⁹ Then Yeshua said to them, “I ask you—what is the right thing to do on a day of worship: to do good or evil, to give a person his health or to destroy it?” ¹⁰ He looked around at all of them and then said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” The man did so, and his hand became normal again.

¹¹ The experts in Moses’ Teachings and Pharisees were furious and began to discuss with each other what they could do to Yeshua.

Jesus Appoints Twelve Apostles^(A)

¹² At that time Yeshua went to a mountain to pray. He spent the whole night in prayer to God.

¹³ When it was day, he called his disciples. He chose twelve of them and called them apostles. ¹⁴ They were Simon (whom Yeshua named Peter) and Simon’s brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, ¹⁵ Matthew, Thomas, James (son of Alphaeus), Simon (who was called the Zealot), ¹⁶ Judas (son of James), and Judas Iscariot (who became a traitor).

The Lost Son

¹¹ Then Yeshua said, “A man had two sons. ¹² The younger son said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the property.’ So the father divided his property between his two sons.

¹³ “After a few days, the younger son gathered his possessions and left for a country far away from home. There he wasted everything he had on a wild lifestyle. ¹⁴ He had nothing left when a severe famine spread throughout that country. He had nothing to live on. ¹⁵ So he got a job from someone in that country and was sent to feed pigs in the fields. ¹⁶ No one in the country would give him any food, and he was so hungry that he would have eaten what the pigs were eating.

¹⁷ “Finally, he came to his senses. He said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more food than they can eat, while I’m starving to death here? ¹⁸ I’ll go at once to my father, and I’ll say to him, “Father, I’ve sinned against heaven and you. ¹⁹ I don’t deserve to be called your son anymore. Make me one of your hired men.” ’

²⁰ “So he went at once to his father. While he was still at a distance, his father saw him and felt sorry for him. He ran to his son, put his arms around him, and kissed him. ²¹ Then his son said to him, ‘Father, I’ve sinned against heaven and you. I don’t deserve to be called your son anymore.’^[a]

²² “The father said to his servants, ‘Hurry! Bring out the best robe, and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. ²³ Bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let’s celebrate with a feast. ²⁴ My son was dead and has come back to life. He was lost but has been found.’ Then they began to celebrate.

²⁵ “His older son was in the field. As he was coming back to the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶ He called to one of the servants and asked what was happening.

²⁷ “The servant told him, ‘Your brother has come home. So your father has killed the fattened calf to celebrate your brother’s safe return.’

²⁸ “Then the older son became angry and wouldn’t go into the house. His father came out and begged him to come in. ²⁹ But he answered his father, ‘All these years I’ve worked like a slave for you. I’ve never disobeyed one of your commands. Yet, you’ve never given me so much as a little goat for a celebration with my friends. ³⁰ But this son of yours spent your money on prostitutes, and when he came home, you killed the fattened calf for him.’

³¹ “His father said to him, ‘My child, you’re always with me. Everything I have is yours. ³² But we have something to celebrate, something to be happy about. This brother of yours was dead but has come back to life. He was lost but has been found.’”

¹³ On the second trip, Joseph told his brothers who he was, and Pharaoh learned about Joseph’s family. ¹⁴ Joseph sent for his father Jacob and his relatives, 75 people in all. ¹⁵ So Jacob went to Egypt, and he and our ancestors died there.

Faith Guides Our Lives

5 We know that if the life we live here on earth is ever taken down like a tent, we still have a building from God. It is an eternal house in heaven that isn’t made by human hands. ² In our present tent-like existence we sigh, since we long to put on the house we will have in heaven. ³ After we have put it on,^[a] we won’t be naked. ⁴ While we are in this tent, we sigh. We feel distressed because we don’t want to take off the tent, but we do want to put on the eternal house. Then eternal life will put an end to our mortal existence. ⁵ God has prepared us for this and has given us his Spirit to guarantee it.

⁶ So we are always confident. We know that as long as we are living in these bodies, we are living away from the Lord. ⁷ Indeed, our lives are guided by faith, not by sight. ⁸ We are confident and prefer to live away from this body and to live with the Lord. ⁹ Whether we live in the body or move out of it, our goal is to be pleasing to him. ¹⁰ All of us must appear in front of Christ’s judgment seat. Then all people will receive what they deserve for the good or evil they have done while living in their bodies.

Christ’s Love Guides Us

¹¹ As people who know what it means to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others. God already knows what we are, and I hope that you also know what we are. ¹² We are not trying to show you our qualifications again, but we are giving you an opportunity to be proud of us. Then you can answer those who are proud of their appearance rather than their character. ¹³ So if we were crazy, it was for God. If we are sane, it is for you. ¹⁴ Clearly, Christ’s love guides us. We are convinced of the fact that one man has died for all people. Therefore, all people have died. ¹⁵ He died for all people so that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for the man who died and was brought back to life for them.

¹⁶ So from now on we don’t think of anyone from a human point of view. If we did think of Christ from a human point of view, we don’t anymore. ¹⁷ Whoever is a believer in Christ is a new creation. The old way of living has disappeared. A new way of living has come into existence. ¹⁸ God has done all this. He has restored our relationship with him through Christ, and has given us this ministry of restoring relationships. ¹⁹ In other words, God was using Christ to restore his relationship with humanity. He didn’t hold people’s faults against them, and he has given us this message of restored relationships to tell others. ²⁰ Therefore, we are Christ’s representatives, and through us God is calling you. We beg you on behalf of Christ to become reunited with God. ²¹ God had Christ, who was sinless, take our sin so that we might receive God’s approval through him.

God Saved Us because of His Great Love for Us

2 You were once dead because of your failures and sins. ² You followed the ways of this present world and its spiritual ruler. This ruler continues to work in people who refuse to obey God. ³ All of us once lived among these people, and followed the desires of our corrupt nature. We did what our corrupt desires and thoughts wanted us to do. So, because of our nature, we deserved God’s anger just like everyone else.

⁴ But God is rich in mercy because of his great love for us. ⁵ We were dead because of our failures, but he made us alive together with Christ. (It is God’s kindness^[a] that saved you.) ⁶ God has brought us back to life together with Christ Yeshua and has given us a position in heaven with him. ⁷ He did this through Christ Yeshua out of his generosity to us in order to show his extremely rich kindness in the world to come. ⁸ God saved you through faith as an act of kindness. You had nothing to do with it. Being saved is a gift from God. ⁹ It’s not the result of anything you’ve done, so no one can brag about it. ¹⁰ God has made us what we are. He has created us in Christ Yeshua to live lives filled with good works that he has prepared for us to do.