God has overlooked the times when people did not know him, but now he commands all of them everywhere to turn away from their evil ways.

So I let them go their stubborn ways and do whatever they wanted.

He has not done this for other nations; they do not know his laws. Praise the LORD!

The people of Israel are under the spell of idols. Let them go their own way.

They know God, but they do not give him the honor that belongs to him, nor do they thank him. Instead, their thoughts have become complete nonsense, and their empty minds are filled with darkness.

instead of worshiping the immortal God, they worship images made to look like mortals or birds or animals or reptiles.

They exchange the truth about God for a lie; they worship and serve what God has created instead of the Creator himself, who is to be praised forever! Amen.

At that time you were apart from Christ. You were foreigners and did not belong to God's chosen people. You had no part in the covenants, which were based on God's promises to his people, and you lived in this world without hope and without God.

You have spent enough time in the past doing what the heathen like to do. Your lives were spent in indecency, lust, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and the disgusting worship of idols.