In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and in the sight of Christ Jesus, who told the truth when he was a witness in front of Pontius Pilate, I give you a command.
Keep reminding God’s people about these things. Warn them in the presence of God not to argue about words. Those arguments don’t have any value. All they do is destroy everyone who listens to them.
I command you in the sight of God and Christ Jesus and the chosen angels to follow these instructions. Treat everyone the same and don’t favor one person over another.
Earlier, Herod had arrested John and tied him up and put him in prison. This was because John had been telling Herod, “It’s against the Law of Moses for you to have Herodias as your wife,” since she’d been the wife of Herod’s brother Philip.