Book of Common Prayer
11 Nobody can lay any foundation, you see, except the one which is laid, which is Jesus the Messiah!
The coming day, the coming fire
12 If anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, grass or straw— 13 well, everyone’s work will become visible, because the Day will show it up, since it will be revealed in fire. Then the fire will test what sort of work everyone has done. 14 If the building work that someone has done stands the test, they will receive a reward. 15 If someone’s work is burned up, they will be punished by bearing the loss; they themselves will be saved, however, but only as though through a fire.
16 Don’t you see? You are God’s Temple! God’s spirit lives in you! 17 If anyone destroys God’s Temple, God will destroy them. God’s Temple is holy, you see, and that is precisely what you are.
Everything belongs to you
18 Don’t let anyone deceive themselves. If anyone among you supposes they are wise in the present age, let them become foolish, so that they can become wise. 19 The wisdom of this world, you see, is folly with God. This is what the Bible says: “He catches the wise in their trickery.” 20 And again, “The Lord knows the thinking of the wise—and he knows that it’s all a sham!”
21 So don’t let anyone boast about mere human beings. For everything belongs to you, 22 whether it’s Paul or Apollos or Cephas, whether it’s the world or life or death, whether it’s the present or the future—everything belongs to you! 23 And you belong to the Messiah; and the Messiah belongs to God.
Jesus’ family
31 Jesus’ mother and brothers appeared. They waited outside the house, and sent in a message, asking for him.
32 “Look!” said the crowd sitting around Jesus. “Your mother, your brothers, and your sisters are outside! They’re searching for you!”
33 “Who is my mother?” replied Jesus. “Who are my brothers?”
34 He looked around him at the people sitting there in a ring. “Here is my mother!” he said. “Here are my brothers! 35 Anybody who does God’s will is my brother! And my sister! And my mother!”
Parable of the sower
4 Once again Jesus began to teach beside the sea. A huge crowd gathered; so he got into a boat and stationed himself on the sea, with all the crowd on the shore looking out to sea. 2 He taught them lots of things in parables. This is how his teaching went.
3 “Listen!” he said. “Once upon a time there was a sower who went out sowing. 4 As he was sowing, some seed fell beside the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Other seed fell on the rock, where it didn’t have much soil. There was no depth to the ground, so it shot up at once; 6 but when the sun came up it was scorched, and withered away, because it hadn’t got any root. 7 Other seed fell in among thorns; the thorns grew up and choked it, and it didn’t give any crop. 8 And other seeds fell into good soil, and gave a harvest, which grew up and increased, and bore a yield, in some cases thirtyfold, in some sixtyfold, and in some a hundredfold.”
9 And he added, “If you’ve got ears, then listen!”
Scripture quotations from The New Testament for Everyone are copyright © Nicholas Thomas Wright 2011, 2018, 2019.