The Budding of Aaron’s Rod

17 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ² “Speak to the children of Israel, and get from them a rod from each father’s house, all their leaders according to their fathers’ houses—twelve rods. Write each man’s name on his rod. ³ And you shall write Aaron’s name on the rod of Levi. For there shall be one rod for the head of each father’s house. ⁴ Then you shall place them in the tabernacle of meeting before ^(A)the Testimony, ^(B)where I meet with you. ⁵ And it shall be that the rod of the man ^(C)whom I choose will blossom; thus I will rid Myself of the complaints of the children of Israel, ^(D)which they make against you.”

⁶ So Moses spoke to the children of Israel, and each of their leaders gave him a rod apiece, for each leader according to their fathers’ houses, twelve rods; and the rod of Aaron was among their rods. ⁷ And Moses placed the rods before the Lord in ^(E)the tabernacle of witness.

⁸ Now it came to pass on the next day that Moses went into the tabernacle of witness, and behold, the ^(F)rod of Aaron, of the house of Levi, had sprouted and put forth buds, had produced blossoms and yielded ripe almonds. ⁹ Then Moses brought out all the rods from before the Lord to all the children of Israel; and they looked, and each man took his rod.

¹⁰ And the Lord said to Moses, “Bring ^(G)Aaron’s rod back before the Testimony, to be kept ^(H)as a sign against the rebels, ^(I)that you may put their complaints away from Me, lest they die.” ¹¹ Thus did Moses; just as the Lord had commanded him, so he did.

¹² So the children of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, “Surely we die, we perish, we all perish! ^13 (J)Whoever even comes near the tabernacle of the Lord must die. Shall we all utterly die?”

Duties of Priests and Levites

18 Then the Lord said to Aaron: ^(K)“You and your sons and your father’s house with you shall ^(L)bear the ^[a]iniquity related to the sanctuary, and you and your sons with you shall bear the iniquity associated with your priesthood. ² Also bring with you your brethren of the ^(M)tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may be ^(N)joined with you and serve you while you and your sons are with you before the tabernacle of ^[b]witness. ³ They shall attend to your ^[c]needs and ^(O)all the needs of the tabernacle; ^(P)but they shall not come near the articles of the sanctuary and the altar, ^(Q)lest they die—they and you also. ⁴ They shall be joined with you and attend to the needs of the tabernacle of meeting, for all the work of the tabernacle; ^(R)but an outsider shall not come near you. ⁵ And you shall attend to ^(S)the duties of the sanctuary and the duties of the altar, ^(T)that there may be no more wrath on the children of Israel. ⁶ Behold, I Myself have ^(U)taken your brethren the Levites from among the children of Israel; ^(V)they are a gift to you, given by the Lord, to do the work of the tabernacle of meeting. ⁷ Therefore ^(W)you and your sons with you shall attend to your priesthood for everything at the altar and ^(X)behind the veil; and you shall serve. I give your priesthood to you as a ^(Y)gift for service, but the outsider who comes near shall be put to death.”

Offerings for Support of the Priests

⁸ And the Lord spoke to Aaron: “Here, ^(Z)I Myself have also given you ^[d]charge of My heave offerings, all the holy gifts of the children of Israel; I have given them ^(AA)as a portion to you and your sons, as an ordinance forever. ⁹ This shall be yours of the most holy things reserved from the fire: every offering of theirs, every ^(AB)grain offering and every ^(AC)sin offering and every ^(AD)trespass offering which they render to Me, shall be most holy for you and your sons. ^10 (AE)In a most holy place you shall eat it; every male shall eat it. It shall be holy to you.

¹¹ “This also is yours: ^(AF)the heave offering of their gift, with all the wave offerings of the children of Israel; I have given them to you, and your sons and daughters with you, as an ordinance forever. ^(AG)Everyone who is ^[e]clean in your house may eat it.

^12 (AH)“All the ^[f]best of the oil, all the best of the new wine and the grain, ^(AI)their firstfruits which they offer to the Lord, I have given them to you. ¹³ Whatever first ripe fruit is in their land, ^(AJ)which they bring to the Lord, shall be yours. Everyone who is clean in your house may eat it.

^14 (AK)“Every ^[g]devoted thing in Israel shall be yours.

¹⁵ “Everything that first opens ^(AL)the womb of all flesh, which they bring to the Lord, whether man or beast, shall be yours; nevertheless ^(AM)the firstborn of man you shall surely redeem, and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem. ¹⁶ And those redeemed of the devoted things you shall redeem when one month old, ^(AN)according to your valuation, for five shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, which is ^(AO)twenty gerahs. ^17 (AP)But the firstborn of a cow, the firstborn of a sheep, or the firstborn of a goat you shall not redeem; they are holy. ^(AQ)You shall sprinkle their blood on the altar, and burn their fat as an offering made by fire for a sweet aroma to the Lord. ¹⁸ And their flesh shall be yours, just as the ^(AR)wave^[h] breast and the right thigh are yours.

