Book of Common Prayer

¹⁵ The Son is like God who cannot be seen. He was his Son before anything was made.

¹⁶ He made everything in the sky and on the earth. He made the things which can be seen and the things which cannot be seen. That means angels, kings, great powers, and rulers. They were all made by him and for him.

¹⁷ He himself was before all things. And he holds all things together.

¹⁸ He is also the head of the body which is the church [the people who believe in Jesus Christ]. He is the beginning, the first one to rise from death, so that he would be the first one in everything.

¹⁹ God wanted Christ to have everything in himself.

²⁰ And God chose him to be the one who would bring all things back to himself. God made peace by the blood which Christ gave on his cross. He would bring back all things on earth and in heaven.

²¹ At one time you were far away from God. You hated him in your hearts and you did wrong things.

²² But now Christ himself has died on a cross, and he has brought you back to God. Christ will bring you before God holy, clean, and good.

²³ But you must keep on believing and stand strong and true. Let nothing shake the hope which the good news brought you. You heard the same good news as is told to everyone in the whole world. I, Paul, was given the work of telling that same good news.

³⁷ The last day of the feast was a big day. On that day Jesus stood up and shouted, `If anyone is thirsty, he may come to me and drink.

³⁸ If anyone believes in me, the holy writings say, "Rivers of water that give life will flow out of his heart." '

³⁹ This is what Jesus meant: those who believe in him would receive the Spirit. At that time no one had received the Holy Spirit because Jesus had not yet been lifted up to heaven

⁴⁰ When some of the people heard this they said, `Truly, this is the Prophet.'

⁴¹ Other people said, `This is the Christ.' But some said, `The Christ will not come from Galilee. Shall Christ come out of Galilee?

⁴² Do not the holy writings say that Christ will be of David's family? Will he not come from Bethlehem where David lived?'

⁴³ The people did not all say the same thing about him.

⁴⁴ Some of them wanted to catch Jesus, but no one put hands on him.

⁴⁵ The soldiers came back to the chief priests and the Pharisees. They asked the soldiers, `Why did you not bring him?'

⁴⁶ The soldiers replied, `No person has ever talked like he does!'

⁴⁷ The Pharisees said, `Has he fooled you also?

⁴⁸ None of the rulers and none of the Pharisees have believed on him, have they?

⁴⁹ These poor people do not know the law. They will die!'

⁵⁰ Nicodemus, the man who came to Jesus by night, was one of them.

⁵¹ He said, `Is it right to judge any man by our law before we hear him and learn what he has done?'

⁵² They answered him, `Are you from Galilee also? Study what is written. You will see that no prophet is to come from Galilee.'