Book of Common Prayer

12 God has been kind to you. So I ask you, brothers, give your bodies to him like a living sacrifice. That is, a holy sacrifice. It will please God. And it is what you should do for him.

² Do not be like the people of this world, but have a new mind. Then you will prove for yourselves what God wants you to do. That will be good. It will please God. And it will be all right.

³ God has given me this gift. So I say this to every one of you. Do not think you are better than you really are. But think of yourself as you are. You are what you are because God has given you something when you believed.

⁴ In a body there are many parts, but all the parts do not do the same thing.

⁵ In the same way, we are many people. But we are one body because we are all joined together in Christ. Each one of us is a part of all the others.

⁶ We have different gifts because God has blessed us in different ways. If a person can speak words from God, he must say what he believes he should say.

⁷ If a person can help others, he must help others. If a person can teach, he must teach.

⁸ If a person can talk to others, he must talk to others. If a person can give something, he must give it gladly. If a person can be a leader, he must try to be a good leader. If a person can help someone, he must do it gladly.

⁹ Your love must be real love. Hate what is wrong. Hold to what is good.

¹⁰ Love one another very much, like brothers. Honour other people more than you honour yourself.

¹¹ Do not hold back in what you do. Let the Spirit burn in you. Work hard for the Lord.

¹² Be very happy because you have a hope. Be strong when you have trouble. Keep on talking with God.

¹³ Give to God's people who need it. Be glad to take care of strangers in your house.

¹⁴ Bless those who do wrong things to you. Bless them. Do not curse them.

¹⁵ Be happy with people who are happy. Cry with people who cry.

¹⁶ Agree with one another. Do not be proud, but be friends with anybody. Do not think you are wiser than you are.

¹⁷ When people do wrong things to you, do not do wrong things to them also. But try to do good things for all people.

¹⁸ As much as you can, live in peace with everyone.

¹⁹ My dear brothers, do not punish people who do wrong to you. But let God's anger punish them. In the holy writings the Lord says, `I myself will punish people. If they have done wrong things, I will do wrong things to them also.'

²⁰ But, `If your enemy is hungry, give him food. If he is thirsty, give him a drink. When you do that, it will be as if you put a pile of coals from the fire on his head.'

²¹ Do not let wrong things win a victory over you. But win a victory over wrong things by the good things you do.

8 Soon after this, Jesus went through the cities and towns. He told the people God's word about the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve disciples were with him.

² Some women were also with him. They had bad spirits and had been sick. But they had been healed. One was Mary, called Magdalene. Seven bad spirits had gone out of her.

³ Another one was Joanna, the wife of Chuza, who worked for Herod. Another one was Susanna. And there were many others who gave what they could to help him.

⁴ Many people came to him from many towns. Then he told them a story.

⁵ He said, `A man went out to sow his seed. As he sowed it, some seed fell on the road. People stepped on the seed. Birds ate it.

⁶ Some seed fell on the stony ground. It grew but soon died because the place was too dry.

⁷ Some seed fell among the weeds. The weeds grew up and made the new plants die.

⁸ But some seed fell on good ground and it grew well. Those plants gave a hundred times as much grain as the man sowed.' When Jesus had said this, he called out, `Everyone who has ears to hear, listen!'

⁹ His disciples asked Jesus what this story meant.

¹⁰ He said to them, `You can learn the secret things about the kingdom of God. But other people must have stories. They will look, but they will not see. They will hear, but they will not understand.'

¹¹ `Now here is what the story means. The seed is God's word.

¹² Some seeds fell on the road. They are like the people who hear the word of God. Then the devil comes and takes the word out of their hearts. He does not want them to believe and be saved.

¹³ Some seeds fell on the stones. They are like people who are glad when they hear the word. But it does not go down deep into their hearts. They believe for a short time. But when they have trouble they stop believing.

¹⁴ Some seeds fell among the weeds. They are like people who hear the word. But they think about the things of this world. They want to get money and things to be happy in this life. As they go on in life, these things push the message out of their hearts and no good comes from them.

¹⁵ Some seeds fell on good ground. They are like people who hear the word and remember it. Their hearts are honest and good. These people keep on believing, and much good comes from them.'