Book of Common Prayer

3 That is why I, Paul, am a prisoner who belongs to Jesus Christ. It is for the sake of you people who are not Jews.

² I am sure you have heard that God gave me work to do for you.

³ He showed me what his plan was. And I have already written a little about it to you.

⁴ When you read this, you can understand why I know about his plan for Christ.

⁵ In the past, God did not tell his plan to people. But now the Holy Spirit has shown it to his holy apostles and prophets.

⁶ This is God's plan. Those who are not Jews will also share in the blessings of God. They also are a part of the body of Jesus Christ. They also will receive the things God has promised in Jesus Christ through the good news.

⁷ God gave me the work of telling that good news. And he blessed me by his power.

⁸ I am less than the least of all God's people, and yet he blessed me. It is my work to tell those who are not Jews about the wonderful blessings of Christ. There are so many that we cannot know them all.

⁹ God has blessed me so that I might tell all people plainly what his plan is. God, who made all things, did not tell anyone about his plan in all the times in the past.

¹⁰ Now he wants those who rule and have power in the sky to know how very wise God is. They will know this when they look at the church people.

¹¹ This is what God has always planned to do. And he did it in Jesus Christ our Lord.

¹² In Christ we are not to be afraid to come to God. We are sure we can come because we believe in Christ.

¹³ So I ask you not to be sad when you think of the troubles I have for your sake. You should be proud about it.

⁵ When Jesus came to the town of Capernaum, a Roman army officer came to ask him for help.

⁶ He said, `Sir, one of my servants is in bed at my house. He cannot move and has much pain.'

⁷ Jesus said, `I will come and heal him.'

⁸ The officer said, `Sir, I am not good enough to have you come into my house. Just say the word and my servant will be healed.

⁹ I myself am a man who takes orders, and I have soldiers who take orders from me. I say to one, "Go," and he goes. I say to another one, "Come," and he comes. I say to my servant, "Do this," and he does it.'

¹⁰ Jesus was surprised when he heard this. He said to the people who followed him, `I tell you the truth. I have not found any Jew who believes as this man does.

¹¹ I tell you, many people will come from the east and from the west. They will sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.

¹² But those who were born in the kingdom will be put into the darkness outside. There they will cry and make noises with their teeth.'

¹³ Jesus said to the officer, `Go home. What you have believed, will be done.' At that very same time the officer's servant was healed.

¹⁴ Jesus went into Peter's house. There he saw the mother of Peter's wife in bed, sick with fever.

¹⁵ Jesus took hold of her hand and the fever left her. She got up and began to do things for Jesus.

¹⁶ That evening, many people who had bad spirits were brought to Jesus. He spoke to the bad spirits and drove them out. And he healed all the people who were sick.

¹⁷ What the prophet Isaiah said came true. He said, `He took away the things that made us weak. He took away the things that made us sick.'