³⁶ Now when Balak heard that Balaam was coming, ^(A)he went out to meet him at the city of Moab, ^(B)which is on the border at the Arnon, the boundary of the territory. ³⁷ Then Balak said to Balaam, “Did I not earnestly send to you, calling for you? Why did you not come to me? Am I not able ^(C)to honor you?”

³⁸ And Balaam said to Balak, “Look, I have come to you! Now, have I any power at all to say anything? ^(D)The word that God puts in my mouth, that I must speak.” ³⁹ So Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kirjath Huzoth. ⁴⁰ Then Balak offered oxen and sheep, and he sent some to Balaam and to the princes who were with him.

Balaam’s First Prophecy

⁴¹ So it was, the next day, that Balak took Balaam and brought him up to the ^(E)high places of Baal, that from there he might observe ^[a]the extent of the people.

The Prophecies of Balaam

23 Then Balaam said to Balak, ^(F)“Build seven altars for me here, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.”

² And Balak did just as Balaam had spoken, and Balak and Balaam ^(G)offered a bull and a ram on each altar. ³ Then Balaam said to Balak, ^(H)“Stand by your burnt offering, and I will go; perhaps the Lord will come ^(I)to meet me, and whatever He shows me I will tell you.” So he went to a desolate height. ^4 (J)And God met Balaam, and he said to Him, “I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram.”

⁵ Then the Lord ^(K)put a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.” ⁶ So he returned to him, and there he was, standing by his burnt offering, he and all the princes of Moab.

⁷ And he ^(L)took up his ^[b]oracle and said:

¹¹ Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? ^(T)I took you to curse my enemies, and look, you have blessed them bountifully!”

¹² So he answered and said, ^(U)“Must I not take heed to speak what the Lord has put in my mouth?”

Blessings on Obedience^(A)

28 “Now it shall come to pass, ^(B)if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God ^(C)will set you high above all nations of the earth. ² And all these blessings shall come upon you and ^(D)overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God:

^3 (E)“Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be ^(F)in the country.

⁴ “Blessed shall be ^(G)the ^[a]fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks.

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

^6 (H)“Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.

⁷ “The Lord ^(I)will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways.

⁸ “The Lord will ^(J)command the blessing on you in your storehouses and in all to which you ^(K)set your hand, and He will bless you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

^9 (L)“The Lord will establish you as a holy people to Himself, just as He has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in His ways. ¹⁰ Then all peoples of the earth shall see that you are ^(M)called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be ^(N)afraid of you. ¹¹ And ^(O)the Lord will grant you plenty of goods, in the fruit of your body, in the increase of your livestock, and in the produce of your ground, in the land of which the Lord ^[b]swore to your fathers to give you. ¹² The Lord will open to you His good ^[c]treasure, the heavens, ^(P)to give the rain to your land in its season, and ^(Q)to bless all the work of your hand. ^(R)You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. ¹³ And the Lord will make ^(S)you the head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not be beneath, if you ^[d]heed the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, and are careful to observe them. ^14 (T)So you shall not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to the right or the left, to go after other gods to serve them.

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.”