Book of Common Prayer

¹⁵ Take care how you live. Do not live like people who are not wise, but live like people who are wise.

¹⁶ Make good use of time because people live in very wrong ways these days.

¹⁷ So then, be wise and understand what the Lord wants.

¹⁸ Do not get drunk with wine. That is living in a wrong way. But be filled with the Spirit.

¹⁹ Speak to one another by the songs in the holy writings, and songs of praise, and Christian songs. Sing and make a joyful noise in your hearts to the Lord.

²⁰ Always thank God the Father for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

²¹ Give way to each other because you respect Christ.

²² Wives, obey your husbands as you obey the Lord.

²³ The husband is the head of the wife, just as Christ is the head of the church people. The church is his body and he saved it.

²⁴ Wives should obey their husbands in everything, just as the church people obey Christ.

²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church people. He gave his life for the church.

²⁶ He did that so that he might make the church people holy, when they were washed with water by God's word.

²⁷ He gave his life for the church so that one day he can look at the church and see that the people are great and wonderful. The people of the church must have no dirty spot or wrinkle or any thing like that. But they are to be holy and good.

²⁸ So husbands should love their wives as they love their own bodies. The man who loves his wife loves himself.

²⁹ No one ever hated his own body. But he feeds it and takes care of it.

³⁰ In the same way Christ takes care of the church because we are parts of his body.

³¹ The holy writings say `For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother. He shall be joined to his wife, and the two of them shall be like one person.'

³² This is a wonderful plan of God. I am speaking here of the plan about Christ and the church people.

³³ However, each one of you should love his wife as he loves himself. And the wife should respect her husband.

²¹ Then Jesus said to them, `People do not bring a light and put it under a basket or under a bed. But they put it on the place for a lamp.

²² Everything that is hidden will be seen. Everything that is secret will be known and come out to be seen.

²³ Everyone who has ears to hear, listen!'

²⁴ And Jesus said, `Take care how you listen. How much you give to others is how much will be given to you. You who obey God will get more than you give.

²⁵ Anyone who has some will get more. But he who does not have anything, even the little that he has will be taken away from him.'

²⁶ And Jesus said, `The kingdom of God is like this. A man sows some seed in the ground.

²⁷ Then he goes on just as he did before. He sleeps at night and wakes up in the morning. The seed begins to grow but he doesn't know what makes it grow.

²⁸ The ground itself makes the seed grow. First the plant comes up. Then it begins to have seed of its own. After a while the harvest is ready.

²⁹ When the harvest is really ready, he cuts it right away because the harvest time has come.'

³⁰ And Jesus said, `What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I say it is like?

³¹ It is like this. A mustard seed is the smallest seed that is ever planted in the earth.

³² But the plant that grows from that seed is bigger than any other plant. It puts out very big branches. The birds come and live in its branches.'

³³ Jesus told the people many stories like this. He told them as much of God's words as they were able to understand.

³⁴ He did not tell them anything without a story. When he was alone with his disciples, he told them the meaning of the stories.