Book of Common Prayer

4 People should look at us as men who are servants of Christ. We take care of the secret things of God.

² A man who takes care of things must be a person his master can trust.

³ As for me, I care very little what you think about me or how any man judges me. I do not even judge myself.

⁴ I do not know of anything wrong in me, but that does not say I am right. The Lord is my judge.

⁵ So do not judge me before it is time. Wait until the Lord comes. The things which have been kept hidden in the dark he will bring out into the light. He will show what is in people's hearts. At that time God will tell each man how good his work is.

⁶ My brothers, I have said these things about Apollos and myself so that you will learn from us to live the way the holy writings say. Then you will not be proud and say, `This teacher is better than that one.'

⁷ If you are better, who made you that way? Everything you have was given to you. So then, why are you proud of it? Was it not given to you?

²³ Jesus was walking through the grainfields on the Sabbath day. His disciples began to pick some of the seed (to eat) as they went along.

²⁴ The Pharisees said to Jesus, `Why do your disciples do what is not right on the Sabbath day?'

²⁵ Jesus answered them, `Have you not read what David did? He and his men who were with him were hungry.

²⁶ He went into God's house when Abiathar was the high priest. Some bread was there for God. It was not right for them to eat it. Only the priests have the right to eat it. But David took the bread and ate it. He also gave some of it to the people who were with him.'

²⁷ Jesus went on to say, `The Sabbath was made for the good of man. Man was not made for the Sabbath.

²⁸ So the Son of Man rules over the Sabbath day.'

3 Jesus went into the meeting house again. A man was there whose right hand was thin and weak.

² The Pharisees watched Jesus to see if he would heal the man on the Sabbath day. They wanted to find something wrong about Jesus.

³ He spoke to the man whose hand was thin and weak. He said, `Stand here.'

⁴ Then he spoke to the Pharisees. He said, `Is it right to do good things on the Sabbath day or to do wrong things? Is it right to heal people so they will live, or to let them die?' But the Pharisees said nothing.

⁵ Jesus was angry as he looked at them. And he was sad that their hearts were so hard. Then he said to the man, `Hold out your hand.' The man did so, and it was made well like the other hand.

⁶ The Pharisees went out. Right away they and the servants of King Herod planned together how to kill Jesus.