Readings for Lent and Easter

¹³ Obey every officer of the government to please the Lord. Obey the king because he is over all.

¹⁴ Obey the rulers because they are sent by him. They are sent to punish those who do wrong things and to praise those who do good things.

¹⁵ That is what God wants you to do. He wants you to do good things. By doing good things, you will stop foolish people from saying wrong things about you. They say wrong things about you because they do not know you.

¹⁶ You are free people. But do not think, `I am free so I can do wrong things.' You are God's servants.

¹⁷ Respect all men. Love your Christian brothers. Fear God. Respect the king.

¹⁸ Servants, respect and obey your masters in all things. Obey not only those who are good to you. But also obey those who are hard on you.

¹⁹ Maybe a person is punished when he has done nothing wrong. If he takes these troubles to please God, he does a very good thing.

²⁰ What praise will you have if you take a beating when you have done something wrong? But when you do right and are punished, if you take it quietly, God is pleased.

²¹ You have been called to do this because Christ also was punished for you. He showed you what you should do. So do as he did.

²² He did no wrong. And he told no lie.

²³ When people said wrong things to him, he did not say wrong things to them. When he was punished, he did not say, `I will do something to you!' But he trusted in God who judges what is right.

²⁴ Christ in his own body took the wrong things we have done to the cross. He did this so that we would stop our bad ways and live right. Because he was punished, you were healed.

²⁵ Like lost sheep, you were going away from God. But now you have come back to the one who takes care of you and helps you.