⁹ That’s why we have not stopped praying for you. We have been praying for you since the day we heard about you. We keep asking God to fill you with the knowledge of what he wants. We pray he will give you the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives. ¹⁰ Then you will be able to lead a life that is worthy of the Lord. We pray that you will please him in every way. So we want you to bear fruit in every good thing you do. We pray that you will grow to know God better. ¹¹ We want you to be very strong, in keeping with his glorious power. We want you to be patient. We pray that you will never give up. ¹² We want you to give thanks with joy to the Father. He has made you fit to have what he will give to all his holy people. You will all receive a share in the kingdom of light. ¹³ He has saved us from the kingdom of darkness. He has brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves. ¹⁴ Because of what the Son has done, we have been set free. Because of him, all our sins have been forgiven.

The Son of God Is Better Than Everything Else

¹⁵ The Son is the exact likeness of God, who can’t be seen. The Son is first, and he is over all creation. ¹⁶ All things were created in him. He created everything in heaven and on earth. He created everything that can be seen and everything that can’t be seen. He created kings, powers, rulers and authorities. All things have been created by him and for him. ¹⁷ Before anything was created, he was already there. He holds everything together. ¹⁸ And he is the head of the body, which is the church. He is the beginning. He is the first to be raised from the dead. That happened so that he would be far above everything. ¹⁹ God was pleased to have his whole nature living in Christ. ²⁰ God was pleased to bring all things back to himself. That’s because of what Christ has done. These things include everything on earth and in heaven. God made peace through Christ’s blood, by his death on the cross.

²¹ At one time you were separated from God. You were enemies in your minds because of your evil ways. ²² But because Christ died, God has brought you back to himself. Christ’s death has made you holy in God’s sight. So now you don’t have any flaw. You are free from blame. ²³ But you must keep your faith steady and firm. You must not move away from the hope the good news holds out to you. This is the good news that you heard. It has been preached to every creature under heaven. I, Paul, now serve the good news.

A maskil of David.

A Mother Asks a Favor of Jesus

²⁰ The mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus. Her sons came with her. Getting on her knees, she asked a favor of him.

²¹ “What do you want?” Jesus asked.

She said, “Promise me that one of my two sons may sit at your right hand in your kingdom. Promise that the other one may sit at your left hand.”

²² “You don’t know what you’re asking for,” Jesus said to them. “Can you drink the cup of suffering I am going to drink?”

“We can,” they answered.

²³ Jesus said to them, “You will certainly drink from my cup. But it is not for me to say who will sit at my right or left hand. These places belong to those my Father has prepared them for.”

²⁴ The other ten disciples heard about this. They became angry at the two brothers. ²⁵ Jesus called them together. He said, “You know about the rulers of the Gentiles. They hold power over their people. Their high officials order them around. ²⁶ Don’t be like that. Instead, anyone who wants to be important among you must be your servant. ²⁷ And anyone who wants to be first must be your slave. ²⁸ Be like the Son of Man. He did not come to be served. Instead, he came to serve others. He came to give his life as the price for setting many people free.”

³⁴ Then Peter began to speak. “I now realize how true it is that God treats everyone the same,” he said. ³⁵ “He accepts people from every nation. He accepts anyone who has respect for him and does what is right. ³⁶ You know the message God sent to the people of Israel. It is the good news of peace through Jesus Christ. He is Lord of all. ³⁷ You know what has happened all through the area of Judea. It started in Galilee after John preached about baptism. ³⁸ You know how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Jesus went around doing good. He healed all who were under the devil’s power. God was with him.

³⁹ “We are witnesses of everything he did in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by nailing him to a cross. ⁴⁰ But on the third day God raised him from the dead. God allowed Jesus to be seen. ⁴¹ But he wasn’t seen by all the people. He was seen only by us. We are witnesses whom God had already chosen. We ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. ⁴² He commanded us to preach to the people. He told us to tell people that he is the one appointed by God to judge the living and the dead. ⁴³ All the prophets tell about him. They say that all who believe in him have their sins forgiven through his name.”

⁴⁴ While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. ⁴⁵ Some Jewish believers had come with Peter. They were amazed because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. ⁴⁶ They heard them speaking in languages they had not known before. They also heard them praising God.

Then Peter said, ⁴⁷ “Surely no one can keep these people from being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.” ⁴⁸ So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days.

¹² We are not trying to make an appeal to you again. But we are giving you a chance to take pride in us. Some people take pride in their looks rather than what’s in their hearts. If you take pride in us, you will be able to answer them. ¹³ Are we “out of our minds,” as some people say? If so, it is because we want to serve God. Does what we say make sense? If so, it is because we want to serve you. ¹⁴ Christ’s love controls us. We are sure that one person died for everyone. And so everyone died. ¹⁵ Christ died for everyone. He died so that those who live should not live for themselves anymore. They should live for Christ. He died for them and was raised again.

¹⁶ So from now on we don’t look at anyone the way the world does. At one time we looked at Christ in that way. But we don’t anymore. ¹⁷ When anyone lives in Christ, the new creation has come. The old is gone! The new is here! ¹⁸ All this is from God. He brought us back to himself through Christ’s death on the cross. And he has given us the task of bringing others back to him through Christ. ¹⁹ God was bringing the world back to himself through Christ. He did not hold people’s sins against them. God has trusted us with the message that people may be brought back to him. ²⁰ So we are Christ’s official messengers. It is as if God were making his appeal through us. Here is what Christ wants us to beg you to do. Come back to God! ²¹ Christ didn’t have any sin. But God made him become sin for us. So we can be made right with God because of what Christ has done for us.