"Then get rid of those foreign gods that you have," he demanded, "and pledge your loyalty to the LORD, the God of Israel."

So Naomi said to her, "Ruth, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her god. Go back home with her."

"You cannot be a slave of two masters; you will hate one and love the other; you will be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

Once when large crowds of people were going along with Jesus, he turned and said to them,

Those who do not carry their own cross and come after me cannot be my disciples.

If you don't, you will not be able to finish the tower after laying the foundation; and all who see what happened will make fun of you.

If a king goes out with ten thousand men to fight another king who comes against him with twenty thousand men, he will sit down first and decide if he is strong enough to face that other king.

In the same way," concluded Jesus, "none of you can be my disciple unless you give up everything you have.

Then Moses said to Aaron, "This is what the LORD was speaking about when he said, 'All who serve me must respect my holiness; I will reveal my glory to my people.' " But Aaron remained silent.

to say to the community of Israel, "Be holy, because I, the LORD your God, am holy.

So the men of Beth Shemesh said, "Who can stand before the LORD, this holy God? Where can we send him to get him away from us?"

Praise the LORD our God; worship before his throne! Holy is he!

Praise the LORD our God, and worship at his sacred hill! The LORD our God is holy.

But the LORD Almighty shows his greatness by doing what is right, and he reveals his holiness by judging his people.

They were calling out to each other: "Holy, holy, holy! The LORD Almighty is holy! His glory fills the world."

I said, "There is no hope for me! I am doomed because every word that passes my lips is sinful, and I live among a people whose every word is sinful. And yet, with my own eyes I have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."

Get out of our way and stop blocking our path. We don't want to hear about your holy God of Israel."

The Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says to the people, "Come back and quietly trust in me. Then you will be strong and secure." But you refuse to do it.

But how can you stand these treacherous, evil men? Your eyes are too holy to look at evil, and you cannot stand the sight of people doing wrong. So why are you silent while they destroy people who are more righteous than they are?

Do not bow down to any idol or worship it, because I am the LORD your God and I tolerate no rivals. I bring punishment on those who hate me and on their descendants down to the third and fourth generation.

"Do not worship any other god, because I, the LORD, tolerate no rivals.

No! What I am saying is that what is sacrificed on pagan altars is offered to demons, not to God. And I do not want you to be partners with demons.

Or do we want to make the Lord jealous? Do we think that we are stronger than he?

Pay attention to him and obey him. Do not rebel against him, for I have sent him, and he will not pardon such rebellion.

I keep my promise for thousands of generations and forgive evil and sin; but I will not fail to punish children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation for the sins of their parents."

So I solemnly declare to the family of Eli that no sacrifice or offering will ever be able to remove the consequences of this terrible sin."

But they made fun of God's messengers, ignoring his words and laughing at his prophets, until at last the LORD's anger against his people was so great that there was no escape.

The branches of the trees are withered and broken, and women gather them for firewood. Because the people have understood nothing, God their Creator will not pity them or show them any mercy.