Not Because of Israel’s Righteousness

9 Hear, Israel: You are now about to cross the Jordan^(A) to go in and dispossess nations greater and stronger than you,^(B) with large cities^(C) that have walls up to the sky.^{(D) 2} The people are strong and tall—Anakites! You know about them and have heard it said: “Who can stand up against the Anakites?”^{(E) 3} But be assured today that the Lord your God is the one who goes across ahead of you^(F) like a devouring fire.^(G) He will destroy them; he will subdue them before you. And you will drive them out and annihilate them quickly,^(H) as the Lord has promised you.

⁴ After the Lord your God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself,^(I) “The Lord has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness.” No, it is on account of the wickedness^(J) of these nations^(K) that the Lord is going to drive them out before you. ⁵ It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity^(L) that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness^(M) of these nations,^(N) the Lord your God will drive them out^(O) before you, to accomplish what he swore^(P) to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.^{(Q) 6} Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people.^(R)

The Golden Calf

⁷ Remember this and never forget how you aroused the anger^(S) of the Lord your God in the wilderness. From the day you left Egypt until you arrived here, you have been rebellious^(T) against the Lord.^{(U) 8} At Horeb you aroused the Lord’s wrath^(V) so that he was angry enough to destroy you.^{(W) 9} When I went up on the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant^(X) that the Lord had made with you, I stayed on the mountain forty days^(Y) and forty nights; I ate no bread and drank no water.^{(Z) 10} The Lord gave me two stone tablets inscribed by the finger of God.^(AA) On them were all the commandments the Lord proclaimed to you on the mountain out of the fire, on the day of the assembly.^(AB)

¹¹ At the end of the forty days and forty nights,^(AC) the Lord gave me the two stone tablets,^(AD) the tablets of the covenant. ¹² Then the Lord told me, “Go down from here at once, because your people whom you brought out of Egypt have become corrupt.^(AE) They have turned away quickly^(AF) from what I commanded them and have made an idol for themselves.”

¹³ And the Lord said to me, “I have seen this people^(AG), and they are a stiff-necked people indeed! ¹⁴ Let me alone,^(AH) so that I may destroy them and blot out^(AI) their name from under heaven.^(AJ) And I will make you into a nation stronger and more numerous than they.”

¹⁵ So I turned and went down from the mountain while it was ablaze with fire. And the two tablets of the covenant were in my hands.^{(AK) 16} When I looked, I saw that you had sinned against the Lord your God; you had made for yourselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf.^(AL) You had turned aside quickly from the way that the Lord had commanded you. ¹⁷ So I took the two tablets and threw them out of my hands, breaking them to pieces before your eyes.

¹⁸ Then once again I fell^(AM) prostrate before the Lord for forty days and forty nights; I ate no bread and drank no water,^(AN) because of all the sin you had committed,^(AO) doing what was evil in the Lord’s sight and so arousing his anger. ¹⁹ I feared the anger and wrath of the Lord, for he was angry enough with you to destroy you.^(AP) But again the Lord listened to me.^{(AQ) 20} And the Lord was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him, but at that time I prayed for Aaron too. ²¹ Also I took that sinful thing of yours, the calf you had made, and burned it in the fire. Then I crushed it and ground it to powder as fine as dust^(AR) and threw the dust into a stream that flowed down the mountain.^(AS)

²² You also made the Lord angry^(AT) at Taberah,^(AU) at Massah^(AV) and at Kibroth Hattaavah.^(AW)

²³ And when the Lord sent you out from Kadesh Barnea,^(AX) he said, “Go up and take possession^(AY) of the land I have given you.” But you rebelled^(AZ) against the command of the Lord your God. You did not trust^(BA) him or obey him. ²⁴ You have been rebellious against the Lord ever since I have known you.^(BB)

²⁵ I lay prostrate before the Lord those forty days and forty nights^(BC) because the Lord had said he would destroy you.^{(BD) 26} I prayed to the Lord and said, “Sovereign Lord, do not destroy your people,^(BE) your own inheritance^(BF) that you redeemed^(BG) by your great power and brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand.^{(BH) 27} Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Overlook the stubbornness^(BI) of this people, their wickedness and their sin. ²⁸ Otherwise, the country^(BJ) from which you brought us will say, ‘Because the Lord was not able to take them into the land he had promised them, and because he hated them,^(BK) he brought them out to put them to death in the wilderness.’^{(BL) 29} But they are your people,^(BM) your inheritance^(BN) that you brought out by your great power and your outstretched arm.^(BO)”

The Parable of the Sower^(A)

8 After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God.^(B) The Twelve were with him, ² and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene)^(C) from whom seven demons had come out; ³ Joanna the wife of Chuza, the manager of Herod’s^(D) household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means.

⁴ While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable: ⁵ “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up. ⁶ Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. ⁷ Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. ⁸ Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.”

When he said this, he called out, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”^(E)

⁹ His disciples asked him what this parable meant. ¹⁰ He said, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you,^(F) but to others I speak in parables, so that,

¹¹ “This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God.^{(H) 12} Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. ¹³ Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away.^{(I) 14} The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches^(J) and pleasures, and they do not mature. ¹⁵ But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.