amulets

¹⁸In that day, the Lord will take away their decorative shoes, ¹⁹and the little moons and chains, and the necklaces and bracelets, and the hats, ²⁰and the ornaments for their hair, and the anklets, and the touches of myrrh and little bottles of perfumes, and the earrings,

¹⁸and say: Thus says the Lord God: Woe to those who sew together little pillows under every forearm, and who make little cushions for the heads of every stage of life, in order to capture souls. And when they have seized the souls of my people, they became the life of their souls.

²⁰Because of this, thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against your little pillows, with which you catch flying souls. And I will tear them away from your arms. And I will release the souls that you are capturing, the souls that should fly.

⁷You have hated those who practice emptiness to no purpose. But I have hoped in the Lord.

²⁴Then too, Josiah took away those who divined by spirits, and the soothsayers, and the images of the idols, and the defilements, and the abominations, which had been in the land of Judah and Jerusalem, so that he might establish the words of the law, which were written in the book, which Hilkiah, the priest, found in the temple of the Lord.

⁶For you have cast aside your people, the house of Jacob, because they have been filled up, as in past times, and because they have had soothsayers as the Philistines have, and because they have joined themselves to foreign servants.

²He will say to the Lord, “You are my supporter and my refuge.” My God, I will hope in him. ³For he has freed me from the snare of those who go hunting, and from the harsh word. ⁴He will overshadow you with his shoulders, and you will hope under his wings. ⁵His truth will surround you with a shield. You will not be afraid: before the terror of the night, ⁶before the arrow flying in the day, before the troubles that wander in the darkness, nor of invasion and the midday demon.

¹⁴Therefore, stand firm, having been girded about your waist with truth, and having been clothed with the breastplate of justice, ¹⁵and having feet which have been shod by the preparation of the Gospel of peace. ¹⁶In all things, take up the shield of faith, with which you may be able to extinguish all the fiery darts of the most wicked one. ¹⁷And take up the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit (which is the Word of God).

¹⁶And the Lord said: Because the daughters of Zion have been lifted up, and have walked with extended necks and winking eyes, because they have continued on, walking noisily and advancing with a pretentious stride, ¹⁷the Lord will make the heads of the daughters of Zion bald, and the Lord will strip them of the locks of their hair. ¹⁸In that day, the Lord will take away their decorative shoes, ¹⁹and the little moons and chains, and the necklaces and bracelets, and the hats, ²⁰and the ornaments for their hair, and the anklets, and the touches of myrrh and little bottles of perfumes, and the earrings, ²¹and the rings, and the jewels hanging on their foreheads,

⁹Therefore, there was great gladness in that city. Now there was a certain man named Simon, who formerly had been a magician in that city, seducing the people of Samaria, claiming himself to be someone great. ¹⁰And to all those who would listen, from the least even to the greatest, he was saying: “Here is the power of God, which is called great.” ¹¹And they were attentive to him because, for a long time, he had deluded them with his magic. ¹²Yet truly, once they had believed Philip, who was evangelizing the kingdom of God, both men and women were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. ¹³Then Simon himself also believed and, when he had been baptized, he adhered to Philip. And now, seeing also the greatest signs and miracles being wrought, he was amazed and stupefied.

²⁰and the ornaments for their hair, and the anklets, and the touches of myrrh and little bottles of perfumes, and the earrings,

²¹envy, murder, inebriation, carousing, and similar things. About these things, I continue to preach to you, as I have preached to you: that those who act in this way shall not obtain the kingdom of God.

¹⁹Or do you not know that your bodies are the Temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? ²⁰For you have been bought at a great price. Glorify and carry God in your body.

²⁰the serving of idols, drug use, hostility, contentiousness, jealousy, wrath, quarrels, dissensions, divisions,