Book of Common Prayer

The God of all comfort

1 Paul, an apostle of Messiah Jesus through God’s will, and Timothy our brother; to God’s assembly in Corinth, with all God’s people in the whole of Achaea: ² grace and peace to you from God our father and the Lord, Messiah Jesus!

³ Let us bless God, the father of our Lord, Messiah Jesus; he is the father of mercies and the God of all comfort. ⁴ He comforts us in all our trouble, so that we can then comfort people in every kind of trouble, through the comfort with which God comforts us. ⁵ Just as we have an overflowing share of the Messiah’s sufferings, you see, so we have an overflowing share in comfort through the Messiah. ⁶ If we are troubled, it’s because of your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it’s for the sake of your comfort, which comes about as you bear patiently with the same sufferings that we are going through. ⁷ And our hope about you remains firm, because we know that, just as you’ve shared in our sufferings, so you will also share in our comfort.

Jesus cleanses the Temple

¹² The next day, as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. ¹³ From some distance away he saw a fig tree covered with leaves, and hoped to find some fruit on it; but when he came up to it he found nothing but leaves. (It wasn’t yet the season for figs.)

¹⁴ He addressed the tree directly. “May no one ever eat fruit from you again,” he said. And his disciples heard.

¹⁵ They came into Jerusalem. Jesus went into the Temple and began to drive out the traders, those who bought and sold in the Temple, and overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of the dove-sellers. ¹⁶ He permitted no one to carry any vessel through the Temple. ¹⁷ He began to teach: “Isn’t this what’s written,” he said,

“But you’ve made it a brigands’ den!”

¹⁸ The chief priests and the legal experts heard, and looked for a way to get rid of him. But they were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was astonished at his teaching.

¹⁹ When evening came, they went back out of the city.

²⁰ As they were returning, early in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from its roots.

²¹ “Look, Teacher!” said Peter to Jesus, remembering what had happened before. “The fig tree you cursed has withered.”

²² “Have faith in God,” replied Jesus. ²³ “I’m telling you the truth: if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Be off with you—get yourself thrown into the sea,’ if they have no doubt in their heart, but believe that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. ²⁴ That’s why I’m telling you, everything that you request in prayer, everything you ask God for, believe that you receive it, and it will happen for you.

²⁵ “And when you are standing there praying, if you have something against someone else, forgive them—so that your father in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”