¹⁹ “All the heave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer to the Lord, I have given to you and your sons and daughters with you as an ordinance forever; ^(AS)it is a covenant of salt forever before the Lord with you and your descendants with you.”

²⁰ Then the Lord said to Aaron: “You shall have ^(AT)no inheritance in their land, nor shall you have any portion among them; ^(AU)I am your portion and your inheritance among the children of Israel.

Tithes for Support of the Levites

²¹ “Behold, ^(AV)I have given the children of Levi all the tithes in Israel as ^[i]an inheritance in return for the work which they perform, ^(AW)the work of the tabernacle of meeting. ^22 (AX)Hereafter the children of Israel shall not come near the tabernacle of meeting, ^(AY)lest they bear sin and die. ²³ But the Levites shall perform the work of the tabernacle of meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity; it shall be a statute forever, throughout your generations, that among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance. ²⁴ For the tithes of the children of Israel, which they offer up as a heave offering to the Lord, I have given to the Levites ^[j]as an inheritance; therefore I have said to them, ‘Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.’ ”

The Tithe of the Levites

²⁵ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁶ “Speak thus to the Levites, and say to them: ‘When you take from the children of Israel the tithes which I have given you from them as your inheritance, then you shall offer up a heave offering of it to the Lord, ^(AZ)a tenth of the tithe. ²⁷ And your heave offering shall be reckoned to you as though it were the grain of the ^(BA)threshing floor and as the fullness of the winepress. ²⁸ Thus you shall also offer a heave offering to the Lord from all your tithes which you receive from the children of Israel, and you shall give the Lord’s heave offering from it to Aaron the priest. ²⁹ Of all your gifts you shall offer up every heave offering due to the Lord, from all the ^[k]best of them, the consecrated part of them.’ ³⁰ Therefore you shall say to them: ‘When you have lifted up the best of it, then the rest shall be accounted to the Levites as the produce of the threshing floor and as the produce of the winepress. ³¹ You may eat it in any place, you and your households, for it is ^(BB)your ^[l]reward for your work in the tabernacle of meeting. ³² And you shall ^(BC)bear no sin because of it, when you have lifted up the best of it. But you shall not ^(BD)profane the holy gifts of the children of Israel, lest you die.’ ”

Praise to God in His Holiness and Majesty

A Psalm of David.

The Parable of the Sower^(A)

4 And ^(B)again He began to teach by the sea. And a great multitude was gathered to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat in it on the sea; and the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea. ² Then He taught them many things by parables, ^(C)and said to them in His teaching:

³ “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. ⁴ And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds ^[a]of the air came and devoured it. ⁵ Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth. ⁶ But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away. ⁷ And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no ^[b]crop. ⁸ But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”

⁹ And He said ^[c]to them, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

The Purpose of Parables^(D)

^10 (E)But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable. ¹¹ And He said to them, “To you it has been given to ^(F)know the ^[d]mystery of the kingdom of God; but to ^(G)those who are outside, all things come in parables, ¹² so that

The Parable of the Sower Explained^(I)

¹³ And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? ^14 (J)The sower sows the word. ¹⁵ And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts. ¹⁶ These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; ¹⁷ and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word’s sake, immediately they stumble. ¹⁸ Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, ¹⁹ and the ^(K)cares of this world, ^(L)the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. ²⁰ But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, ^[e]accept it, and bear ^(M)fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”

Light Under a Basket^(N)

^21 (O)Also He said to them, “Is a lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed? Is it not to be set on a lampstand? ^22 (P)For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light. ^23 (Q)If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”

²⁴ Then He said to them, “Take heed what you hear. ^(R)With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given. ^25 (S)For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”

The Parable of the Growing Seed

²⁶ And He said, ^(T)“The kingdom of God is as if a man should ^[f]scatter seed on the ground, ²⁷ and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and ^(U)grow, he himself does not know how. ²⁸ For the earth ^(V)yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. ²⁹ But when the grain ripens, immediately ^(W)he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

The Parable of the Mustard Seed^(X)

³⁰ Then He said, ^(Y)“To what shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what parable shall we picture it? ³¹ It is like a mustard seed which, when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on earth; ³² but when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out large branches, so that the birds of the air may nest under its shade.”

Jesus’ Use of Parables

^33 (Z)And with many such parables He spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it. ³⁴ But without a parable He did not speak to them. And when they were alone, ^(AA)He explained all things to His disciples.

Wind and Wave Obey Jesus^(AB)

^35 (AC)On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.” ³⁶ Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him. ³⁷ And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. ³⁸ But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, ^(AD)“Teacher, ^(AE)do You not care that we are perishing?”

³⁹ Then He arose and ^(AF)rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ^(AG)“Peace,^[g] be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. ⁴⁰ But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? ^(AH)How^[h] is it that you have no faith?” ⁴¹ And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!”