Book of Common Prayer

God’s love, God’s power—in us

¹⁴ Because of this, I am kneeling down before the father, ¹⁵ the one who gives the name of “family” to every family that there is, in heaven and on earth. ¹⁶ My prayer is this: that he will lay out all the riches of his glory to give you strength and power, through his spirit, in your inner being; ¹⁷ that the Messiah may make his home in your hearts, through faith; that love may be your root, your firm foundation; ¹⁸ and that you may be strong enough (with all God’s holy ones) to grasp the breadth and length and height and depth, ¹⁹ and to know the Messiah’s love—though actually it’s so deep that nobody can really know it! So may God fill you with all his fullness.

²⁰ So: to the one who is capable of doing far, far more than we can ask or imagine, granted the power which is working in us— ²¹ to him be glory, in the church, and in Messiah Jesus, to all generations, and to the ages of ages! Amen!

Teachings on the sabbath

²³ One sabbath, Jesus was walking through the cornfields. His disciples made their way along, plucking corn as they went.

²⁴ “Look here,” said the Pharisees to him, “why are they doing something illegal on the sabbath?”

²⁵ “Haven’t you ever read what David did,” replied Jesus, “when he was in difficulties, and he and his men got hungry? ²⁶ He went into God’s house (this was when Abiathar was high priest), and ate the ‘bread of the presence,’ which only the priests were allowed to eat—and he gave it to the people with him.

²⁷ “The sabbath was made for humans,” he said, “not humans for the sabbath; ²⁸ so the son of man is master even of the sabbath.”

Healing of the man with the withered hand

3 Once more Jesus went to the synagogue. There was a man there with a withered hand. ² People were watching to see if Jesus would heal him on the sabbath, so that they could frame a charge against him.

³ “Stand up,” said Jesus to the man with the withered hand, “and come out here.” And he said to them, ⁴ “Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath, or to do evil? To save life or to kill?” They stayed quiet.

⁵ He was deeply upset at their hard-heartedness, and looked round at them angrily. Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out—and his hand was restored. ⁶ The Pharisees went out right away and began to plot with the Herodians against Jesus, trying to find a way to destroy him.