Book of Common Prayer

¹⁵ You know that all the men who live in the country of Asia Minor have left me. Phygellus and Hermogenes are among them.

¹⁶ I hope the Lord will be kind to the family of Onesiphorus. He has often helped me. He has not been ashamed of me in prison.

¹⁷ When he came to the city of Rome, he looked for me until he found me.

¹⁸ I hope the Lord will be kind to him on that great day. You know very well all that he did for me in the city of Ephesus.

2 So, my son Timothy, be strong. Christ Jesus has blessed you so that you can be strong.

² You and many others heard what I taught. Now you must teach these things to men who can be trusted, men who will be able to teach them to other people also.

³ Be patient in your trouble like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.

⁴ A soldier who is fighting does not live the way other people do. He wants to please the one who chose him.

⁵ A man runs a race. But he does not win if he does not obey the rules.

⁶ A farmer works hard planting. He should be the first one to have the food that grows.

⁷ Think about what I say and the Lord will help you understand everything.

⁸ Keep your mind on Jesus Christ. He was raised from death. He was of the family of David. That is the good news I tell people.

⁹ Because of that, I have trouble. I am even tied with chains like a bad man. But the word of God is not tied up.

¹⁰ That is why I bear all my trouble for the sake of God's chosen people. I do it so that they also may be saved by Christ Jesus and be made great for ever.

¹¹ These are true words: If we died with Christ, we shall also live with him.

¹² If we bear all our troubles, we shall also rule with him. If we say we do not know him, then he will also say he does not know us.

¹³ If we do not believe in him, he still is true, because he cannot say he is not what he is.

10 Jesus left that place and went through the country of Judea on the other side of the Jordan river. Many people came to him there again. He taught them as he always did.

² The Pharisees came to him and asked, `Is it right for a man to send his wife away from him?' They asked this to test Jesus.

³ Jesus answered, `What law did Moses give you?'

⁴ They said, `Moses allowed a man to write a paper to show that he does not want her any more. Then he may send her away.'

⁵ Jesus said to them, `Moses wrote that law because your hearts are so hard.

⁶ From the time God first made people, he made them man and woman.

⁷ That is why a man must leave his father and mother and stay with his wife.

⁸ The two of them will be like one person. So they are not two people any more, but they are one person.

⁹ Man must not separate what God has joined together.'

¹⁰ When they were in the house, the disciples asked Jesus about this matter.

¹¹ So Jesus said, `If any man sends away his wife and marries another woman, he commits adultery against her. [He takes another woman who is not his wife.]

¹² If a woman sends away her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.'

¹³ They brought children to Jesus. They wanted him to put his hands on them. The disciples tried to stop the people.

¹⁴ When Jesus saw what the disciples did, he did not like it. He said, `Let the children come to me. Do not try to stop them.

¹⁵ I tell you the truth. If anyone does not believe in the kingdom of God like a child, he will never go in.'

¹⁶ Jesus took the children up in his arms. He put his hands on them and blessed them.