Book of Common Prayer
17 The leaders of the church people who rule well should be given greater honour and reward. At least do this for those who work hard in speaking and teaching.
18 The holy writings say, `You may not tie the mouth of a cow when it is walking on the grain to beat it out.' And also, `The man who works should be paid for it.'
19 Do not listen to a complaint against a leader if what he has done has not been seen and proved by two or three people.
20 Talk to those who live a wrong life and tell them to stop it. Talk to them in front of all the church members. Then the others will be afraid to do it.
21 I say this before God and Christ Jesus and the chosen angels of God. Do these things in an honest way. Do not treat one person better than another person.
22 Do not be in a hurry to place your hands on a man as a sign for him to be a leader. Do not take part in the wrong things another man does. Keep yourself clean.
23 Do not drink water only. But drink a little wine to help your stomach because you are sick so often.
24 The wrong things some men do can be seen clearly and show that they should be punished. But wrong things other people do are not seen until later.
25 So also, the good things are seen clearly. Even when they are not seen at first, they will be seen later.
31 Jesus told the people another story. He said, `The kingdom of heaven is like this. A man took a mustard seed and planted it in his field.
32 A mustard seed is the smallest of all seeds. But the plant that grows from it is bigger than other plants. It is like a tree. It is so big that birds come and live in the branches.'
33 Jesus told them another story. He said, `The kingdom of heaven is like this. A woman took yeast and mixed it with many cups of flour. The yeast went all through the flour.'
34 Jesus told the people all these things in stories. He did not tell them anything without a story.
35 What the prophet of God said long ago, came true. He said, `I will use stories. I will tell things that have been secret since the world was made.'
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