You [should] know that you were bought back [from Satan], from your useless way of life, inherited from your forefathers, not with such perishable things as silver and gold,

Laying

So then, you should no longer live the rest of your lives [to satisfy] the sinful desires of your body, but to do what God wants.

The night is almost over and the day is near. So, we should stop doing the deeds of darkness [i.e., sinful things] and we should arm ourselves with the weapons of light [i.e., virtues for right living].

You were [taught] to put away [the conduct of] your former lifestyle, your old person who is being corrupted by deceitful desires,

So, put to death [i.e., stop practicing the desires of] your physical bodies [such as] sexual immorality, [moral] impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is [in reality] idolatry.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a large crowd of spectators [Note: Christians are pictured here as being in a crowded arena, performing in the games], we should lay aside every [excessive] weight and sin that so easily entangle us, and with perseverance, we should run the race [of life] that lies before us.

Therefore, you should put away [from you] all moral filth and overflowing wickedness and humbly receive the word [of God], planted within you [by the Holy Spirit. See John 16:8], which is capable of saving your souls.

Do not complain against one another, brothers, so that you will not [have to] be judged [and condemned for it]. Look, the Judge [i.e., Christ] is standing at the door! [See verse 8].

Malice

As servants of God, you should live as free people, but do not use this freedom to cover up your wrongdoing.

So, we should observe the Festival [i.e., live the Christian life], but not with the old yeast [i.e., old sinful ways], such as the leavening [effect] of evil and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Brothers, do not be children in the way you think, but be babies in wrongdoing; yet be mature in your thinking.

So, put away from you all [kinds of] bitterness and anger and wrath and brawling and slander, along with all [kinds of] malice [i.e., bad attitudes],

For we [Christians] were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various kinds of [evil] desires and [sinful] pleasures. [We used to] live in malice and envy, hating people and being hated by them.

Guile

[For] He neither sinned nor used deceitful words.

For [Psalm 39:12 says], "The person who loves [his] life and wants to have happy days, should avoid saying anything bad or deceptive.

[As] Jesus saw Nathaniel coming toward Him, He said [this] about him, "Look, [there is] a true Israelite, a completely honest man!"

For our appeal [to you was] not based on error, or impure [motives], or deception.

They were found not to be liars; [for] they were without just blame.

Hypocrisies

You hypocrite, take the board out of your own eye first; and then you will be able to see clearly enough to take the speck of sawdust out of your brother's eye.

You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied accurately about you, saying [Isa. 29:13],

Even so, you also appear on the outside to be doing right in front of people, but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and sin.

And [that master] will whip him to shreds and will turn him over to suffer the same fate as hypocrites do. That fate will involve crying and excruciating pain."

Should we pay it, or should we not pay it?" But Jesus was aware of their hypocrisy and said to them, "Bring me the coin so I can see it." [Note: The amount of this coin was equivalent to one day of a farm laborer's pay, or about $60-$84 in 1994].

Or how can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take that speck of sawdust out of your eye,' when you cannot see the board in your own eye? You hypocrite, take the board out of your own eye first; then you will be able to see clearly enough to take out the speck of sawdust that is in your brother's eye.

"It is too bad for you! For you people are like obscure grave sites that people walk over without knowing it."

About this time, while a crowd of many thousands had assembled, [so large that] people were trampling on one another, Jesus first began telling His disciples, "Watch out for the leavening [effect] of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

But the [true] wisdom, which is from [God] above, is first of all pure, then peace-loving, patient and easily persuaded. [It is] full of mercy and produces a crop of good deeds; [it is] impartial [or, unwavering] and sincere.

Envies

They are full of all kinds of wickedness, evil, greed, and maliciousness. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips,

We should be living properly, as in the daytime [i.e., when people normally behave themselves], not engaging in orgies and drunkenness; not practicing sexual immorality and indecent vices; not quarrelsome and jealous.

For I fed you with milk, not with solid food [i.e., with basic fundamentals instead of more advanced teaching. See Heb. 5:12-13] because you were not able to absorb it,

For I am afraid that somehow, when I come [to you], I might not find you the way I want you to be, and you might not find me the way you want me to be. I am afraid there might be quarrelling, jealousy, angry outbursts, factious spirits, slander, gossip, arrogance and [other] disturbances [there].

envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you again, as I have done before, that those people who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But if you people have bitter jealousy and rivalry in your hearts, do not be arrogant [over it] and deny the truth.

Or, do you think that the Scripture says [this] for nothing? [Note: No specific passage is here cited, but the idea occurs in several Old Testament passages]. "The Holy Spirit, whom God has made to live in us, longs jealously [for us to be faithful to God]."

All evil

Now, those people you used to run around with cannot understand why you have stopped living such wasteful lives, so they just "badmouth" you.

So, put away from you all [kinds of] bitterness and anger and wrath and brawling and slander, along with all [kinds of] malice [i.e., bad attitudes],

But now you also should stop practicing them: anger, wrath, malice, slander, filthy language from your mouth.

Women [i.e., probably the deacons' wives], in the same way, should be serious-minded [i.e., dignified], not gossips, [but] sober-minded [see verse 2] and trustworthy in everything.

Older women, likewise, should be reverent in their behavior, not slanderers, not addicted to much wine, teachers of what is good.

Do not slander one another, brothers, [for] the person who speaks against his brother, or judges him, is [guilty of] speaking against the law [of God]. But when you judge the law, you are not obeying it but acting as its judge.

General references

They will not follow a stranger, but will run from him, for they do not recognize the voice of strangers."