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Matthew 21:31
“ Which of the two sons did what his father wanted?”“ The first,” they answered. Jesus said to them,“ What I’m about to tell you is true. Tax collectors and prostitutes will enter the kingdom of God ahead of you.
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Isaiah 1:16-19
So wash and make yourselves clean. Get your evil actions out of my sight! Stop doing what is wrong!Learn to do what is right! Treat people fairly. Help those who are treated badly. Stand up in court for children whose fathers have died. And do the same thing for widows.“ Come. Let us settle this matter,” says the Lord.“ Even though your sins are bright red, they will be as white as snow. Even though they are deep red, they will be white like wool.But you have to be willing to change and obey me. If you are, you will eat the good things that grow on the land.
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Jonah 3:2
“ Go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce to its people the message I give you.”
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Ephesians 4:17-19
Here is what I’m telling you. I am speaking for the Lord as I warn you. You must no longer live as the Gentiles do. Their thoughts don’t have any purpose.They can’t understand the truth. They are separated from the life of God. That’s because they don’t know him. And they don’t know him because their hearts are stubborn.They have lost all feeling for what is right. So they have given themselves over to all kinds of evil pleasures. They take part in every kind of unclean act. And they are full of greed.
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Daniel 4:34-37
At the end of that time I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up toward heaven. My mind became clear again. Then I praised the Most High God. I gave honor and glory to the God who lives forever. His rule will last forever. His kingdom will never end.He considers all the nations on earth to be nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven. He does what he wants with the nations of the earth. No one can hold back his hand. No one can say to him,“ What have you done?”My honor and glory were returned to me when my mind became clear again. The glory of my kingdom was given back to me. My advisers and nobles came to me. And I was put back on my throne. I became even greater than I had been before.Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, give praise and honor and glory to the King of heaven. Everything he does is right. All his ways are fair. He is able to bring down those who live proudly.
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Luke 15:17-18
“ Then he began to think clearly again. He said,‘ How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough food! But here I am dying from hunger!I will get up and go back to my father. I will say to him,“ Father, I have sinned against heaven. And I have sinned against you.
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Jeremiah 44:16
“ We won’t listen to the message you have spoken to us in the Lord’ s name!
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Isaiah 55:6-7
Turn to the Lord before it’s too late. Call out to him while he’s still ready to help you.Let those who are evil stop doing evil things. And let them quit thinking evil thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord. The Lord will show them his tender love. Let them turn to our God. He is always ready to forgive.
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2 Chronicles 33 10-2 Chronicles 33 19
The Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people. But they didn’t pay any attention to him.So the Lord brought the army commanders of the king of Assyria against them. They took Manasseh as a prisoner. They put a hook in his nose. They put him in bronze chains. And they took him to Babylon.When Manasseh was in trouble, he asked the Lord his God to help him. He made himself very humble in the sight of the God of his people.Manasseh prayed to him. When he did, the Lord felt sorry for him. He answered his prayer. The Lord brought Manasseh back to Jerusalem and his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord is God.After that, Manasseh rebuilt the outer wall of the City of David. It was west of the Gihon spring in the valley. It reached all the way to the entrance of the Fish Gate. It went around the entire hill of Ophel. Manasseh also made the wall much higher. He stationed military commanders in all the cities in Judah that had high walls around them.Manasseh got rid of the false gods. He removed the statue of one of those gods from the Lord’ s temple. He also removed all the altars he had built on the temple hill and in Jerusalem. He threw them out of the city.Then he made the Lord’ s altar look like new again. He sacrificed friendship offerings and thank offerings on it. He told the people of Judah to serve the Lord, the God of Israel.The people continued to offer sacrifices at the high places. But they offered them only to the Lord their God.The other events of Manasseh’s rule are written down in the official records of the kings of Judah. These records include his prayer to his God. They also include the words the prophets spoke to him in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.Everything about Manasseh is written in the records of the prophets. That includes his prayer and the fact that God felt sorry for him. It includes everything he did before he made himself humble in the Lord’ s sight. It includes all his sins and the fact that he wasn’t faithful to the Lord. It includes the locations where he built high places. It includes the places where he set up poles used to worship the female god named Asherah. And it includes the places where he set up statues of other gods.
