Book of Common Prayer

True teaching about the truth

1 Paul, an apostle of Messiah Jesus according to the command of God our savior and Messiah Jesus our hope, ² to Timothy, my true child in faith: grace, mercy and peace from God the father and Messiah Jesus our Lord.

³ This is my charge to you, just as it was when I went to Macedonia: stay in Ephesus, so that you can tell the relevant people not to teach anything different, ⁴ or to cling on to myths and endless genealogies. That sort of thing breeds disputes rather than the instruction in faith that comes from God. ⁵ The goal of such instruction is love—the love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience and sincere faith. ⁶ Some people have wandered off from these things and turned aside to foolish talk. ⁷ They want to be teachers of the law; but they don’t understand either what they’re talking about or the things about which they pronounce so confidently.

The purpose of the law

⁸ We know, after all, that the law is good—if someone uses it lawfully! ⁹ We recognize that the law is not laid down for people who are in the right, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the godless and sinners, the unholy and worldly, for people who kill their father or mother, for murderers, ¹⁰ fornicators, practicing homosexuals, slave traders, liars, perjurers, and those who practice any other behavior contrary to healthy teaching, ¹¹ in accordance with the gospel of the glory of God the blessed one that was entrusted to me.

Paul as an example of God’s saving grace

¹² I thank Messiah Jesus our Lord, who gave me strength. He regarded me as trustworthy by appointing me to his service— ¹³ even though I used to say blasphemous things against him, and persecuted his people violently! But I received mercy, because in my unbelief I didn’t know what I was doing. ¹⁴ And the grace of our Lord was more than enough for me, with the faith and love that are in Messiah Jesus. ¹⁵ Here is a word you can trust, which deserves total approval: “Messiah Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I’m the worst of them! ¹⁶ But this was why I received mercy: so that in me, precisely as the worst, Messiah Jesus could demonstrate the full scale of his patience, and make me a pattern for those who were going to believe in him and so attain the life of the age to come. ¹⁷ To the King of the ages, the one and only God, immortal and invisible, be honor and glory to the ages of ages, Amen!

The triumphal entry

11 So they approached Jerusalem. They got as far as Bethphage and Bethany, on the Mount of Olives, when Jesus sent two of his disciples on ahead with a specific task.

² “Go to the village over there,” he said to them, “and as soon as you enter it you will find a colt tied up—one that nobody has ever ridden before. Untie it and bring it here. ³ And if anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing that?’ then say, ‘The master needs it, and he will return it at once.’ ”

⁴ They went off and found the colt tied up beside a door, out in the street; and they untied it.

⁵ Some of the bystanders said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” ⁶ They gave the answer Jesus had told them, and they let them carry on. ⁷ So they brought the colt to Jesus and laid their cloaks on it, and he mounted it. ⁸ Several people spread out their cloaks in the road. Others did the same with foliage that they had cut in the fields. ⁹ Those in front, and those coming behind, shouted out, “Hosanna! Welcome in the Lord’s name! ¹⁰ Here comes the kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!”

¹¹ Jesus entered Jerusalem, went into the Temple, and looked all round. It was already getting late, and he returned to Bethany with the Twelve.