The Call of Abram

12 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household^(A) to the land^(B) I will show you.^(C)

⁵ Now if you obey me fully^(A) and keep my covenant,^(B) then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession.^(C) Although the whole earth^(D) is mine, ⁶ you^[a] will be for me a kingdom of priests^(E) and a holy nation.’^(F) These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”

Isaiah’s Commission

6 In the year that King Uzziah^(A) died,^(B) I saw the Lord,^(C) high and exalted,^(D) seated on a throne;^(E) and the train of his robe^(F) filled the temple. ² Above him were seraphim,^(G) each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet,^(H) and with two they were flying. ³ And they were calling to one another:

⁴ At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.^(M)

⁵ “Woe^(N) to me!” I cried. “I am ruined!^(O) For I am a man of unclean lips,^(P) and I live among a people of unclean lips,^(Q) and my eyes have seen^(R) the King,^(S) the Lord Almighty.”^(T)

⁶ Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal^(U) in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. ⁷ With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips;^(V) your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.^(W)”

⁸ Then I heard the voice^(X) of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send?^(Y) And who will go for us?^(Z)”

And I said, “Here am I.^(AA) Send me!”

³⁷ Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest^(A) is plentiful but the workers are few.^{(B) 38} Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

⁵ These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans.^{(A) 6} Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel.^{(B) 7} As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven^(C) has come near.’ ⁸ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy,^[a] drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.

⁹ “Do not get any gold or silver or copper to take with you in your belts^(D)— ¹⁰ no bag for the journey or extra shirt or sandals or a staff, for the worker is worth his keep.^{(E) 11} Whatever town or village you enter, search there for some worthy person and stay at their house until you leave. ¹² As you enter the home, give it your greeting.^{(F) 13} If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. ¹⁴ If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet.^{(G) 15} Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah^(H) on the day of judgment^(I) than for that town.^(J)

¹⁸ “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: ¹⁹ When anyone hears the message about the kingdom^(A) and does not understand it, the evil one^(B) comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. ²⁰ The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. ²¹ But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.^{(C) 22} The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth^(D) choke the word, making it unfruitful. ²³ But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”^(E)

The Parable of the Weeds

²⁴ Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like^(F) a man who sowed good seed in his field. ²⁵ But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. ²⁶ When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.

²⁷ “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’

²⁸ “‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.

“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’

²⁹ “‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. ³⁰ Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”^(G)

³⁷ He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man.^{(A) 38} The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one,^{(B) 39} and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest^(C) is the end of the age,^(D) and the harvesters are angels.^(E)

⁴⁰ “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. ⁴¹ The Son of Man^(F) will send out his angels,^(G) and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. ⁴² They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.^{(H) 43} Then the righteous will shine like the sun^(I) in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear.^(J)

¹⁹ I will give you the keys^(A) of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be^[a] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be^[b] loosed in heaven.”^(B)

⁹ So go to the street corners^(A) and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ ¹⁰ So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good,^(B) and the wedding hall was filled with guests.