Book of Common Prayer

¹¹ We know that the Lord must be feared, so we try to get people to believe. God knows what we are and what we do. And we hope that in your hearts you, too, know.

¹² No, we are not praising ourselves again. But we are telling you this so that you may really be proud of us. Then you will be ready to answer people who are proud of themselves. They are proud of the things which can be seen. But in their hearts they have nothing to be proud of us.

¹³ If we are crazy, it is for God's sake. If we are right in our minds, it is for your sakes.

¹⁴ The love of Christ makes us do what we do to win men. We believe that one man died for all people. [To God] it is as if we all died with him.

¹⁵ He died for all, so that those who live would not live to please themselves. But they should live to please him who gave his life for them and rose again from death.

¹⁶ So then we no longer know people by what we see on the outside. There was a time when we knew Christ that way, but now we do not know him that way any longer.

¹⁷ So, if any man belongs to Christ, he is a new person. His old life has gone. You see, he has begun a new life.

¹⁸ But it is God who has done all this. He sent Christ to make peace with us and to bring us back to himself. Now he has given us the work of bringing other people back to God.

¹⁹ We are not looking at things that can be seen, but at things that cannot be seen. The things which can be seen last only a little while. But the things which cannot be seen last for ever.

²⁰ So we are messengers for Christ. God is using us to call people. So we are standing here for Christ and begging people, `Come back to God!'

²¹ Christ did no wrong thing. But for our sake God put the blame for our wrong ways on Christ. So now God sees us as good, because we are in Christ.

6 We work with God. So we beg you, do not take God's blessing and get nothing from it.

² Because God has said. `I heard you call at the right time. And I helped you in the day when I saved you.' See, now is the right time. Now is the day to be saved.

17 Jesus said to his disciples, `People will make other people do wrong. But the person who makes another person do wrong will have trouble.

² A big stone should be tied around his neck and then he should be thrown into the sea. That would be better for him than to make one of these little children do wrong.

³ `Take care! If your brother does something bad, tell him what he has done. If he is sorry, then forgive him.

⁴ Maybe he will do wrong to you seven times in one day. But if he comes to you seven times in one day and says, "I am sorry for what I did," then you must forgive him.'

⁵ The apostles said to the Lord, `Help us to believe more.'

⁶ The Lord said, `If you believe as much as a little mustard seed, then you can say to this tree, "Come up by the roots and plant yourself in the sea." And it would obey you.'

⁷ `If your servant is working in the field or taking care of sheep, what will you say to him when he comes in from the field? Will you say, "Come now and sit down to eat"?

⁸ No, you will say, "Get my food ready. Get ready to wait on me. I will eat and drink. After that, then you may eat and drink."

⁹ Will you thank the servant for doing what you told him to do?

¹⁰ `It is the same with you. When you have done all you were told to do, you should say, "We are servants. We have not done a big thing. We have only done what we should do." '