The Great Commandment

6 “Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the ordinances—that the Lord your God charged me to teach you to observe in the land that you are about to cross into and occupy, ² so that you and your children and your children’s children may fear the Lord your God all the days of your life and keep all his decrees and his commandments that I am commanding you, so that your days may be long.^{(A) 3} Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe them diligently, so that it may go well with you and so that you may multiply greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has promised you.^(B)

⁴ “Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.^{[a](C) 5} You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.^{(D) 6} Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. ⁷ Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise.^{(E) 8} Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem^[b] on your forehead,^{(F) 9} and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.^(G)

Caution against Disobedience

¹⁰ “When the Lord your God has brought you into the land that he swore to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you—a land with fine, large cities that you did not build,^{(H) 11} houses filled with all sorts of goods that you did not fill, hewn cisterns that you did not hew, vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant—and when you have eaten your fill,^{(I) 12} take care that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. ¹³ The Lord your God you shall fear, him you shall serve, and by his name alone you shall swear.^{(J) 14} Do not follow other gods, any of the gods of the peoples who are all around you, ¹⁵ because the Lord your God, who is present with you, is a jealous God. The anger of the Lord your God would be kindled against you and he would destroy you from the face of the earth.^(K)

¹⁶ “Do not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah.^{(L) 17} You must diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God and his decrees and his statutes that he has commanded you.^{(M) 18} Do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord, so that it may go well with you and so that you may go in and occupy the good land that the Lord swore to your ancestors,^{(N) 19} thrusting out all your enemies from before you, as the Lord has promised.

²⁰ “When your children ask you in time to come, ‘What is the meaning of the decrees and the statutes and the ordinances that the Lord our God has commanded you?’^{(O) 21} then you shall say to your children, ‘We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. ²² The Lord displayed before our eyes great and awesome signs and wonders against Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his household. ²³ He brought us out from there in order to bring us in, to give us the land that he promised on oath to our ancestors. ²⁴ Then the Lord commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our lasting good, so as to keep us alive, as is now the case.^{(P) 25} If we diligently observe this entire commandment before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us, we will be in the right.’^(Q)

Blessings for Obedience

28 “If you will only obey the Lord your God, by diligently observing all his commandments that I am commanding you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth;^{(A) 2} all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the Lord your God:

³ “Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field.^(B)

⁴ “Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb, the fruit of your ground, and the fruit of your livestock, both the increase of your cattle and the issue of your flock.^(C)

⁵ “Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.

⁶ “Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.

⁷ “The Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before you; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways.^{(D) 8} The Lord will command the blessing upon you in your barns and in all that you undertake; he will bless you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. ⁹ The Lord will establish you as his holy people, as he has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in his ways.^{(E) 10} All the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be afraid of you.^{(F) 11} The Lord will make you abound in prosperity, in the fruit of your womb, in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your ground in the land that the Lord swore to your ancestors to give you.^{(G) 12} The Lord will open for you his rich storehouse, the heavens, to give the rain of your land in its season and to bless all your undertakings. You will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow.^{(H) 13} The Lord will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be only at the top and not at the bottom—if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I am commanding you today by diligently observing them,

Jesus Visits Martha and Mary

³⁸ Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him.^{[a](A) 39} She had a sister named Mary, who sat at Jesus’s^[b] feet and listened to what he was saying.^{(B) 40} But Martha was distracted by her many tasks, so she came to him and asked, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her, then, to help me.” ⁴¹ But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things, ⁴² but few things are needed—indeed only one.^[c] Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”^(C)

The Lord’s Prayer

11 He was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.”^{(D) 2} So he said to them, “When you pray, say:

Perseverance in Prayer

⁵ And he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, ⁶ for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.’ ⁷ And he answers from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ ⁸ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything out of friendship, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.^(F)

⁹ “So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.^{(G) 10} For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. ¹¹ Is there anyone among you who, if your child asked for^[h] a fish, would give a snake instead of a fish? ¹² Or if the child asked for an egg, would give a scorpion? ¹³ If you, then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit^[i] to those who ask him!”

The Parable of the Sower

4 Again he began to teach beside the sea. Such a very large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat on the sea and sat there, while the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land.^{(A) 2} He began to teach them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them:^{(B) 3} “Listen! A sower went out to sow. ⁴ And as he sowed, some seed fell on a path, and the birds came and ate it up. ⁵ Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up quickly, since it had no depth of soil. ⁶ And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root it withered away. ⁷ Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. ⁸ Other seed fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.”^{(C) 9} And he said, “If you have ears to hear, then hear!”^(D)

The Purpose of the Parables

¹⁰ When he was alone, those who were around him along with the twelve asked him about the parables. ¹¹ And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret^[a] of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything comes in parables,^{(E) 12} in order that

¹³ And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand all the parables? ¹⁴ The sower sows the word. ¹⁵ These are the ones on the path where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them.^{(G) 16} And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: when they hear the word, they immediately receive it with joy. ¹⁷ But they have no root and endure only for a while; then, when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away.^{[b] 18} And others are those sown among the thorns: these are the ones who hear the word, ¹⁹ but the cares of the age and the lure of wealth and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it yields nothing. ²⁰ And these are the ones sown on the good soil: they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.”