Book of Common Prayer
14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received God’s word, they sent Peter and John to them. 15 When they arrived, they prayed for them, asking that they would receive the holy spirit, 16 since up to that point the spirit had come upon none of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then they laid their hands on them, and they received the holy spirit.
18 When Simon saw that the spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money.
19 “Give me this power too,” he said, “so that anyone I lay my hands on will receive the holy spirit.”
20 “You and your silver belong in hell!” retorted Peter. “Did you really think that God’s gift could be bought with money? 21 You have no part or share in this word! Your heart is not straight before God. 22 So repent from this wickedness, and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive the scheme you had in your heart. 23 I can see that you are still stuck in the bitter poison and chains of unrighteousness.”
24 “Pray to the Lord for me,” said Simon in reply, “that none of what you’ve said will happen to me.”
25 After Peter and John had finished bearing witness and speaking the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, announcing the good news to many Samaritan villages.
The parable of the good Samaritan
25 A lawyer got up and put Jesus on the spot.
“Teacher,” he said, “what should I do to inherit the life of the coming age?”
26 “Well,” replied Jesus, “what is written in the law? What’s your interpretation of it?”
27 “You shall love the Lord your God,” he replied, “with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your understanding; and your neighbor as yourself.”
28 “Well said!” replied Jesus. “Do that and you will live.”
Martha and Mary
38 On their journey, Jesus came into a village. There was a woman there named Martha, who welcomed him. 39 She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the master’s feet and listened to his teaching.
40 Martha was frantic with all the work in the kitchen.
“Master,” she said, coming in to where they were, “don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work all by myself? Tell her to give me a hand!”
41 “Martha, Martha,” he replied, “you are fretting and fussing about so many things. 42 Only one thing matters. Mary has chosen the best part, and it’s not going to be taken away from her.”
Scripture quotations from The New Testament for Everyone are copyright © Nicholas Thomas Wright 2011, 2018, 2019.