Book of Common Prayer

¹⁷ Brothers, I ask you to do this. Watch the people who make quarrels. They make people do wrong because they teach things you have not been taught. Have nothing to do with those people.

¹⁸ Those people do not work for our Lord Jesus Christ. They work only for themselves. With their words of praise they fool people who do not know what is wrong.

¹⁹ People everywhere know that you obey. I am very happy about you. I want you to be wise and know what is right. I want you to know nothing about what is wrong.

²⁰ God gives peace. He will soon crush Satan under your feet. May our Lord Jesus Christ bless you.

²¹ Timothy sends you greetings. He worked with me. Luke, Jason, and Sosipater send you greetings. They belong to my family.

²² (I, Tertius, send you Christian greetings. I am writing this letter for Paul.)

²³ Gaius sends you greetings. I am staying in his house. The whole church that meets in his house sends you greetings too. Erastus sends greetings to you. He takes care of the money for the city. Our brother Quartus sends you greetings.

²⁴ I ask our Lord Jesus Christ to show you his loving kindness. He will!

²⁵ Praise God! He is able to make you stand firm. That is the good news that I tell. That is what the message about Jesus Christ says. The message was kept secret for a long time in the past. But it has now been made known.

²⁶ The books of the prophets have told this message. The God who lives for ever told the prophets to write this message so that all the people who are not Jews will believe and obey.

²⁷ God is the only one who is wise. Praise him for ever because of Jesus Christ. Yes, it is so!

³² As they were going, they met a man named Simon. He was born in the country of Cyrene. They made him carry Jesus' cross.

³³ They came to a place called Golgotha. That means, `The place of a head bone.'

³⁴ They wanted Jesus to drink wine mixed with something bitter. Jesus tasted it but he would not drink it.

³⁵ Then they nailed him to a cross. They gambled to see how they should divide Jesus' clothes.

³⁶ Then the soldiers sat down on the ground and watched him there.

³⁷ They put the complaint against Jesus above his head. These words were written there: `This is Jesus the King of the Jews.'

³⁸ Two bad men were also nailed to crosses. They had stolen money. One man was put on the right side of Jesus and one was put on the left side of him.

³⁹ The people who passed by said bad things about him. They shook their heads.

⁴⁰ They said, `You are the man who said you could break down the temple and build it again in three days. Save yourself! If you are really God's Son, come down from the cross.'

⁴¹ The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders also made fun of him.

⁴² They said, `He saved other people but he cannot save himself! If he is the King of the people of Israel, he should come down from the cross now. Then we will believe in him.

⁴³ He trusted in God. If God wants him, he can save him now. He said, "I am God's Son." '

⁴⁴ The bad men who were also nailed to crosses with him said the same things to him.