Book of Common Prayer

¹³ God promised Abraham and his family that the world would belong to them. God did not make the promise because Abraham obeyed the law. But he made the promise because Abraham believed him and was put right with God.

¹⁴ If the world will belong to people who obey the law, it is of no use to believe God. And the promise is no good.

¹⁵ Because of the law, God is angry. Where there is no law, no one breaks the law.

¹⁶ That is why people must believe. Because God is kind, he makes the promise sure for all of Abraham's children. The promise is for those who have the law and also for those who believe as Abraham did. He is the father of us all.

¹⁷ the holy writings say, `I have made you the father of many nations.' Abraham was made the father of many nations by God. He believed God. He believed that God could make dead people live. He believed God when he said that things were true even though they had not happened yet.

¹⁸ Abraham believed and hoped, though there was nothing to give him hope. He believed that he would become the father of many nations. God had told him this would happen.

¹⁹ He did not stop believing when he thought about his own body. It was almost dead. He was about one hundred years old. He did not stop believing when he thought about Sarah, even though she had never given birth to any children.

²⁰ He did not stop believing God's promise. He believed God very much. He did not praise God for his own faith, but for God's promise.

²¹ He was sure that God was able to do what he had promised to do.

²² He was put right with God because he believed the promise.

²³ The holy writings do not say that for Abraham only.

²⁴ They say it for us too. God will say we are put right if we believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from death.

²⁵ He was killed because we did wrong things. He was raised from death in order that we might be made right with God.

20 The kingdom of heaven is like this. A man owned a farm. Early in the morning he went out to look for men to work on his farm.

² He agreed to pay them a day's wages and sent them out to his farm.

³ `About nine o'clock he went out again. He saw some men standing around at the market. They were not working.

⁴ He said to them, "You go out to work on the farm too. I will pay you what is right." And they went to work.

⁵ `The man went out again at twelve o'clock and at three o'clock. He did the same as he had done before.

⁶ `About five o'clock he went out again and found other men standing around. He said to them, "Why have you been standing here all day? Why are you not working?"

⁷ They said, "No man has asked us to work." So he said to them, "You go out to work on the farm too."

⁸ `When evening came, the man who owned the farm said to his manager, "Call the workmen and pay them. Begin with those who came last and end with those who came first."

⁹ Each of the men who started work at five o'clock was paid a day's wages.

¹⁰ Those who started work first thought they would get more than that. But they also were paid a day's wages.

¹¹ They took it, but they were angry and talked against the man who owned the farm.

¹² `They said, "These men came last, and worked only one hour. Yet you paid them the same as you paid us. We worked all day, when the sun was hot."

¹³ `But he said to one of them, "My friend, I am not doing any wrong to you. You agreed that I should pay you a day's wages. Did you not?

¹⁴ Take your money and go. I want to give the last man the same pay as I gave you.

¹⁵ It is my own money. Can I not do with it as I like? Do you think it is a wrong thing for me to be kind?"

¹⁶ `In the same way, people who are last will be first, and those who are first will be last.'