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Jonah 3:8-10
Let people and animals alike be covered with the clothing of sadness. All of you must call out to God with all your hearts. Stop doing what is evil. Don’t harm others.Who knows? God might take pity on us. He might not be angry with us anymore. Then we won’t die.”God saw what they did. He saw that they stopped doing what was evil. So he took pity on them. He didn’t destroy them as he had said he would.
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Acts 26:20
First I preached to people in Damascus. Then I preached in Jerusalem and in all Judea. And then I preached to the Gentiles. I told them to turn away from their sins to God. The way they live must show that they have turned away from their sins.
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Ezekiel 18:28-32
They think about all the evil things they have done. And they turn away from them. So you can be sure they will live. They will not die.But the Israelites still say,‘ What the Lord does isn’t fair.’ People of Israel, what I do is always fair. What you do is not.“ So I will judge you Israelites. I will judge each of you in keeping with what you have done,” announces the Lord and King.“ Turn away from your sins! Turn away from all the evil things you have done. Then sin will not bring you down.Get rid of all the evil things you have done. Let me give you a new heart and a new spirit. Then you will be faithful to me. Why should you die, people of Israel?When anyone dies, it does not give me any joy,” announces the Lord and King.“ So turn away from your sins. Then you will live!
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Matthew 3:2-8
He said,“ Turn away from your sins! The kingdom of heaven has come near.”John is the one Isaiah the prophet had spoken about. He had said,“ A messenger is calling out in the desert,‘ Prepare the way for the Lord. Make straight paths for him.’ ”( Isaiah 40:3)John’s clothes were made out of camel’s hair. He had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea. They also came from the whole area around the Jordan River.When they confessed their sins, John baptized them in the Jordan.John saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing. He said to them,“ You are like a nest of poisonous snakes! Who warned you to escape the coming of God’s anger?Live in a way that shows you have turned away from your sins.
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1 Corinthians 6 11
Some of you used to do those things. But your sins were washed away. You were made holy. You were made right with God. All of this was done in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was also done by the Spirit of our God.
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Ephesians 2:1-13
You were living in your sins and lawless ways. But in fact you were dead.You used to live as sinners when you followed the ways of this world. You served the one who rules over the spiritual forces of evil. He is the spirit who is now at work in those who don’t obey God.At one time we all lived among them. Our desires were controlled by sin. We tried to satisfy what they wanted us to do. We followed our desires and thoughts. God was angry with us like he was with everyone else. That’s because of the kind of people we all were.But God loves us deeply. He is full of mercy.So he gave us new life because of what Christ has done. He gave us life even when we were dead in sin. God’s grace has saved you.God raised us up with Christ. He has seated us with him in his heavenly kingdom. That’s because we belong to Christ Jesus.He has done it to show the riches of his grace for all time to come. His grace can’t be compared with anything else. He has shown it by being kind to us. He was kind to us because of what Christ Jesus has done.God’s grace has saved you because of your faith in Christ. Your salvation doesn’t come from anything you do. It is God’s gift.It is not based on anything you have done. No one can brag about earning it.We are God’s creation. He created us to belong to Christ Jesus. Now we can do good works. Long ago God prepared these works for us to do.You who are not Jews by birth, here is what I want you to remember. You are called“ uncircumcised” by those who call themselves“ circumcised.” But they have only been circumcised in their bodies by human hands.Before you believed in Christ, you were separated from him. You were not considered to be citizens of Israel. You were not included in what the covenants promised. You were without hope and without God in the world.At one time you were far away from God. But now you belong to Christ Jesus. He spilled his blood for you. This has brought you near to God.
