The Lord’s Power and Dominion.

The Lord Exalted for His Goodness.

A Psalm of Praise, of David.

Of Poor Countrymen

³⁵ ‘^(A)Now in case a countryman of yours becomes poor and his ^[a]means among you falter, then you are to sustain him, like a stranger or a resident, so that he may live with you. ^36 (B)Do not take ^[b]any kind of interest from him, but ^[c]fear your God, so that your countryman may live with you. ³⁷ You shall not give him your silver at interest, nor your food ^[d]for profit. ^38 (C)I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan, and ^(D)to be your God.

³⁹ ‘Now ^(E)if a countryman of yours becomes so poor with regard to you that he sells himself to you, you shall not subject him to a slave’s service. ⁴⁰ He shall be with you as a hired worker, ^(F)as if he were a foreign resident; he shall serve with you up to the year of jubilee. ⁴¹ He shall then leave you, he and his sons with him, and shall go back to his family, so that he may return to the property of his forefathers. ⁴² For they are My servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt; they are not to be sold in a slave sale. ^43 (G)You shall not rule over him with ^[e]severity, but are to revere your God. ⁴⁴ As for your male and female slaves whom you may have—you may acquire male and female slaves from the pagan nations that are around you. ⁴⁵ You may also acquire them from the sons of the foreign residents who reside among you, and from their families who are with you, whom they will have produced in your land; they also may become your possession. ⁴⁶ You may also pass them on as an inheritance to your sons after you, to receive as a possession; you can use them as permanent slaves. ^(H)But in respect to your countrymen, the sons of Israel, you shall not rule with ^[f]severity over one another.

Of Redeeming a Person Who Is Poor

⁴⁷ ‘Now if the ^[g]means of a stranger or of a foreign resident with you becomes sufficient, and a countryman of yours becomes poor in relation to him and sells himself to a stranger who is residing with you, or to the descendants of a stranger’s family, ⁴⁸ then he shall have redemption right after he has been sold. One of his brothers may redeem him, ⁴⁹ or his uncle, or his uncle’s son may redeem him, or one of his blood relatives from his family may redeem him; or ^[h](I)if he prospers, he may redeem himself. ⁵⁰ He then, with his purchaser, shall calculate from the year when he sold himself to him up to the year of jubilee; and the price of his sale shall correspond to the number of years calculated. It is like the days of a hired worker that he will be with him. ⁵¹ If there are still many years remaining, ^(J)he shall refund part of his purchase price in proportion to them for his own redemption; ⁵² but if few years remain until the year of jubilee, he shall so calculate with him. In proportion to his years he is to refund the amount for his redemption. ⁵³ He shall be with him like a worker hired year by year; ^(K)he shall not rule over him with ^[i]severity in your sight. ⁵⁴ Even if he is not redeemed by ^[j]these means, ^(L)he shall still leave in the year of jubilee, he and his sons with him. ⁵⁵ For the sons of Israel are My servants; they are My servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.

⁹ For this reason we also, ^(A)since the day we heard about it, ^(B)have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the ^[a](C)knowledge of His will in all spiritual ^(D)wisdom and understanding, ¹⁰ so that you will ^(E)walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, ^[b](F)to please Him in all respects, ^(G)bearing fruit in every good work and ^[c]increasing in the ^[d]knowledge of God; ^11 (H)strengthened with all power, according to ^[e]His glorious might, ^[f]for the attaining of all perseverance and ^[g]patience; ^(I)joyously ¹² giving thanks to ^(J)the Father, who has qualified us ^[h]to share in ^(K)the inheritance of the ^[i]saints in ^(L)light.

The Incomparable Christ

^13 [j]For He rescued us from the ^[k](M)domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of ^[l](N)His beloved Son, ^14 (O)in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Jesus Teaches in Parables

13 On that day Jesus had gone out of ^(A)the house and was sitting ^(B)by the sea. ² And large crowds gathered to Him, so ^(C)He got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd was standing on the beach.

³ And He told them many things in ^(D)parables, saying, “Behold, the sower went out to sow; ⁴ and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up. ⁵ Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and they sprang up immediately, because they had no depth of soil. ⁶ But after the sun rose, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. ⁷ Others fell ^[a]among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out. ⁸ But others fell on the good soil and yielded a crop, some a ^(E)hundred, some sixty, and some thirty times as much. ^9 (F)The one who has ears, ^[b]let him hear.”

An Explanation for Parables

¹⁰ And the disciples came up and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” ¹¹ And ^[c]Jesus answered them, “^(G)To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. ^12 (H)For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. ¹³ Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while ^(I)seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. ¹⁴ And ^[d]in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says,

^16 (L)But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear.