Book of Common Prayer

The challenge of faith

1 James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus the Messiah, to the twelve dispersed tribes: greeting.

² My dear family, when you find yourselves tumbling into various trials and tribulations, learn to look at it with total joy, ³ because you know that, when your faith is put to the test, what comes out is patience. ⁴ What’s more, you must let patience have its complete effect, so that you may be complete and whole, not falling short in anything.

⁵ If any one of you falls short in wisdom, they should ask God for it, and it will be given them. God, after all, gives generously and ungrudgingly to all people. ⁶ But they should ask in faith, with no doubts. A person who doubts is like a wave of the sea which the wind blows and tosses about. ⁷ Someone like that should not suppose they will receive anything from the Lord, ⁸ since they are double-minded and unstable in everything they do.

The snares of the world and the gift of God

⁹ Brothers and sisters who find themselves impoverished should celebrate the fact that they have risen to this height— ¹⁰ and those who are rich, that they are brought down low, since the rich will disappear like a wildflower. ¹¹ You see, the rich will be like the grass: when the sun rises with its scorching heat, it withers the grass so that its flower droops and all its fine appearance comes to nothing. That’s what it will be like when the rich wither away in the midst of their busy lives.

¹² God’s blessing on the man who endures testing! When he has passed the test, he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. ¹³ Nobody being tested should say, “It’s God that’s testing me,” for God cannot be tested by evil, and he himself tests nobody. ¹⁴ Rather, each person is tested when they are dragged off and enticed by their own desires. ¹⁵ Then desire, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin; and when sin reaches maturity it gives birth to death.

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!”

The parable of the Prodigal: the father and the younger son

¹¹ Jesus went on: “Once there was a man who had two sons. ¹² The younger son said to the father, ‘Father, give me my share in the property.’ So he divided up his livelihood between them. ¹³ Not many days later the younger son turned his share into cash, and set off for a country far away, where he spent his share in having a riotous good time.

¹⁴ “When he had spent it all, a severe famine came on that country, and he found himself destitute. ¹⁵ So he went and attached himself to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into the fields to feed his pigs. ¹⁶ He longed to satisfy his hunger with the pods that the pigs were eating, and nobody gave him anything.

¹⁷ “He came to his senses. ‘Just think!’ he said to himself. ‘There are all my father’s hired hands with plenty to eat—and here am I, starving to death! ¹⁸ I shall get up and go to my father, and I’ll say to him: “Father; I have sinned against heaven and before you; ¹⁹ I don’t deserve to be called your son any longer. Make me like one of your hired hands.” ’ ²⁰ And he got up and went to his father.

“While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and his heart was stirred with love and pity. He ran to him, hugged him tight, and kissed him. ²¹ ‘Father,’ the son began, ‘I have sinned against heaven and before you; I don’t deserve to be called your son any longer.’ ²² But the father said to his servants, ‘Hurry! Bring the best clothes and put them on him! Put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet! ²³ And bring the calf that we’ve fattened up, kill it, and let’s eat and have a party! ²⁴ This son of mine was dead, and is alive again! He was lost, and now he’s found!’ And they began to celebrate.”

The parable of the Prodigal: the father and the older son

²⁵ “The older son was out in the fields. When he came home, and got near to the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶ He called one of the servants and asked what was going on.

²⁷ “ ‘Your brother’s come home!’ he said. ‘And your father has thrown a great party—he’s killed the fattened calf!—because he’s got him back safe and well!’

²⁸ “He flew into a rage, and wouldn’t go in.

“Then his father came out and pleaded with him. ²⁹ ‘Look here!’ he said to his father, ‘I’ve been slaving for you all these years! I’ve never disobeyed a single commandment of yours. And you never even gave me a young goat so I could have a party with my friends. ³⁰ But when this son of yours comes home, once he’s finished gobbling up your livelihood with his whores, you kill the fattened calf for him!’

³¹ “ ‘My son,’ he replied, ‘you’re always with me. Everything I have belongs to you. ³² But we had to celebrate and be happy! This brother of yours was dead and is alive again! He was lost, and now he’s found!’ ”