²⁶ Then God said, ^(A)“Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; ^(B)let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over ^[a]all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” ²⁷ So God created man ^(C)in His own image; in the image of God He created him; ^(D)male and female He created them. ²⁸ Then God blessed them, and God said to them, ^(E)“Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and ^(F)subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that ^[b]moves on the earth.”

²⁹ And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; ^(G)to you it shall be for food.

²¹ “But ^(A)if a wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. ^22 (B)None of the transgressions which he has committed shall be remembered against him; because of the righteousness which he has done, he shall ^(C)live. ^23 (D)Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?” says the Lord God, “and not that he should turn from his ways and live?

²⁴ “But ^(E)when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? ^(F)All the righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; because of the unfaithfulness of which he is guilty and the sin which he has committed, because of them he shall die.

²⁵ “Yet you say, ^(G)‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ Hear now, O house of Israel, is it not My way which is fair, and your ways which are not fair? ^26 (H)When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity, and dies in it, it is because of the iniquity which he has done that he dies. ²⁷ Again, ^(I)when a wicked man turns away from the wickedness which he committed, and does what is lawful and right, he preserves himself alive. ²⁸ Because he ^(J)considers and turns away from all the transgressions which he committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die. ^29 (K)Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ O house of Israel, is it not My ways which are fair, and your ways which are not fair?

^30 (L)“Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways,” says the Lord God. ^(M)“Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin. ^31 (N)Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a ^(O)new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O house of Israel? ³² For ^(P)I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,” says the Lord God. “Therefore turn and ^(Q)live!”

Do Not Worry^(A)

²⁵ “Therefore I say to you, ^(B)do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? ^26 (C)Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? ²⁷ Which of you by worrying can add one ^[a]cubit to his ^[b]stature?

²⁸ “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; ²⁹ and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not ^[c]arrayed like one of these. ³⁰ Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

³¹ “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. ³³ But ^(D)seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.