Book of Common Prayer

The Holy Spirit inspires men’s faith and imparts spiritual gifts

12 Now I want to give you some further information in some spiritual matters.

^2-3 You have not forgotten that you were Gentiles, following dumb idols just as you had been taught. Now I want you to understand, as Christians, that no one speaking by the Spirit of God could call Jesus accursed, and no one could say that he is the Lord, except by the Holy Spirit.

^4-7 Men have different gifts, but it is the same Spirit who gives them. There are different ways of serving God, but it is the same Lord who is served. God works through different men in different ways, but it is the same God who achieves his purposes through them all. Each man is given his gift by the Spirit that he may make the most of it.

^8-11 One man’s gift by the Spirit is to speak with wisdom, another’s to speak with knowledge. The same Spirit gives to another man faith, to another the ability to heal, to another the power to do great deeds. The same Spirit gives to another man the gift of preaching the word of God, to another the ability to discriminate in spiritual matters, to another speech in different tongues. Behind all these gifts is the operation of the same Spirit, who distributes to each individual man, as he wills.

Jesus heals a young girl, and several others in need

¹⁸ While he was saying these thing to them an official came up to him and, bowing low before him, said, “My daughter has just this moment died. Please come and lay your hand on her and she will come back to life!”

^19-20 At this Jesus got to his feet and followed him, accompanied by his disciples. And on the way a woman who had a haemorrhage for twelve years approached him from behind and touched the edge of his cloak.

²¹ “If I can only touch his cloak,” she kept saying to herself, “I shall be all right.”

²² But Jesus turned right round and saw her. “Cheer up, my daughter,” he said, “your faith has made you well!” And the woman was completely cured from that moment.

^23-24 Then when Jesus came into the official’s house and noticed the flute-players and the noisy crowd he said, “You must all go outside; the little girl is not dead, she is fast asleep.”

^25-26 This was met with scornful laughter. But when Jesus had forced the crowd to leave, he came right into the room, took hold of her hand, and the girl got up. And this became the talk of the whole district.