Book of Common Prayer

3 Were you raised from death with Christ? Then look for the things which are in heaven. There Christ is sitting at the right hand of God.

² Think about the things that are in heaven, not about things that are on earth.

³ Your old life died with Christ and your new life is kept with Christ in God.

⁴ Christ is our life. When he comes again and is seen, then you will also be seen with him. And you will be great.

⁵ So then, put to death those things of this world which are in you. I mean these things: wrong sex, things that are not clean, a heart that is burning to do wrong things, wanting what is wrong, and wanting to have what other people have. This last one is like worshipping an idol.

⁶ They are things that make God angry.

⁷ You used to do these things when you lived that way.

⁸ But now you must stop all these: being angry, hating people, wrong feelings toward others, saying wrong things about people, and dirty talking.

⁹ Do not tell lies to one another. You have stopped being the person you used to be who did wrong things.

¹⁰ And now you have become a new person. That new person is always learning more and more until he becomes like God who made him.

¹¹ In this new person, there is no difference between a Greek and a Jew. There is no difference between a man who is circumcised with the mark of the Jew and a man who is not circumcised. There is no difference between a person from a friendly country or someone from a country which is not friendly. There is no difference between a slave and a person who is free. Christ is everything and is in all of them.

¹² You are chosen by God. He loves you and has made you holy. So then, care for one another. Be kind. Do not be proud. Be humble. Be patient.

¹³ Be patient with one another. If any one has a complaint against another, forgive that one. Christ forgave you. So you should forgive each other.

¹⁴ Beside all these, you must have love. This joins everything together as it should be.

¹⁵ Hold on to the peace of God which is in your hearts. You were called to have peace because you are all like one body. Be thankful.

¹⁶ Let your hearts be filled with the word of Christ. Be very wise when you teach people and help them to understand what is right and wrong. Sing with music. Sing praises and Christian songs. Sing to the Lord with praise in your hearts.

¹⁷ Whatever you say, or whatever you do, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus. Give thanks to God the Father through Jesus.

¹⁸ Jesus was walking by the sea of Galilee. There he saw two brothers, Simon who later was named Peter, and his brother Andrew. They were throwing a fishing net into the water. Their work was to catch fish.

¹⁹ Jesus said to them, `Come with me. The work I will give you will be to catch people.'

²⁰ Right away they left their nets and went with him.

²¹ Jesus went on from there and saw two other brothers, James and John. Their father's name was Zebedee. They were in the boat with their father mending their nets.

²² Jesus called them. Right away they left the boat and their father and went with him.

²³ Jesus went all around through Galilee. He taught people in their meeting houses and told them the good news about the kingdom of heaven. He healed all the sick and weak people.

²⁴ The people in all the country of Syria heard about him. They brought all who were sick in any way, or had bad spirits in them, and those who could not walk or use their hands. Jesus healed them.

²⁵ Many people went with him. They came from Galilee, the Ten Towns, Jerusalem, Judea, and from the other side of the Jordan river.