Book of Common Prayer
To God be the glory
33 O, the depth of the riches
and the wisdom and knowledge of God!
We cannot search his judgments,
we cannot fathom his ways.
34 For “who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has given him counsel?
35 Who has given a gift to him
which needs to be repaid?”
36 For from him, through him and to him are all things.
Glory to him forever! Amen.
The living sacrifice
12 So, my dear family, this is my appeal to you by the mercies of God: offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. That’s what properly thought-out worship looks like. 2 What’s more, don’t let yourselves be squeezed into the shape dictated by the present age. Instead, be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you can work out what God’s will is, what is good, acceptable and complete.
The parable of the talents
14 “This is what it will be like,” Jesus went on. “It will be like a man who was going off on a journey. He summoned his slaves, and handed over control of his property to them. 15 He gave five talents to the first, two to the next, and one to the last—each according to his ability. Then he left.
“Straight away 16 the man who had been given the five talents went out and traded with them, and made five more. 17 Similarly, the one who had received two talents went and made another two. 18 But the one who received a single talent went and dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master’s money.
19 “After a long time, the master of those slaves came back and settled accounts with them. 20 The man who had received five talents came forward and gave him the other five talents. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you gave me five talents. Look: I’ve made another five!’ 21 ‘Well done indeed,’ said his master. ‘You’re an excellent slave, and loyal too! You’ve been trustworthy with small things, and now I’m going to put you in charge of bigger ones. Come and join your master’s celebration!’
22 “Then the man who had had the two talents came forward. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you gave me two talents. Look: I’ve made another two!’ 23 ‘Well done indeed,’ said his master. ‘You’re an excellent slave, and loyal too! You’ve been trustworthy with small things, and now I’m going to put you in charge of bigger ones. Come and join your master’s celebration!’
24 “Then the man who had had the one talent came forward. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you were a hard man. You reap where you didn’t sow, and you profit from things you never invested in. 25 So I was scared! I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here it is: it’s yours, you can have it back.’
26 “ ‘You’re a wicked and lazy slave!’ answered his master. ‘So! You knew that I reap where I didn’t sow, and profit from investments I never made? 27 Then you should have put my money with the bankers, and when I returned I would have received back what I had with interest!’
28 “ ‘So take the talent from him,’ he went on, ‘and give it to the man who has ten talents.’ 29 (If someone already has something, you see, they will be given more, and they’ll have plenty. But if someone has nothing, even what they have will be taken away from them.) 30 ‘But as for this useless slave, throw him outside in the dark, where people weep and grind their teeth.’ ”
Scripture quotations from The New Testament for Everyone are copyright © Nicholas Thomas Wright 2011, 2018, 2019.