Book of Common Prayer

¹⁴ These things I write to you trusting to come to you shortly, ¹⁵ but if I am long in coming, so that you may yet have knowledge how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the congregation of the living God, the pillar and ground of truth.

¹⁶ And there is no denying, great is the mystery of godliness: God was shown in the flesh, was confirmed in the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached to the Gentiles, was believed on in earth, and received up in glory.

He prophesies of the latter days, and exhorts Timothy to the diligent reading of the holy scripture.

4 The Spirit speaks clearly that in the latter times some will depart from the faith, and will give heed to spirits of error, and to devilish teaching ² by those who speak falsely through hypocrisy, who have their consciences marked with an hot iron, ³ forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods that God has created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. ⁴ For everything God created is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving. ⁵ For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.

²⁴ Another similitude he put forth to them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. ²⁵ But while people were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. ²⁶ When the blade had sprung up and had brought forth fruit, then the tares appeared also. ²⁷ Then the servants went to the householder and said to him, Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where then did the tares come from? ²⁸ He said to them, The envious man has done this. Then the servants said to him, Do you want us then to go and weed them out? ²⁹ But he said, Nay, lest while you go about to weed out the tares, you pluck up also with them the wheat by the roots. ³⁰ Let both grow together till harvest comes. And in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather the tares first, and bind them in sheaves to be burned; but gather the wheat into my barn.

³¹ Another parable he put forth to them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man takes and sows in his field, ³² which is the least of all seeds. But when it is grown, it is the greatest among shrubs; and it is a tree, so that the birds of the air come and build in its branches.

³³ He told them another similitude: The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman takes and hides in three measures of meal, till all is leavened.

³⁴ All these things Jesus spoke to the people by similitudes. And he spoke nothing to them without similitudes,