Book of Common Prayer

14 Love is the thing you should want more than anything else. But you should also want other things the Spirit gives. You should want very much to be able to speak words from God.

² The person who talks in tongues of a different language does not talk to people, but to God. People do not understand what he says. But he is saying secret things by the Spirit.

³ But the person who is a prophet speaks words from God to people plainly. He helps them to believe and to be strong, and he comforts them.

⁴ The person who talks in a different tongue helps himself. But the one who tells forth God's word helps all the people in the church.

⁵ I wish that you could all talk in different tongues. But I want even more that you should speak words from God for all to hear and understand. The person who speaks words from God is greater than the person who talks in tongues - unless he is able to tell the meaning of his words, so that he helps all the people in the church.

⁶ My brothers, if I come to you and talk in tongues of a different language, how can I help you? I cannot help you if I do not tell you something God has shown to me, or something I know, or God's word, or some teaching.

⁷ Such things as horns or harps have no life, but they make sounds. Now if they don't make the right noise, no one will know what the sound means.

⁸ If the war drum gives a sound that has no meaning, then no one will get ready to fight.

⁹ If you say words that people cannot understand, they will not know what you say. You talk for nothing!

¹⁰ There are no doubt many different languages in the world. And every one of them has a meaning.

¹¹ But if a person talks in a language and I do not know the meaning of it, I will be like a stranger to him and he will be like a stranger to me.

¹² So it is with you. You want the gifts of the Spirit. Then you should want the gift which will make you better able to help the church people.

20 The kingdom of heaven is like this. A man owned a farm. Early in the morning he went out to look for men to work on his farm.

² He agreed to pay them a day's wages and sent them out to his farm.

³ `About nine o'clock he went out again. He saw some men standing around at the market. They were not working.

⁴ He said to them, "You go out to work on the farm too. I will pay you what is right." And they went to work.

⁵ `The man went out again at twelve o'clock and at three o'clock. He did the same as he had done before.

⁶ `About five o'clock he went out again and found other men standing around. He said to them, "Why have you been standing here all day? Why are you not working?"

⁷ They said, "No man has asked us to work." So he said to them, "You go out to work on the farm too."

⁸ `When evening came, the man who owned the farm said to his manager, "Call the workmen and pay them. Begin with those who came last and end with those who came first."

⁹ Each of the men who started work at five o'clock was paid a day's wages.

¹⁰ Those who started work first thought they would get more than that. But they also were paid a day's wages.

¹¹ They took it, but they were angry and talked against the man who owned the farm.

¹² `They said, "These men came last, and worked only one hour. Yet you paid them the same as you paid us. We worked all day, when the sun was hot."

¹³ `But he said to one of them, "My friend, I am not doing any wrong to you. You agreed that I should pay you a day's wages. Did you not?

¹⁴ Take your money and go. I want to give the last man the same pay as I gave you.

¹⁵ It is my own money. Can I not do with it as I like? Do you think it is a wrong thing for me to be kind?"

¹⁶ `In the same way, people who are last will be first, and those who are first will be last.'