Book of Common Prayer
God’s one and only son
1 In many ways and by many means God spoke in ancient times to our ancestors in the prophets; 2 but at the end of these days he spoke to us in a son.
He appointed this son to be heir of all things;
through him, in addition, he created the worlds.
3 He is the shining reflection of God’s own glory,
the precise expression of his own very being;
he sustains all things through his powerful word.
He accomplished the cleansing needed for sins,
and sat down at the right of the Majesty Supreme.
4 See how much greater he is than the angels:
the name he is granted is finer than theirs.
5 For to which angel did God ever say, “You are my son, today I became your father”? Or, again, “I will be his father, and he will be my son”?
The Messiah is superior to angels
6 Again, when God brings the firstborn son into the world, he says,
Let all God’s angels worship him.
7 In relation to the angels, this is what it says:
God makes his angels spirits, and his servants flames of fire.
8 In relation to the son, however, it says,
Your throne, O God, is forever and ever;
the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom;
9 you loved justice and hated lawlessness,
therefore God, your God, anointed you with the oil of gladness,
as superior to your comrades.
10 And, again:
You established the earth, O Lord, from the beginning;
and the heavens are the works of your hands;
11 they will be destroyed, but you will remain;
all of them will grow old like clothing,
12 you will roll them up like a cloak,
and they will be changed like clothing.
But you are the same, and your years will never give out.
The Word made flesh
1 In the beginning was the Word. The Word was close beside God, and the Word was God. 2 In the beginning, he was close beside God.
3 All things came into existence through him; not one thing that exists came into existence without him. 4 Life was in him, and this life was the light of the human race. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
6 There was a man called John, who was sent from God. 7 He came as evidence, to give evidence about the light, so that everyone might believe through him.
The evidence of John
19 This is the evidence John gave, when the Judaeans sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”
20 He was quite open about it; he didn’t try to deny it. He said, quite openly, “I am not the Messiah.”
The lamb and the spirit
29 The next day, John saw Jesus coming towards him.
“Look!” he said. “There’s God’s lamb! He’s the one who takes away the world’s sin! 30 He’s the one I was speaking about when I said, ‘There’s a man coming after me who ranks ahead of me, because he was before me!’ 31 I didn’t know who it would be, but this was the reason I came to baptize with water—so that he could be revealed to Israel.”
32 So John gave this evidence: “I saw the spirit coming down like a dove out of heaven and remaining on him. 33 I didn’t know who it would be; but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘When you see the spirit coming down and resting on someone, that’s the person who will baptize with the holy spirit.’ 34 Well, that’s what I saw, and I’ve given you my evidence: he is the son of God.”
Scripture quotations from The New Testament for Everyone are copyright © Nicholas Thomas Wright 2011, 2018, 2019.