Book of Common Prayer

4 God in his kindness gave us this work. So we do not give up.

² We never do wrong things nor do things in secret. We do not fool people nor change God's message. No, we tell people the truth openly. We let every person judge us for himself. We know that God sees all we do.

³ If the good news which we tell is not clear to some people, it is because they are lost. They do not believe.

⁴ The god of this world has covered their minds so they cannot see. They cannot see with their minds the light of the good news of Christ. They cannot see how bright and wonderful Christ is. He is just like God himself.

⁵ We do not talk about ourselves, but about Christ Jesus our Lord. And we are your slaves for Jesus' sake.

⁶ God said, `Let light shine in the darkness.' And he has let light shine in our hearts too. He gave us light that shows how bright and wonderful God is. We see this light when we look at the face of Christ.

²⁷ `Now my heart is very sad. Shall I say, "Father, save me from this time of trouble"? No, I have come to this time just so that I might go through it.

²⁸ Father, do what will make your name great.' Then a voice from the sky said, `I have already done that and I will do it again.'

²⁹ Some people were standing near. When they heard the voice, they said, `It is thundering.' Other people said, `An angel talked to him.'

³⁰ Jesus answered them, `This voice did not come for my sake, but it came for your sake.

³¹ It is time now for the world to be judged. The ruler of this world will be put out.

³² And as for me, if they lift me up from the earth, I will draw all people to me.'

³³ He said this to show how he would die.

³⁴ The people answered him, `Our law book tells us that Christ will stay here for ever. Why do you say, "The Son of Man will be raised up from the earth"? Tell us who this Son of Man is.'

³⁵ Then Jesus said to them, `You have light for a short time longer. Walk while you have the light so that you will not need to walk in the dark. The person who walks in the dark cannot see where he is going.

³⁶ Believe in the light while you have the light, so that you may be a people who have the light in you.' When Jesus had said this, he left them. They did not know where he was.