Book of Common Prayer
I Praise God That He Is Always Spreading The Aroma of Christ Through Us Everywhere
14 But thanks be to God, the One always leading us in triumph[a] in Christ, and making the aroma of [b] the knowledge of Him known through us in every place. 15 Because we are the fragrance of Christ for[c] God among the ones being saved, and among the ones perishing— 16 to the ones an aroma from death to[d] death, but to the others an aroma from life to life. And who is sufficient for these things? 17 For we are not like the many peddling[e] the word of God. But as from purity, but as from God, we are speaking in Christ before God.
You Yourselves Are Proof To Everyone That God Is Working Through Us
3 Are we[f] beginning to commend ourselves again? Or we do not have-need of letters of recommendation[g] to you or from you, like some, do we? 2 You are our letter— it having been inscribed in our hearts, it being known and being read by all people, 3 you being made-known[h] that you are a letter from[i] Christ having been served by us, having been inscribed not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not in tablets made-of-stone but in tablets[j] which are hearts made-of-flesh.
It Is God Who Makes Us Sufficient As Ministers of His New Covenant
4 And we have such[k] a confidence through Christ toward God— 5 not that we are sufficient[l] from ourselves to count anything as out of ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, 6 Who indeed made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives-life.
Jesus Goes Into Judea. The Crowds Come To Him And He Teaches Them
10 And having arisen, He goes from there into the districts[a] of Judea and beyond the Jordan. And crowds again are coming-together to Him. And as He was accustomed, He again was teaching them.
Pharisees Test Jesus With a Question About Divorce. Divorce Is Not God’s Plan
2 And Pharisees having come to Him were asking Him if it is lawful for a husband to send-away[b] a wife— testing Him. 3 And the One, having responded, said to them, “What did Moses command you?” 4 And the ones said, “Moses permitted us to write a certificate[c] of divorce and send her away”. 5 But Jesus said to them, “He wrote this commandment to you because-of your hardness-of-heart. 6 But from the beginning of creation, ‘He made them male and female’ [Gen 1:27]. 7 ‘For this[d] reason, a man will leave-behind his father and mother and will be joined[e] to his wife. 8 And the two will be one flesh’ [Gen 2:24]. So then, they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God paired-together[f], let a person[g] not separate”. 10 And the disciples were questioning Him again about this in the house, 11 and He says to them, “Whoever sends-away his wife and marries another is committing-adultery against her. 12 And if she, having sent-away her husband, marries another, she is committing-adultery”.
Jesus Blesses The Children. Of Such Is The Kingdom of God
13 And they were bringing children to Him in order that He might touch them. But the disciples rebuked them[h]. 14 But Jesus, having seen it, was indignant and said to them, “Permit the children to be coming to Me. Do not be forbidding them. For the kingdom of God is of [i] such ones. 15 Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will never[j] enter into it”. 16 And having taken them in His arms, He was blessing[k] them, while laying His hands on them.
Disciples' Literal New Testament: Serving Modern Disciples by More Fully Reflecting the Writing Style of the Ancient Disciples, Copyright © 2011 Michael J. Magill. All Rights Reserved. Published by Reyma Publishing