You say you are rich. You think you have become wealthy and don’t need a thing. But you don’t know that you are really terrible, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.
Then {both the man and the woman changed. It was like} their eyes opened, {and they saw things differently}. They saw that they had no clothes on—they were naked. So they got some fig leaves and sewed them together and wore the fig leaves for clothes.
In all the world, my servant {\cf2\super [383]} \par is the most blind!\par The messenger I send \{to the world\}\par is the most deaf.\par The one I made the Agreement with\par —the servant of the Lord—\par is the most blind.\par
\{Their leaders are like owners and businessmen.\} Owners kill their sheep and are not punished. Businessmen sell the sheep and say, ‘Praise the Lord, I am rich!’ The shepherds don’t feel sorry for their sheep.
Jesus heard the Pharisees {\cf2\super [105]} say this. So Jesus said to the Pharisees, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor. It is the sick people that need a doctor.
That is true. But those branches were broken off because they did not believe. And you continue to be part of the tree only because you believe. Don’t be proud, but be afraid.
I want you to understand this secret truth, brothers and sisters. This truth will help you understand that you don’t know everything. The truth is this: Part of Israel {\cf2\super [124]} has been made stubborn. But that will change when enough non-Jews have come to God.
God has given me a special gift. That is why I have something to say to every person among you. Don’t think that you are better than you really are. You must see yourself like you really are. Decide what you are by the kind of faith God has given you.
But if a person does not have these things, then he cannot see clearly. That person is blind. He has forgotten that he was cleansed (forgiven) from his past sins.
“Listen! I will come, \{and it will be a surprise,\} like when a thief comes! Happy is the person that stays awake and keeps his clothes with him. Then he will not have to go without clothes, and people will not see the things he is ashamed for them to see.”
I know your troubles, and I know that you are poor. But really you are rich! I know the bad things that some people say \{about you\}. Those people say they are Jews. But they are not true Jews. They are a synagogue (group) that belongs to Satan (the devil).