Book of Common Prayer
The character of a bishop
3 Here is a trustworthy saying: if someone is eager for the work of overseeing God’s people, the task they seek is a fine one. 2 The bishop must be beyond reproach. He must not have more than one wife. He must be temperate, sensible, respectable, hospitable, a good teacher. 3 He must not be a heavy drinker, or violent, but must be gentle, not quarrelsome, and not in love with money. 4 He must be good at managing his own household, with his children being subject to him with all godliness. 5 (After all, if a man doesn’t know how to run his own household, how can he take care of God’s church?) 6 He must not be a recent convert, in case he gets puffed up and falls into the devil’s condemnation. 7 In addition, he must have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he may not incur reproach and fall into the devil’s snare.
The character of deacons
8 In the same way, deacons must be serious-minded, not the sort of people who say one thing today and another tomorrow, not heavy drinkers, not eager for shameful gain. 9 They must hold on to the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience. 10 They must first be tested; then, when they have been found without reproach, they may serve as deacons. 11 The womenfolk, too, should be serious-minded, not slanderers, but temperate and faithful in all things. 12 Deacons should have only one wife, and should be well in charge of their children and their own households. 13 Those who serve well as deacons, you see, gain a good platform for themselves to speak out boldly in the faith which is in Messiah Jesus.
The mystery of godliness
14 I’m writing this to you in the hope that I’ll be able to come to you in the near future. 15 But, if I’m delayed, this will help you to know how people should behave in God’s household, which is the assembly of the living God, the pillar and firm foundation of the truth. 16 Indeed, the mystery of godliness is certainly great:
He was revealed in the flesh,
and vindicated in the spirit;
he appeared to angels,
and was announced to Gentiles;
he was believed in the world,
and taken up in glory.
The authority of Jesus is questioned
27 Once more they went into Jerusalem. As Jesus was walking in the Temple he was approached by the chief priests, the legal experts and the elders.
28 “By what right do you do these things?” they asked. “Who gave you the right to do them?”
29 “I have one question for you, too,” replied Jesus, “and if you tell me the answer I shall tell you by what right I do these things. 30 Was the baptism of John from heaven, or was it a human invention? What’s your answer?”
31 “Well now,” they muttered to each other, “if we say it was from heaven, he will say, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ 32 But if we say it was a human invention . . .” They were afraid of the crowd, because everyone regarded John as a prophet.
33 “We don’t know,” they said to Jesus.
“Nor will I tell you,” replied Jesus, “by what right I do these things.”
The parable of the tenants
12 Jesus began to speak to them with parables.
“Once upon a time,” he began, “there was a man who planted a vineyard. He built a fence around it, dug out a wine-press, built a watchtower, and then let it out to tenant farmers. He himself went abroad. 2 When the time came he sent a slave to the farmers to collect from them his portion of the vineyard’s produce. 3 They seized him, beat him and sent him away empty-handed.
4 “So again he sent another slave to them. This one they beat about the head, and treated shamefully. 5 He sent another, and they killed him. He sent several more; they beat some and killed others.
6 “He had one more to send: his beloved son. He sent him to them last of all, thinking ‘They will respect my son.’
7 “But the tenant farmers said to themselves, ‘This is the heir! Come on—let’s kill him, and we’ll get the inheritance!’ 8 So they seized him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.
9 “So what will the vineyard owner do? He will come and destroy those tenants, and give the vineyard to others. 10 Or haven’t you read the scripture which says,
There is the stone the builders refused;
now it’s in place at the top of the corner.
11 This was the way the Lord planned it;
we were astonished to see it.”
12 They tried to find a way of arresting him, because they realized he had directed the parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd. They left him and went away.
Scripture quotations from The New Testament for Everyone are copyright © Nicholas Thomas Wright 2011, 2018, 2019.