Book of Common Prayer
From Mount Sinai to Mount Zion
18 You haven’t come, after all, to something that can be touched—a blazing fire, darkness, gloom and whirlwind, 19 the sound of a trumpet and a voice speaking words which the hearers begged not to have to listen to anymore. 20 (They couldn’t bear the command that “if even a beast touches the mountain, it must be stoned.”) 21 The sight was so terrifying that even Moses said, “I’m trembling with fear.”
22 No: you have come to Mount Zion—to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to where thousands and thousands of angels are gathered for a festival; 23 to the assembly of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God the judge of all, to the spirits of righteous people who have been made perfect, 24 and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood which has better words to say than the blood of Abel.
The kingdom that cannot be shaken
25 Take care that you don’t refuse the one who is speaking. For if people didn’t escape when they rejected the one who gave them earthly warnings, how much more if we turn away from the one who speaks from heaven! 26 At that point, his voice shook the earth; but now he has issued a promise in the following words: “One more time I will shake not only the earth but heaven as well.” 27 The phrase “one more time” shows that the things that are to be shaken (that is, the created things) will be taken away, so that the things that cannot be shaken will remain.
28 Well, then: we are to receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken! This calls for gratitude! That’s how to offer God true and acceptable worship, reverently and with fear. 29 Our God, you see, is a devouring fire.
24 I’m telling you the solemn truth: unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains all by itself. If it dies, though, it will produce lots of fruit. 25 If you love your life, you’ll lose it. If you hate your life in this world, you’ll keep it for the life of the coming age.
26 “If anyone serves me, they must follow me. Where I am, my servant will be too. If anyone serves me, the father will honor them.”
The hour has come
27 “Now my heart is troubled,” Jesus went on. “What am I going to say: ‘Father, save me from this moment’? No! It was because of this that I came to this moment. 28 Father, glorify your name!”
“I have glorified it,” came a voice from heaven, “and I will glorify it again.”
29 “That was thunder!” said the crowd, standing there listening.
“No,” said others. “It was an angel, talking to him.”
30 “That voice came for your sake, not mine,” replied Jesus. 31 “Now comes the judgment of this world! Now this world’s ruler is going to be thrown out! 32 And when I’ve been lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to myself.”
Scripture quotations from The New Testament for Everyone are copyright © Nicholas Thomas Wright 2011, 2018, 2019.