Book of Common Prayer
16 If I announce the gospel, you see, that’s no reason for me to be proud. I’m under compulsion! Woe betide me if I don’t announce the gospel! 17 If I do it willingly, I have a reward; if I do it unwillingly—well, this is the commission that’s been entrusted to me! 18 So what is my reward? Just this: that when I announce the gospel I should give it away free of charge; that I shouldn’t make use of my rights in the gospel.
The apostle’s freedom—to be enslaved to everyone
19 The reason for all this is as follows. I am indeed free from everyone; but I have enslaved myself to everyone, so that I can win all the more. 20 I became like a Jew to the Jews, to win Jews. I became like someone under the law to the people who are under the law, even though I’m not myself under the law, so that I could win those under the law. 21 To the lawless I became like someone lawless (even though I’m not lawless before God, but under the Messiah’s law), so that I could win the lawless. 22 I became weak to the weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people, so that in all ways I might save some. 23 I do it all because of the gospel, so that I can be a partner in its benefits.
The Christian athlete
24 Don’t you know that when people run on the racetrack everybody runs, but only one person gets the prize? Run in such a way that you’ll win it. 25 Everyone who goes in for athletics exercises self-discipline in everything. They do it to gain a crown that perishes; we do it for an imperishable one. 26 Well then: I don’t run in an aimless fashion! I don’t box like someone punching the air! 27 No: I give my body rough treatment, and make it my slave, in case, after announcing the message to others, I myself should end up being disqualified.
Two healings
8 When Jesus came down from the hillside, large crowds followed him. 2 Suddenly someone with a virulent skin disease approached, and knelt down in front of him.
“Master,” he said, “if you want, you can make me clean!”
3 Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him.
“I do want to,” he said. “Be clean!” At once his disease was cured.
4 “Take care,” Jesus said to him, “not to say anything to anyone. Instead, go and show yourself to the priest, and make the offering which Moses commanded. That will be a proof to them.”
5 Jesus went into Capernaum. A centurion came up and pleaded with him.
6 “Master,” he said, “my servant is lying at home, paralyzed. He’s in a very bad state.”
7 “I’ll come and make him better,” said Jesus.
8 “Master,” replied the centurion, “I don’t deserve to have you come under my roof! Just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 I know what authority’s all about, you see—I’ve got soldiers answering to me, and I can say to one of them, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another one, ‘Come here!’ and he comes, and I can say, ‘Do this,’ to my slave, and he does it!”
10 Jesus was fair amazed when he heard this.
“I’m telling you the truth,” he said to the people who were following. “I haven’t found faith like this—not even in Israel! 11 Let me tell you this: lots of people will come from East and West and join the great party of celebration with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the children of the kingdom will be thrown into outer darkness, where people will weep and gnash their teeth.”
13 Then he turned to the centurion.
“Go home,” he said. “Let it be for you as you believed.”
And his servant was healed at that very moment.
On following Jesus
14 Jesus went into Peter’s house. There he saw Peter’s mother-in-law laid low with a fever. 15 He touched her hand. The fever left her, and she got up and waited on him.
16 When evening came, they brought to him many people who were possessed by demons. He cast out the spirits with a word of command, and healed everyone who was sick. 17 This happened so that the word spoken by Isaiah the prophet might come true:
He himself took our weaknesses
and bore our diseases.
Scripture quotations from The New Testament for Everyone are copyright © Nicholas Thomas Wright 2011, 2018, 2019.