Suffering for Doing Good

⁸ Finally, all of you, be like-minded,^(A) be sympathetic, love one another,^(B) be compassionate and humble.^(C)

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath^(A)(B)

12 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain^(C) and eat them. ² When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”^(D)

³ He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?^{(E) 4} He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests.^{(F) 5} Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath^(G) and yet are innocent? ⁶ I tell you that something greater than the temple is here.^{(H) 7} If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’^[a](I) you would not have condemned the innocent. ⁸ For the Son of Man^(J) is Lord of the Sabbath.”

A Church Divided Over Leaders

¹⁰ I appeal to you, brothers and sisters,^[a](A) in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you,^(B) but that you be perfectly united^(C) in mind and thought.

³ Make every effort to keep the unity^(A) of the Spirit through the bond of peace.^(B)

²⁵ not giving up meeting together,^(A) as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another^(B)—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.^(C)