^37 (A)But let ^[a]your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.

¹⁷ For we are not, as ^[a]so many, ^(A)peddling^[b] the word of God; but as ^(B)of sincerity, but as from God, we speak in the sight of God in Christ.

Deceptions of False Teachers

¹⁸ For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who ^[a]have actually escaped from those who live in error.

^3 (A)among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in ^(B)the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and ^(C)were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

The Elders’ Task

¹⁰ For there are many insubordinate, both idle ^(A)talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision,

The New Man

¹⁷ This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should ^(A)no longer walk as ^[a]the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind,

³⁶ But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.

²⁶ If anyone ^[a]among you thinks he is religious, and ^(A)does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless.