Book of Common Prayer

A Prayer in Time of Sickness

A psalm of David ·to remember [or for the memorial offering].

²⁵ Even after you have ·lived [grown old; or become complacent] in the land a long time and have had children and grandchildren, don’t ·do evil things [ruin/destroy/spoil/corrupt yourselves]. Don’t make any kind of idol, and don’t do what ·the Lord your God says is evil [^Lwhat is evil/wrong in the eyes of the Lord your God], because that will make him angry. ²⁶ If you do, I ask heaven and earth to ·speak [witness] against you this day that you will quickly be removed from this land that you are crossing the Jordan River to ·take [possess]. You will not live there long after that, but you will be completely destroyed. ²⁷ The Lord will scatter you among the other nations. Only a few of you will be left alive, and those few will be in other nations where the Lord will ·send [lead] you. ²⁸ There you will ·worship [serve] gods made by ·people [^Lhuman hands], gods made of wood and stone, that cannot see, hear, eat, or smell. ²⁹ But even there you can look for the Lord your God, and you will find him if you look for him with ·your whole being [^Lall your heart/mind and all your inner being]. ³⁰ It will be ·hard [distressful] when all these things happen to you. But after that you will come back to the Lord your God and ·obey [hear] him, ³¹ because the Lord your God is a merciful God [Ex. 34:6; 2 Chr. 30:9; Neh. 9:31; Ps. 111:4; Joel 2:3]. He will not ·leave [fail] you or ·destroy [ruin; spoil] you. He will not forget the ·Agreement [Covenant; Treaty] with your ·ancestors [fathers], which he ·swore [promised] to them.

²³ Now I ·ask [call on; appeal to] God to be my witness ·that this is true [or staking my life on it; ^Lagainst my soul/life; ^Ca very serious vow or oath]: The reason I did not come back to Corinth was to ·keep you from being punished or hurt [^Lspare you]. ²⁴ We are not trying to ·control [rule; lord it over] your faith. You ·are strong [stand firm; are well established] in faith. But we are workers with you for your own joy.

2 So I decided that my next visit to you would not be another ·one to make you sad [painful/sorrowful one; ^CPaul’s first visit (1:16; 1 Cor. 16:5) had resulted in conflict, rejection, and hurt feelings]. ² If I ·make you sad [cause you pain/sorrow], who will make me glad? Only you can make me glad—·particularly the person [or those] whom I made sad [^Ceither the church generally, or a particular opponent (vv. 5–10)]. ³ I wrote you a letter for this reason: that when I came to you I would not be made ·sad [sorrowful] by the people who should ·make me happy [bring me joy; ^CPaul wrote a severe letter (now lost) after his painful visit (v. 1) to call the church to repentance]. I felt sure of all of you, that you would share my joy. ⁴ When I wrote to you before [v. 3], I was very ·troubled [distressed] and ·unhappy [anguished] in my heart, and I wrote with many tears. I did not write to make you ·sad [sorrowful], but to let you know how much I love you.

Forgive the Sinner

⁵ ·Someone [^LIf someone…; ^Cevidently the ringleader who opposed Paul on his previous visit (v. 1)] there among you has caused sadness, ·not [^L…it is not] to me, but to all of you. I mean he caused sadness to all ·in some way [or to some extent]. (I do not want to ·make it sound worse than it really is [exaggerate; put it too severely].) ⁶ The punishment that ·most of you [the majority] gave him is enough for him [^Cthe church as a whole has now sided with Paul and disciplined this individual]. ⁷ But now you should forgive him and ·comfort [encourage] him to keep him from ·having too much sadness and giving up completely [being overwhelmed/swallowed up by excessive sorrow/grief]. ⁸ So I ·beg [urge; encourage] you to ·show [reaffirm] that you love him. ⁹ I wrote you to test you and to see if you obey in everything [^CPaul’s “severe” letter (vv. 1, 3) evidently called the church to submit again to his authority]. ¹⁰ If you forgive someone, I also forgive him. And what I have forgiven—if I had anything to forgive—I forgave it for you, ·as if Christ were with me [or in the presence of Christ]. ¹¹ I did this so that Satan would not ·win anything from [outwit; take advantage of] us, because we ·know very well [^Lare not ignorant of] what Satan’s ·plans [schemes; intentions] are.

Paul’s Concern in Troas

¹² When I came to Troas [^Ca city in northwest Asia Minor; Acts 16:8, 11; 20:5–6; 2 Tim. 4:13] to preach the Good News of Christ, ·the Lord gave me a good opportunity there [^La door opened for me by/in the Lord]. ¹³ But I had no ·peace [^Lrest in my spirit], because I did not find my brother Titus [Gal. 2:1–3; Titus 1:4–5]. So I said good-bye to them at Troas and went to Macedonia [1:16; Acts 20:1–3]. [^CPaul evidently sent his severe letter (vv. 1, 3, 9) with Titus, and now awaited the church’s response. Starting in v. 14 he digresses into a long expression of joy because of their favorable reaction (2:14—7:1). He picks up the story again in 7:5.]

