as the quarries and striking them down on the slopes. So the hearts of the people melted and became like water.
. . .
Do not rebuke a mocker, or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man, and he will love you.
Instruct a wise man, and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man, and he will increase his learning.
I know your deeds, your labor, and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate those who are evil, and you have tested and exposed as liars those who falsely claim to be apostles.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with endurance the race set out for us.
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.
And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not take lightly the discipline of the Lord, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you.
. . .
Furthermore, we have all had earthly fathers who disciplined us, and we respected them. Should we not much more submit to the Father of our spirits and live?
But I have a few things against you, because some of you hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to place a stumbling block before the Israelites so they would eat food sacrificed to idols and commit sexual immorality.
In the same way, some of you also hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.
Therefore repent! Otherwise I will come to you shortly and wage war against them with the sword of My mouth.
Remind the believers to submit to rulers and authorities, to be obedient and ready for every good work,
to malign no one, and to be peaceable and gentle, showing full consideration to everyone.
For at one time we too were foolish, disobedient, misled, and enslaved to all sorts of desires and pleasures—living in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.
But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared,
He saved us, not by the righteous deeds we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.
. . .
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