Ezekiel 31:1-6

English Standard Version

Pharaoh to Be Slain

31 ^(A)In the eleventh year, in the third month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: ²^(B)“Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to ^(C)his multitude:

^(D)“Whom are you like in your greatness?
³    Behold, ^(E)Assyria was a ^(F)cedar in ^(G)Lebanon,
with beautiful branches and ^(H)forest shade,
    ^(I)and of towering height,
    its top among the clouds.^[a]
⁴The waters nourished it;
    the deep made it grow tall,
making ^(J)its rivers flow
    around the place of its planting,
sending forth its streams
    to all the trees of the field.
⁵So ^(K)it towered high
    above all the trees of the field;
its boughs grew large
    and its branches long
    from ^(L)abundant water in its shoots.
⁶^(M)All the birds of the heavens
    made their nests in its boughs;
under its branches all the beasts of the field
    gave birth to their young,
and under its shadow
    lived all great nations.

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Footnotes

Ezekiel 31:3 Or its top went through the thick boughs

Ezekiel 31:7-9

English Standard Version

⁷It was ^(A)beautiful in its greatness,
    in the length of its branches;
^(B)for its roots went down
    to abundant waters.
⁸^(C)The cedars ^(D)in the garden of God could not rival it,
    nor the fir trees equal its boughs;
neither were the plane trees
    like its branches;
no tree ^(E)in the garden of God
    was its equal in beauty.
⁹I made it beautiful
    in the mass of its branches,
and all the trees of ^(F)Eden envied it,
    that were in the garden of God.

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Ezekiel 31:10-14

English Standard Version

¹⁰“Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because ^(A)it^[a] towered high and set its top among the clouds,^[b] and ^(B)its heart was proud of its height, ¹¹I will give it into the hand of a mighty one of the nations. He shall surely deal with it as its wickedness deserves. I have cast it out. ¹²^(C)Foreigners, ^(D)the most ruthless of nations, have cut it down and left it. ^(E)On the mountains and in all the valleys its branches have fallen, and its boughs have been broken in all ^(F)the ravines of the land, and ^(G)all the peoples of the earth have gone away from its shadow and left it. ¹³^(H)On its fallen trunk dwell all the birds of the heavens, and on its branches are all the beasts of the field. ¹⁴^(I)All this is in order that no trees by the waters may grow to towering height or set their tops among the clouds,^[c] and that no trees that drink water may reach up to them in height. For they are all given over to death, ^(J)to the world ^(K)below, among the children of man,^[d] with those who go down to the pit.

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Footnotes

Ezekiel 31:10 Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew you
Ezekiel 31:10 Or its top through the thick boughs
Ezekiel 31:14 Or their tops through the thick boughs
Ezekiel 31:14 Or of Adam

Psalm 92

English Standard Version

How Great Are Your Works

A Psalm. A Song for the Sabbath.

92 ^(A)It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
    to sing praises to your name, ^(B)O Most High;
²to declare your ^(C)steadfast love in ^(D)the morning,
    and your ^(E)faithfulness by ^(F)night,
³to the music of ^(G)the lute and ^(H)the harp,
    to the melody of ^(I)the lyre.
⁴For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your ^(J)work;
    at ^(K)the works of your hands I sing for joy.

⁵How ^(L)great are your works, O Lord!
    Your ^(M)thoughts are very ^(N)deep!
⁶The stupid man cannot know;
    the fool cannot understand this:
⁷that though ^(O)the wicked sprout like grass
    and all ^(P)evildoers flourish,
they are doomed to destruction forever;
⁸    but you, O Lord, are ^(Q)on high forever.
⁹For behold, your enemies, O Lord,
    for behold, your enemies shall perish;
    all evildoers shall be ^(R)scattered.

¹⁰But you have exalted my ^(S)horn like that of ^(T)the wild ox;
you have ^(U)poured over me^[a] fresh oil.
¹¹My ^(V)eyes have seen the downfall of my enemies;
my ears have heard the doom of my evil assailants.

¹²^(W)The righteous flourish like the palm tree
    and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
¹³They are planted in the house of the Lord;
    they flourish in ^(X)the courts of our God.
¹⁴They still bear fruit in old age;
    they are ever full of sap and green,
¹⁵^(Y)to declare that the Lord is upright;
    he is my ^(Z)rock, and there is ^(AA)no unrighteousness in him.

Footnotes

Psalm 92:10 Compare Syriac; the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain

2 Corinthians 5:1-10

English Standard Version

Our Heavenly Dwelling

5 For we know that if ^(A)the tent that is ^(B)our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, ^(C)a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. ²For in this tent ^(D)we groan, longing to ^(E)put on our heavenly dwelling, ³if indeed by putting it on^[a] we may not be found naked. ⁴For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal ^(F)may be swallowed up by life. ⁵He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, ^(G)who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

⁶So we are always of good courage. We know that ^(H)while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, ⁷for ^(I)we walk by faith, not ^(J)by sight. ⁸Yes, we are of good courage, and we ^(K)would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. ⁹So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to ^(L)please him. ¹⁰For ^(M)we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, ^(N)so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

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Footnotes

2 Corinthians 5:3 Some manuscripts putting it off

Mark 4:26-34

English Standard Version

The Parable of the Seed Growing

²⁶And he said, ^(A)“The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. ²⁷He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; ^(B)he knows not how. ²⁸The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. ²⁹But when the grain is ripe, at once ^(C)he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

³⁰^(D)And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? ³¹It is like ^(E)a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, ³²yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”

³³^(F)With many such parables he spoke ^(G)the word to them, ^(H)as they were able to hear it. ³⁴He did not speak to them ^(I)without a parable, but ^(J)privately to his own disciples he ^(K)explained everything.