Abram Journeys to Egypt

12 Now ^(A)the Lord said to Abram,

⁵ Now then, ^(A)if you will indeed obey My voice and ^(B)keep My covenant, then you shall be ^(C)My ^[a]own possession among all the peoples, for ^(D)all the earth is Mine; ⁶ and you shall be to Me ^(E)a kingdom of priests and ^(F)a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.”

Isaiah’s Vision

6 In the year of ^(A)King Uzziah’s death ^(B)I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. ² Seraphim were standing above Him, ^(C)each having six wings: with two each covered his face, and with two each covered his feet, and with two each flew. ³ And one called out to another and said,

⁴ And the ^[b]foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the ^[c](F)temple was filling with smoke. ⁵ Then I said,

⁶ Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the ^(K)altar with tongs. ⁷ He ^(L)touched my mouth with it and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; and ^(M)your guilt is taken away and atonement is made for your sin.”

Isaiah’s Commission

⁸ Then I heard the ^(N)voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then ^(O)I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

³⁷ Then He *said to His disciples, “^(A)The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. ³⁸ Therefore, plead with the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”

^5 (A)These twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them, saying, “Do not go on a road ^[a]to Gentiles, and do not enter a city of ^(B)Samaritans; ⁶ but rather go to ^(C)the lost sheep of the house of Israel. ⁷ And as you go, ^[b]preach, saying, ‘^(D)The kingdom of heaven ^[c]has come near.’ ⁸ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those with leprosy, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give. ^9 (E)Do not acquire gold, or silver, or copper for your money belts, ¹⁰ or a ^[d]bag for your journey, or even two ^[e]tunics, or sandals, or a staff; for ^(F)the worker is deserving of his ^[f]support. ¹¹ And whatever city or village you enter, inquire who is worthy in it, and stay ^[g]at his house until you leave that city. ¹² As you enter the ^[h]house, ^(G)give it your ^[i]greeting. ¹³ If the house is worthy, see that your blessing of peace comes upon it. But if it is not worthy, ^[j]take back your blessing of peace. ¹⁴ And whoever does not receive you nor listen to your words, as you leave that house or city, ^(H)shake the dust off your feet. ¹⁵ Truly I say to you, ^(I)it will be more tolerable for the land of ^(J)Sodom and Gomorrah on ^(K)the day of judgment, than for that city.

The Sower Explained

¹⁸ “^(A)Listen then to the parable of the sower. ¹⁹ When anyone hears ^(B)the ^[a]word of the kingdom and does not understand it, ^(C)the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one sown with seed beside the road. ²⁰ The one sown with seed on the rocky places, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; ²¹ yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution occurs because of the ^[b]word, immediately he ^[c](D)falls away. ²² And the one sown with seed among the thorns, this is the one who hears the word, and the anxiety of ^(E)the ^[d]world and the ^(F)deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it ^[e]becomes unfruitful. ²³ But the one sown with seed on the good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces, some ^(G)a hundred, some sixty, and some thirty times as much.”

Weeds among Wheat

²⁴ Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, “^(H)The kingdom of heaven ^[f]is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. ²⁵ But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed ^[g]weeds among the wheat, and left. ²⁶ And when the ^[h]wheat sprouted and produced grain, then the weeds also became evident. ²⁷ And the slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? ^[i]How then does it have weeds?’ ²⁸ And he said to them, ‘^[j]An enemy has done this!’ The slaves *said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’ ²⁹ But he *said, ‘No; while you are gathering up the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. ³⁰ Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and at the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the weeds and bind them in bundles to burn them; but ^(I)gather the wheat into my barn.”’”

³⁷ And He said, “The one who sows the good seed is ^(A)the Son of Man, ³⁸ and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are ^(B)the sons of the kingdom; and the weeds are ^(C)the sons of ^(D)the evil one; ³⁹ and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is ^(E)the ^[a]end of the age; and the reapers are angels. ⁴⁰ So just as the weeds are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at ^(F)the ^[b]end of the age. ^41 (G)The Son of Man ^(H)will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom ^[c]all ^(I)stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, ⁴² and they ^(J)will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place ^(K)there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ^43 (L)Then the righteous will shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. ^(M)The one who has ears, ^[d]let him hear.

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

⁹ So go to ^(A)the main roads, and invite whomever you find there to the wedding feast.’ ¹⁰ Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good; and the wedding hall was filled with ^[a]dinner guests.