Book of Common Prayer

So Don’t Let Sin Reign In You, But Present Yourselves To God As Alive From The Dead

¹² Therefore do not let sin be reigning in your mortal body so that you are obeying its desires, ¹³ nor be presenting your body-parts to sin as instruments^[a] of unrighteousness. But present yourselves to God as-if ^[b] being alive from the dead, and your body-parts to God as instruments of righteousness. ¹⁴ For sin shall not lord-over you— for you are not under the Law^[c], but under grace.

This Does Not Mean We Should Sin Because We Are Not Under Law, But Under Grace

¹⁵ Therefore, what? Should we sin^[d] because we are not under the Law but under grace? May it never be!

You Were Freed From Slavery To Sin. So Present Yourselves As Slaves of Righteousness

¹⁶ Do you not know that to whom you are presenting yourselves as slaves for obedience, you are slaves to whom you are obeying— whether slaves of sin leading-to^[e] death, or slaves of obedience leading-to righteousness? ¹⁷ But thanks be to God that you were slaves of sin, but you obeyed from the heart the form^[f] of teaching to which you were delivered. ¹⁸ And having been set-free from sin, you were enslaved^[g] to righteousness ¹⁹ (I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh). For just as you presented your body-parts as slaves to impurity and lawlessness leading-to lawlessness, so now present your body-parts as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness.

The Fruit of Sin Is Shame And Death; Righteousness Leads To Holiness And Life

²⁰ For when you were slaves of sin, you were free to^[h] righteousness. ²¹ So what fruit were you having at that time? Things^[i] over which you are now ashamed! For the outcome of those things is death. ²² But now having been set-free from sin and enslaved to God, you are having your fruit leading-to holiness. And the outcome is eternal life! ²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Jesus Cleanses The Temple And Accepts Praises From Boys. The Chief Priests Object

¹² And Jesus entered into the temple. And He threw-out all the ones selling and buying in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money-changers^[a] and the seats of the ones selling the doves^[b]. ¹³ And He says to them, “It has been written [in Isa 56:7]: ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer’. But you are making it a den of robbers^[c]”. ¹⁴ And blind ones and lame ones came to Him in the temple, and He cured them. ¹⁵ But the chief priests and the scribes— having seen the marvelous things which He did, and the boys^[d] crying-out in the temple and saying “Hosanna to the Son of David”— were indignant ¹⁶ and said to Him, “Do You hear what these boys are saying?” And Jesus says to them, “Yes— did you never read [in Ps 8:2] that ‘You prepared-Yourself praise out of the mouth^[e] of children and nursing ones’?” ¹⁷ And having left them behind, He went outside of the city to Bethany and spent-the-night there.

Jesus Curses a Fruitless Fig Tree

¹⁸ Now early-in-the-morning while returning to the city, He was hungry. ¹⁹ And having seen one fig tree near the road, He went to it and found nothing on it except leaves only^[f]. And He says to it, “May fruit no longer come from you— forever”. And the fig tree was dried-up at-once. ²⁰ And having seen it, the disciples marveled, saying, “How was the fig tree dried up at once?” ²¹ And having responded, Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you— if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do the thing of the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and be thrown into the sea’, it will be done. ²² And you will receive all that you ask in prayer, believing”.