⁸ Those who are in the realm of the flesh^(A) cannot please God.

¹⁷ To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’^(A)

²³ So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden^(A) to work the ground^(B) from which he had been taken. ²⁴ After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side^[a] of the Garden of Eden^(C) cherubim^(D) and a flaming sword^(E) flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.^(F)

² in which you used to live^(A) when you followed the ways of this world^(B) and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air,^(C) the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.^{(D) 3} All of us also lived among them at one time,^(E) gratifying the cravings of our flesh^[a](F) and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.

Instructions for Christian Living

¹⁷ So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer^(A) live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.^(B)

¹² But you have behaved more wickedly than your ancestors.^(A) See how all of you are following the stubbornness of your evil hearts^(B) instead of obeying me.

³ It is God’s will^(A) that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality;^{(B) 4} that each of you should learn to control your own body^[a](C) in a way that is holy and honorable, ⁵ not in passionate lust^(D) like the pagans,^(E) who do not know God;^(F)

⁷ For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.^(A)