God's anger is revealed from heaven against all the sin and evil of the people whose evil ways prevent the truth from being known.

They know God, but they do not give him the honor that belongs to him, nor do they thank him. Instead, their thoughts have become complete nonsense, and their empty minds are filled with darkness.

The wicked tell God to leave them alone; they don't want to know his will for their lives.

They think there is no need to serve God nor any advantage in praying to him.

To have knowledge, you must first have reverence for the LORD. Stupid people have no respect for wisdom and refuse to learn.

"Foolish people! How long do you want to be foolish? How long will you enjoy making fun of knowledge? Will you never learn?

You have never had any use for knowledge and have always refused to obey the LORD.

and you will say, "Why would I never learn? Why would I never let anyone correct me?

I wouldn't listen to my teachers. I paid no attention to them.

It does a fool no good to spend money on an education, because he has no common sense.

The LORD says, "My people are stupid; they don't know me. They are like foolish children; they have no understanding. They are experts at doing what is evil, but failures at doing what is good."

(SEE 9:5)

My people are doomed because they do not acknowledge me. You priests have refused to acknowledge me and have rejected my teaching, and so I reject you and will not acknowledge your sons as my priests.

For as I walked through your city and looked at the places where you worship, I found an altar on which is written, 'To an Unknown God.' That which you worship, then, even though you do not know it, is what I now proclaim to you.

When they heard Paul speak about a raising from death, some of them made fun of him, but others said, "We want to hear you speak about this again."

And so people become enemies of God when they are controlled by their human nature; for they do not obey God's law, and in fact they cannot obey it.

Those who obey their human nature cannot please God.

Come back to your right senses and stop your sinful ways. I declare to your shame that some of you do not know God.

They do not believe, because their minds have been kept in the dark by the evil god of this world. He keeps them from seeing the light shining on them, the light that comes from the Good News about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.

The God who said, "Out of darkness the light shall shine!" is the same God who made his light shine in our hearts, to bring us the knowledge of God's glory shining in the face of Christ.

we pull down every proud obstacle that is raised against the knowledge of God; we take every thought captive and make it obey Christ.

with a flaming fire, to punish those who reject God and who do not obey the Good News about our Lord Jesus.

and use every kind of wicked deceit on those who will perish. They will perish because they did not welcome and love the truth so as to be saved.

The result is that all who have not believed the truth, but have taken pleasure in sin, will be condemned.

They purposely ignore the fact that long ago God gave a command, and the heavens and earth were created. The earth was formed out of water and by water,

They will be called worthless dross, because I, the LORD, have rejected them."

Put yourselves to the test and judge yourselves, to find out whether you are living in faith. Surely you know that Christ Jesus is in you?---unless you have completely failed.

We pray to God that you will do no wrong---not in order to show that we are a success, but so that you may do what is right, even though we may seem to be failures.

As Jannes and Jambres were opposed to Moses, so also these people are opposed to the truth---people whose minds do not function and who are failures in the faith.

They claim that they know God, but their actions deny it. They are hateful and disobedient, not fit to do anything good.

Nor is it fitting for you to use language which is obscene, profane, or vulgar. Rather you should give thanks to God.

For this reason I could be bold enough, as your brother in Christ, to order you to do what should be done.