Evil in the Land

7 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ^2 (A)“Stand in the gate of the Lord's house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the Lord, all you men of Judah who enter these gates to worship the Lord. ³ Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ^(B)Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place. ^4 (C)Do not trust in these deceptive words: ‘This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.’

⁵ “For if you truly ^(D)amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly ^(E)execute justice one with another, ⁶ if you ^(F)do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, ^(G)or shed innocent blood in this place, ^(H)and if you do not go after other gods to your own harm, ^7 (I)then I will let you dwell in this place, ^(J)in the land that I gave of old to your fathers forever.

Thanksgiving and Prayer

^3 (A)We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, ⁴ since we heard of ^(B)your faith in Christ Jesus and of ^(C)the love that you have for all the saints, ⁵ because of ^(D)the hope ^(E)laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in ^(F)the word of the truth, the gospel, ⁶ which has come to you, as indeed ^(G)in the whole world it is ^(H)bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you ^(I)heard it and understood ^(J)the grace of God in truth, ⁷ just as you learned it from ^(K)Epaphras our beloved ^(L)fellow servant.^[a] He is ^(M)a faithful minister of Christ on your^[b] behalf ⁸ and has made known to us your ^(N)love in the Spirit.

⁹ And so, ^(O)from the day we heard, ^(P)we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that ^(Q)you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all ^(R)spiritual wisdom and understanding, ¹⁰ so as ^(S)to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, ^(T)fully pleasing to him: ^(U)bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; ^11 (V)being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for ^(W)all endurance and patience ^(X)with joy; ^12 (Y)giving thanks^[c] to the Father, who has qualified you^[d] to share in ^(Z)the inheritance of the saints in light. ¹³ He ^(AA)has delivered us from ^(AB)the domain of darkness and transferred us to ^(AC)the kingdom of ^(AD)his beloved Son, ^14 (AE)in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

The Parable of the Sower

13 That same day Jesus went out of the house ^(A)and sat beside the sea. ² And great crowds gathered about him, ^(B)so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. ³ And ^(C)he told them many things in parables, saying: ^(D)“A sower went out to sow. ⁴ And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. ⁵ Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, ⁶ but ^(E)when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, ^(F)they withered away. ⁷ Other seeds fell among ^(G)thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. ⁸ Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some ^(H)a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

The Parable of the Sower Explained

^18 (A)“Hear then the parable of the sower: ¹⁹ When anyone hears the word of ^(B)the kingdom and ^(C)does not understand it, ^(D)the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. ²⁰ As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately ^(E)receives it with joy, ²¹ yet he has no root in himself, but ^(F)endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately ^(G)he falls away.^{[a] 22} As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but ^(H)the cares of ^(I)the world and ^(J)the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. ²³ As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and ^(K)understands it. He indeed ^(L)bears fruit and yields, in one case ^(M)a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”