The Message Bible MSG
King James Version KJV
1 Those people are on a dark spiral downward. But if you think that leaves you on the high ground where you can point your finger at others, think again. Every time you criticize someone, you condemn yourself. It takes one to know one. Judgmental criticism of others is a well-known way of escaping detection in your own crimes and misdemeanors.
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Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.
2 But God isn't so easily diverted. He sees right through all such smoke screens and holds you to what you've done.
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But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things.
3 You didn't think, did you, that just by pointing your finger at others you would distract God from seeing all your misdoings and from coming down on you hard?
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And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?
4 Or did you think that because he's such a nice God, he'd let you off the hook? Better think this one through from the beginning. God is kind, but he's not soft. In kindness he takes us firmly by the hand and leads us into a radical life-change.
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Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?
5 You're not getting by with anything. Every refusal and avoidance of God adds fuel to the fire. The day is coming when it's going to blaze hot and high, God's fiery and righteous judgment.
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But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;
6 Make no mistake: In the end you get what's coming to you -
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Who will render to every man according to his deeds:
7 Real Life for those who work on God's side,
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To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:
8 but to those who insist on getting their own way and take the path of least resistance, Fire!
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But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,
9 If you go against the grain, you get splinters, regardless of which neighborhood you're from, what your parents taught you, what schools you attended.
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Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;
10 But if you embrace the way God does things, there are wonderful payoffs, again without regard to where you are from or how you were brought up.
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But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:
11 Being a Jew won't give you an automatic stamp of approval. God pays no attention to what others say (or what you think) about you. He makes up his own mind.
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For there is no respect of persons with God.
12 If you sin without knowing what you're doing, God takes that into account. But if you sin knowing full well what you're doing, that's a different story entirely.
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For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;
13 Merely hearing God's law is a waste of your time if you don't do what he commands. Doing, not hearing, is what makes the difference with God.
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(For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.
14 When outsiders who have never heard of God's law follow it more or less by instinct, they confirm its truth by their obedience.
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For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:
15 They show that God's law is not something alien, imposed on us from without, but woven into the very fabric of our creation. There is something deep within them that echoes God's yes and no, right and wrong.
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Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)
16 Their response to God's yes and no will become public knowledge on the day God makes his final decision about every man and woman. The Message from God that I proclaim through Jesus Christ takes into account all these differences.
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In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.
17 If you're brought up Jewish, don't assume that you can lean back in the arms of your religion and take it easy, feeling smug because you're an insider to God's revelation,
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Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God,
18 a connoisseur of the best things of God, informed on the latest doctrines!
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And knowest his will, and approvest the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law;
19 I have a special word of caution for you who are sure that you have it all together yourselves and, because you know God's revealed Word inside and out,
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And art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness,
20 feel qualified to guide others through their blind alleys and dark nights and confused emotions to God.
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An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law.
21 While you are guiding others, who is going to guide you? I'm quite serious. While preaching "Don't steal!" are you going to rob people blind? Who would suspect you?
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Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal?
22 The same with adultery. The same with idolatry.
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Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege?
23 You can get by with almost anything if you front it with eloquent talk about God and his law.
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Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God?
24 The line from Scripture, "It's because of you Jews that the outsiders are down on God," shows it's an old problem that isn't going to go away.
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For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.
25 Circumcision, the surgical ritual that marks you as a Jew, is great if you live in accord with God's law. But if you don't, it's worse than not being circumcised.
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For circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the law: but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision.
26 The reverse is also true: The uncircumcised who keep God's ways are as good as the circumcised -
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Therefore if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision?
27 in fact, better. Better to keep God's law uncircumcised than break it circumcised.
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And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law?
28 Don't you see: It's not the cut of a knife that makes a Jew.
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For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
29 You become a Jew by who you are. It's the mark of God on your heart, not of a knife on your skin, that makes a Jew. And recognition comes from God, not legalistic critics.
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But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.
The King James Version is in the public domain.