Book of Common Prayer

¹² This is what we boast of, you see; this is what our conscience is telling us: that our conduct in the world, and in particular in relation to you, has been marked by holiness and godly sincerity, not in merely human wisdom but in God’s grace. ¹³ We are not writing anything to you, after all, except what you can read and understand. And I hope you will go on understanding right through to the end, ¹⁴ just as you have understood us already—well, partly, at least! We are your pride and joy, just as you are ours, on the day of our Lord Jesus.

Paul’s plans and God’s “Yes”

¹⁵ I was quite sure of this. That’s why I wanted to come to you again, so that you could have a double blessing. ¹⁶ I intended to go on to Macedonia by way of you, and to come back to you from Macedonia and have you send me on to Judaea. ¹⁷ Was I just fooling around when I was making plans like this? Was I concocting schemes in a merely human way, prepared to say “Yes, yes,” and “No, no,” at the same moment? ¹⁸ God can bear me faithful witness that our word to you was not a mixture of Yes and No. ¹⁹ The son of God, Jesus the Messiah, who was proclaimed among you by Silvanus, Timothy and myself, wasn’t a Yes-and-No person; in him it’s always Yes! ²⁰ All God’s promises, you see, find their Yes in him; and that’s why we say the Yes, the Amen through him when we pray to God and give him glory. ²¹ It’s God who strengthens us with you into the Messiah, the anointed one; and he has anointed us, too. ²² God has stamped his seal on us, by giving us the spirit in our hearts as a down payment and guarantee of what is to come.

The parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin

15 All the tax-collectors and sinners were coming close to listen to Jesus. ² The Pharisees and the legal experts were grumbling. “This fellow welcomes sinners!” they said. “He even eats with them!”

³ So Jesus told them this parable. ⁴ “Supposing one of you has a hundred sheep,” he said, “and you lose one of them. What will you do? Why, you’ll leave the ninety-nine out in the countryside, and you’ll go off looking for the lost one until you find it! ⁵ And when you find it, you’ll be so happy—you’ll put it on your shoulders ⁶ and come home, and you’ll call your friends and neighbors in. ‘Come and have a party!’ you’ll say. ‘Celebrate with me! I’ve found my lost sheep!’

⁷ “Well, let me tell you: that’s how glad they will be in heaven over one sinner who repents—more than over ninety-nine righteous people who don’t need repentance.

⁸ “Or supposing a woman has ten drachmas and loses one of them. What will she do? Why, she’ll light a lamp, and sweep the house, and hunt carefully until she finds it! ⁹ And when she finds it she’ll call her friends and neighbors in. ‘Come and have a party!’ she’ll say. ‘Celebrate with me! I’ve found my lost coin!’

¹⁰ “Well, let me tell you: that’s how glad God’s angels feel when a single sinner repents.”