Victory Through Christ

¹⁴ But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s victory ·parade [procession; ^Cthe image is of a victorious Roman general leading his army and his captives through the streets]. God uses us to spread ·his knowledge everywhere like a sweet-smelling perfume [^Lthe aroma/fragrance of the knowledge of him; ^Cincense or spices were burned during such victory parades]. ¹⁵ ·Our offering to God is this: [or For God’s sake; or To God] We are the ·sweet smell [aroma; fragrance] of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are ·being lost [perishing; headed for destruction]. ¹⁶ To those who are ·lost [perishing; headed for destruction], we are the ·smell [aroma] of death that brings death, but to those who are being saved, we are the ·smell [aroma] of life that brings life. So who is ·able [qualified; adequate] to do this work? ¹⁷ We do not ·sell [peddle] the word of God for a profit as many other people do. But in Christ we speak the truth ·before [in the presence of] God, as ·messengers of [envoys of; ^Lfrom] God.

A Lost Sheep, a Lost Coin^(A)

15 The tax collectors [^Cwho were despised because they worked for the Roman rulers and were notorious for corruption and extortion] and sinners all ·came [drew near] to listen to Jesus. ² But the Pharisees and the ·teachers of the law [scribes] began to ·complain [murmur; grumble]: “Look, this man ·welcomes [associates with; receives] sinners and even eats with them [^Cindicating social acceptance].”

The Son Who Left Home

¹¹ Then Jesus said, “A man had two sons. ¹² The younger son said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the ·property [estate; ^Chis inheritance].’ So the father divided the ·property [wealth; assets; ^Llife] between his two sons. ¹³ ·Then [Some time later; ^LAfter not many days] the younger son gathered up all that was his and traveled ·far away to another [to a distant] country. There he ·wasted [squandered; scattered] his money in ·foolish [wild; reckless] living. ¹⁴ After he had spent everything, a time came when there was ·no food anywhere [^La severe famine] in the country, and the son ·was poor and hungry [^Lbegan to be in need]. ¹⁵ So he ·got a job with [hired himself out to] one of the citizens there who sent the son into the fields to feed pigs [^Cdegrading work, since pigs were ritually unclean and detestable animals to Jews]. ¹⁶ The son was so hungry that he wanted to ·eat [or fill his stomach with] the pods the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. ¹⁷ When he ·realized what he was doing [came to his senses; ^Lcame to himself], he thought, ‘All of my father’s ·servants [hired workers] have ·plenty of [more than enough; abundant] ·food [bread]. But I am here, ·almost dying [perishing] with hunger. ¹⁸ I will ·leave and return [get up and go] to my father and say to him, “Father, I have sinned against ·God [^Lheaven; ^CJews often used “heaven” for “God” out of reverence for the divine Name] and against you. ¹⁹ I am no longer worthy to be called your son, but ·let me be [make me] like one of your ·servants [hired workers].”’ ²⁰ So the son left and went to his father.

“While the son was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt ·sorry [compassion] for his son. So the father ran to him [^Can undignified act for a family patriarch; evidence of his unrestrained love] and hugged and kissed him. ²¹ The son said, ‘Father, I have sinned against ·God [^Lheaven; v. 18] and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’^{[a] 22} But the father said to his ·servants [slaves], ‘Hurry! Bring the ·best clothes [^Lfirst/best robe; ^Ceither the father’s own, or a ceremonial robe for an honored guest] and put them on him. Also, put a ring on his finger [^Cprobably a signet ring indicating sonship and authority; Gen. 41:42] and sandals on his feet [^Cslaves went barefoot]. ²³ And get our ·fat [fattened; ^Cprepared for slaughter] calf and kill it [^Cpeople only occasionally ate meat; such a large animal indicates a major celebration] so we can have a feast and celebrate. ²⁴ My son was dead, but now he is alive again! He was lost, but now he is found!’ So they began to celebrate.

²⁵ “The older son was in the field, and as he came closer to the house, he heard the sound of music and dancing. ²⁶ So he ·called to [summoned] one of the [household] servants and asked what all this meant. ²⁷ The servant said, ‘Your brother has come back, and your father killed the ·fat [fattened; v. 23] calf, because your brother came home ·safely [healthy; safe and sound].’ ²⁸ The older son was angry and ·would not [had no desire to] go in to the feast. So his father went out and ·begged [urged; encouraged] him to come in. ²⁹ But the older son ·said to [answered] his father, ‘[^LLook; ^TBehold] I have served you like a slave for many years and have ·always obeyed [never disobeyed; ^Lnever neglected] your commands. But you never gave me even a young goat to ·have at a feast [celebrate] with my friends. ³⁰ But ·your other son [^Lthis son of yours], who ·wasted [squandered; devoured] ·all your money [your property; ^Lyour life] on prostitutes, comes home, and you kill the fat [fattened; v. 23] calf for him!’ ³¹ The father said to him, ‘·Son [Child], you ·are always with [or have always stood by] me, and all that I have is yours. ³² [^LBut] We had to celebrate and ·be happy [rejoice] because ·your brother [^Lthis brother of yours; v. 30] was dead, but ·now he is alive [has come back to life]. He was lost, but now he is found.’”