Book of Common Prayer
Paul in Ephesus
19 While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the interior regions and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples, 2 and said to them, “Did you receive the holy spirit when you believed?”
“We had not heard,” they replied, “that there was a ‘holy spirit.’ ”
3 “Well then,” said Paul, “into what were you baptized?”
“Into John’s baptism,” they replied.
4 “John baptized with a baptism of repentance for the people,” said Paul, “speaking about the one who was to come after him, and saying that that person would be the one that people should believe in—and that means Jesus.”
5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of Jesus. 6 Paul then laid his hands on them, and the holy spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. 7 There were about twelve men in all.
8 Paul went into the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing and persuading them about the kingdom of God. 9 But when some of them were hard-hearted, and wouldn’t believe, and made wicked allegations about the Way in front of everybody else, Paul left them. He took the disciples with him, and argued every day in the lecture-hall of Tyrannus. 10 He did this for two years, so that all the inhabitants of Asia, Jews and Greeks alike, heard the word of the Lord.
Temptation in the wilderness
4 Jesus returned from the Jordan, filled with the spirit. The spirit took him off into the wilderness 2 for forty days, to be tested by the devil. He ate nothing during that time, and at the end of it he was hungry.
3 “If you are God’s son,” said the devil, “tell this stone to become a loaf of bread.”
4 “It is written,” replied Jesus, “ ‘It isn’t only bread that keeps you alive.’ ”
5 The devil then took him up and showed him, in an instant, all the kingdoms of the world.
6 “I will give you authority over all of this,” said the devil, “and all the prestige that goes with it. It’s been given to me, you see, and I give it to anyone I like. 7 So it can all be yours . . . if you will just worship me.”
8 “It is written,” replied Jesus, “ ‘The Lord your God is the one you must worship; he is the only one you must serve.’ ”
9 Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and stood him on a pinnacle of the Temple.
“If you are God’s son,” he said, “throw yourself down from here; 10 it’s written, after all, that ‘He will give his angels a command about you, to look after you’; 11 and ‘They will carry you in their hands, so that you won’t hit your foot against a stone.’ ”
12 “It has been said,” replied Jesus, “ ‘You mustn’t put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”
13 When the devil had finished each temptation, he left him until another opportunity.
Scripture quotations from The New Testament for Everyone are copyright © Nicholas Thomas Wright 2011, 2018, 2019.