Book of Common Prayer

¹³ So did that good thing make me die? No. The wrong things I did made me die, because that good thing showed they were wrong. And the law shows that the wrong things are very, very bad.

¹⁴ We know that the law came from the Holy Spirit. But I am a weak man. I have been sold like a slave to do wrong things.

¹⁵ I do not know why I do the things I do. I do not do what I want to do. But I do the things I hate.

¹⁶ And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.

¹⁷ So now it is no longer I who do it, but my wrong ways in me.

¹⁸ I know that no good thing lives in me. I mean, no good thing lives in my body. I want to do what is good, but I cannot do it.

¹⁹ I do not do the good thing I want to do, but I do the wrong thing that I do not want to do.

²⁰ If I do the thing I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but the wrong thing in me that does it.

²¹ So there is a law I find that it is at work in me. When I want to do what is right, I can only do what is wrong.

²² In my own mind I am glad to obey the law of God.

²³ But I see that in my body there is another law fighting against the law in my mind. And that makes me like a prisoner to the law of wrong things in my body.

²⁴ I am a very sad man. Who will save me from this body that will make me die?

²⁵ Thank God for Jesus Christ our Lord who will do it! So this is the way it is. In my mind I am a slave to do the law of God, but in my body I am a slave to do the law of wrong things.

¹⁶ In the evening his disciples went down to the lake [called the sea of Galilee].

¹⁷ They got in a boat and crossed over the sea toward the town of Capernaum. It was dark, but Jesus had not come back to them.

¹⁸ A strong wind was blowing. It made the water very rough.

¹⁹ They rowed the boat into the middle of the lake. Then they saw Jesus walking on the water. He came close to the boat. They were afraid.

²⁰ But Jesus said to them, `It is I. Do not fear.'

²¹ Then they were glad to take him into the boat. Then at once the boat reached the land to which they were going.

²² The people who stayed back on the land had seen one boat only. They had seen the disciples get in it and go away without Jesus.

²³ But there were some other boats from Tiberias. It was near the place where they had eaten bread, after the Lord had thanked God for it.

²⁴ The next day the people saw that Jesus and his disciples were not there. Then they went to Capernaum in boats to look for Jesus.

²⁵ When they found Jesus on the other side of the lake, they said, `Teacher, when did you get here?'

²⁶ Jesus said, `I tell you the truth. You do not want me because you saw the big works I did, but you want me because you ate all the bread you wanted.

²⁷ Do not work for the food that spoils, but work for the food that will never spoil, the food that will give you life for ever. The Son of Man will give you that food. God my Father has chosen him to do that.'