1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers,¹ by the mercies of God, to ^lpresent your bodies as a ^mliving sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.² 2 ⁿDo not be conformed to this world,³ but be ^otransformed by the ^prenewal of your mind, that by testing you may ^qdiscern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.⁴

3 For by ^rthe grace given to me I say to everyone among you ^snot to ^tthink of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each ^uaccording to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 4 ^vFor as in one body we have many members,⁵ and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so ^wwe, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6 Having ^xgifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: ^yif prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads,⁶ with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with ^zcheerfulness.

9 Let love be ^agenuine. ^bAbhor what is evil; ^chold fast to what is good. 10 ^dLove one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing ^ehonor. 11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be ^ffervent in spirit,⁷ serve the Lord. 12 ^gRejoice in hope, ^hbe patient in tribulation, ⁱbe constant in prayer. 13 ^jContribute to the needs of the saints and ^kseek to show hospitality.

14 ^lBless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 ^mRejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 ⁿLive in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.⁸ Never be wise in your own sight. 17 ^oRepay no one evil for evil, but ^pgive thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, ^qlive peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, ^rnever avenge yourselves, but leave it⁹ to the wrath of God, for it is written, ^s“Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, ^t“if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

1 Soon afterward he went on through cities and villages, ^oproclaiming and ^pbringing the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him, 2 and also some ^qwomen who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom ^rseven demons had gone out, 3 and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s household manager, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them¹ out of their means.

4 ^sAnd when a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable, 5 “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. 6 And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. 7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. 8 And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.” As he said these things, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

9 ^tAnd when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, 10 he said, ^u“To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ^v‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’ 11 ^wNow the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12 The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not ^xbelieve and be saved. 13 And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing ^yfall away. 14 And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the ^zcares and ^ariches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. 15 As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and ^bbear fruit with patience.