Book of Common Prayer

2 First of all, I want God's people to do this. They must talk to God for all the people. They must ask God to help them. They must ask God to give them what they need. They must thank God for all that he gives them.

² They must talk to God for all the kings and all rulers. They must do this so that we may live in peace and quiet, so that we may please God and do what is right.

³ This is a good thing. And God, our Saviour, is pleased when people do it.

⁴ He wants all people to be saved and to know what is true.

⁵ There is one God. There is also one man who can open the way between God and all people. That man is Christ Jesus.

⁶ He gave his life to set all men free. This matter was told at the right time.

¹⁸ `So listen to hear what the story means, about the man who sowed the seed.'

¹⁹ `People listen to the message about the kingdom of heaven. If anyone does not understand it, the devil comes along and takes the message out of his heart. That person is like the seed which fell on the road.

²⁰ Some seed fell on the stony ground. That is like a person who hears the message and right away he is glad to hear it.

²¹ But it does not go down deep in his heart. He believes it for a short time. When trouble or a hard time comes because of the message, he stops believing.

²² Some seed fell among the weeds. That is like the person who hears the message. But he thinks about the things of this world. He wants to get money to be happy. These things push the message out of his heart. No good comes from it.

²³ Some seed fell on good ground. That is like a person who hears the message and understands it. Much good comes from it. Some people are like the seed that gave a hundred more seeds. Some people are like the seed that gave sixty. Some people are like the seed that gave thirty.'