My brothers and sisters, don’t say bad things about one another. Anyone who says something bad about a brother or sister is saying it about the law, and anyone who judges another believer is judging the law. When you judge the law, you’re not keeping it, you’re acting as if you were its judge.
Since we’re surrounded by such a huge cloud of witnesses, let’s throw off everything that weighs us down and any sin that gets in our way. Let’s keep on running the race on the course in front of us.
In the same way, the women must be worthy of respect. They shouldn’t be people who say things that hurt others. They must be restrained, and they must be worthy of trust in everything.
In the same way, teach the older women to live in a way that shows respect for God. They must not tell lies about others, and they must not become heavy drinkers. Instead, they must teach what is good.
They did things that shouldn’t be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, fighting, deception, and bad motives.
While there is a log in your own eye, how can you say to your friend, ‘Let me take the bit of sawdust out of your eye’? Hypocrite! First take the piece of wood out of your own eye, and then you’ll be able to see clearly to take the bit of sawdust out of your friend’s eye.
I’m afraid that when I come I won’t find you as I want you to be, and you won’t find me as you want me to be. I’m afraid that there will be arguing, jealousy, fits of anger, selfish ambition, insults, gossip, arrogance, and disorder.
So let’s celebrate the Feast, but not with the old bread made with the yeast of hatred and wrongdoing. Let’s celebrate it with bread made without yeast, the bread of honesty and truth.
During that time, when a crowd of so many thousands had gathered that the people were stepping on one another, Jesus began to speak first to his disciples. He said, “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. They just pretend to be godly.
Should we pay, or shouldn’t we?” But Jesus knew they had bad motives for asking. So he responded, “Why are you trying to trap me? Bring me a silver coin and let me look at it.”