Book of Common Prayer
Foes and friends
15 You will know that everyone in Asia has turned away from me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes. 16 May the Lord give mercy to the household of Onesiphorus; he has often refreshed me. He wasn’t ashamed of my chains, 17 but when he was in Rome he eagerly hunted for me and found me. 18 May the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that day. And you know very well all the things he did for me in Ephesus.
Conditions of service
2 So, then, my child: you must be strong in the grace which is in Messiah Jesus. 2 You heard the teaching I gave in public; pass it on to faithful people who will be capable of instructing others as well. 3 Take your share of suffering as one of Messiah Jesus’ good soldiers. 4 No one who serves in the army gets embroiled in civilian activities, since they want to please the officer who enlisted them. 5 If you take part in athletic events, you don’t win the crown unless you compete according to the rules. 6 The farmer who does the work deserves the first share of the crops. 7 Think about what I say; the Lord will give you understanding in everything.
God’s word is not tied up
8 Remember Jesus the Messiah, risen from the dead, from the seed of David, according to my gospel— 9 for which I suffer like a criminal, even being chained up! But God’s word is not tied up. 10 That’s why I put up with everything for the sake of God’s chosen ones, so that they too may obtain, with glory that lasts forever, the salvation which is in Messiah Jesus. 11 You can rely on this saying:
If we die with him, we shall live with him;
12 if we endure patiently, we shall reign with him;
if we deny him, he will deny us;
13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful,
for he cannot deny his own self.
Teachings on divorce
10 Jesus left the region, and went to the districts of Judaea across the Jordan. A large crowd gathered around him, and once more, as his custom was, he taught them.
2 Some Pharisees approached him with a question. “Is it permitted,” they asked, “for a man to divorce his wife?” They said this to trap him.
3 “Well,” answered Jesus, “what did Moses command you?”
4 “Moses permitted us,” they replied, “to write a notice of separation and so to complete the divorce.”
5 “He gave you that command,” said Jesus, “because you are hardhearted. 6 But from the beginning of creation
male and female he made them; 7 and that’s why the man must leave his father and his mother and cleave unto his wife; 8 so that the two become one flesh.
“There you are, then: they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 What God has joined, humans must not split up.”
10 When they were back indoors, the disciples asked him about this.
11 “Anyone who divorces his wife,” said Jesus, “and marries someone else commits adultery against her. 12 And if she divorces her husband and marries someone else she commits adultery.”
13 People brought children to Jesus for him to touch them. The disciples reprimanded them. 14 But Jesus was angry when he saw it, and said to them, “Let the children come to me! Don’t stop them! The kingdom of God belongs to people like that. 15 I’m telling you the truth: anyone who doesn’t receive the kingdom of God like a child will never get into it.”
16 And he hugged them, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.
Scripture quotations from The New Testament for Everyone are copyright © Nicholas Thomas Wright 2011, 2018, 2019.