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Psalm 101

1  I will sing of faithfulness and justice; ♦︎
   to you, O Lord, will I sing.
2  Let me be wise in the way that is perfect: ♦︎
   when will you come to me?
3  I will walk with purity of heart ♦︎
   within the walls of my house.
4  I will not set before my eyes ♦︎
   a counsel that is evil.
5  I abhor the deeds of unfaithfulness; ♦︎
   they shall not cling to me.
6  A crooked heart shall depart from me; ♦︎
   I will not know a wicked person.
7  One who slanders a neighbour in secret ♦︎
   I will quickly put to silence.
8  Haughty eyes and an arrogant heart ♦︎
   I will not endure.
9  My eyes are upon the faithful in the land, ♦︎
   that they may dwell with me.
10  One who walks in the way that is pure ♦︎
   shall be my servant.
11  There shall not dwell in my house ♦︎
   one that practises deceit.
12  One who utters falsehood ♦︎
   shall not continue in my sight.
13  Morning by morning will I put to silence ♦︎
   all the wicked in the land,
14  To cut off from the city of the Lord ♦︎
   all those who practise evil.

Assyria Resettles Samaria

24 The king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria in place of the people of Israel; they took possession of Samaria, and settled in its cities. ²⁵When they first settled there, they did not worship the Lord; therefore the Lord sent lions among them, which killed some of them. ²⁶So the king of Assyria was told, ‘The nations that you have carried away and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the law of the god of the land; therefore he has sent lions among them; they are killing them, because they do not know the law of the god of the land.’ ²⁷Then the king of Assyria commanded, ‘Send there one of the priests whom you carried away from there; let him^* go and live there, and teach them the law of the god of the land.’ ²⁸So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and lived in Bethel; he taught them how they should worship the Lord.

29 But every nation still made gods of its own and put them in the shrines of the high places that the people of Samaria had made, every nation in the cities in which they lived; ³⁰the people of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, the people of Cuth made Nergal, the people of Hamath made Ashima; ³¹the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak; the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. ³²They also worshipped the Lord and appointed from among themselves all sorts of people as priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the shrines of the high places. ³³So they worshipped the Lord, but they also served their own gods, after the manner of the nations from among whom they had been carried away. ³⁴To this day they continue to practise their former customs.

They do not worship the Lord and they do not follow the statutes or the ordinances or the law or the commandment that the Lord commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel. ³⁵The Lord had made a covenant with them and commanded them, ‘You shall not worship other gods or bow yourselves to them or serve them or sacrifice to them, ³⁶but you shall worship the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt with great power and with an outstretched arm; you shall bow yourselves to him, and to him you shall sacrifice. ³⁷The statutes and the ordinances and the law and the commandment that he wrote for you, you shall always be careful to observe. You shall not worship other gods; ³⁸you shall not forget the covenant that I have made with you. You shall not worship other gods, ³⁹but you shall worship the Lord your God; he will deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.’ ⁴⁰They would not listen, however, but they continued to practise their former custom.

41 So these nations worshipped the Lord, but also served their carved images; to this day their children and their children’s children continue to do as their ancestors did.

The Mystery of Our Religion

14 I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these instructions to you so that, ¹⁵if I am delayed, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and bulwark of the truth. ¹⁶Without any doubt, the mystery of our religion is great:
He^* was revealed in flesh,
   vindicated^* in spirit,^*
     seen by angels,
proclaimed among Gentiles,
   believed in throughout the world,
     taken up in glory.

False Asceticism

4Now the Spirit expressly says that in later^* times some will renounce the faith by paying attention to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, ²through the hypocrisy of liars whose consciences are seared with a hot iron. ³They forbid marriage and demand abstinence from foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. ⁴For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, provided it is received with thanksgiving; ⁵for it is sanctified by God’s word and by prayer.