Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

⁶ Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel and his redeemer, the LORD of the hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.

⁷ And who shall call as I do and declare this in advance and set it in order for me, since I made the people of the world? Let them declare unto them the things that are near and the things that shall come.

⁸ Do not fear, neither be afraid; have I not caused thee to hear from of old and declared unto thee beforehand that which was to come? Then ye are my witnesses that there is no God but me, and there is no Strong One that I do not know.

¹¹ Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth; firm up my heart that I might fear thy name.

¹² I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart, and I will glorify thy name for evermore.

¹³ For great is thy mercy upon me, and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest part of Sheol.

¹⁴ O God, the proud are risen against me, and the assemblies of violent men have sought after my soul and have not set thee before them.

¹⁵ But thou, O Lord, art a merciful and gracious God, longsuffering and plenteous in mercy and truth.

¹⁶ O look into me and have mercy upon me; give thy strength unto thy slave and keep the son of thine handmaid.

¹⁷ Show me a token for good that those who hate me may see it and be ashamed because thou, O LORD, hast helped me and comforted me.

¹² Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.

¹³ For if ye live according to the flesh, ye shall die; but if through the Spirit ye mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

¹⁴ For all that are led by the Spirit of God, the same are sons of God.

¹⁵ For ye have not received the spirit of slavery to be in fear again, but ye have received the Spirit of adoption of sons, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

¹⁶ For the same Spirit bears witness unto our spirit that we are sons of God,

¹⁷ ¶ and if sons, also heirs certainly of God and joint-heirs with Christ, if so be that we suffer with him that we may be also glorified together with him.

¹⁸ For I know with certainty that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the coming glory which shall be manifested in us.

¹⁹ For the earnest hope of the creatures waits for the manifestation of the sons of God.

²⁰ For the creatures were subjected to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who has subjected them,

²¹ with the hope that the same creatures shall be delivered from the slavery of corruption into the glorious liberty of the sons of God.

²² For we now know that all the creatures groan together and travail in pain together until now.

²³ And not only they, but ourselves also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, that is to say, the redemption of our body.

²⁴ For in hope we are saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for what a man sees, he does not wait for.

²⁵ But if we wait for that which we do not see, with patience we wait for it.

²⁴ ¶ He put forth another parable unto them, saying, The kingdom of the heavens is likened unto a man who sows good seed in his field

²⁵ But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went away.

²⁶ But when the blade was sprung up and brought forth fruit, then the tares appeared also.

²⁷ So the slaves of the husband of the house came and said unto him, Lord, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? From where then does it have tares?

²⁸ He said unto them, The enemy, a man, has done this. The slaves said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?

²⁹ But he said, No, lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.

³⁰ Let both grow together until the harvest, and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.

³⁶ Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house, and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field.

³⁷ He answered and said unto them, He that sows the good seed is the Son of man;

³⁸ the field is the world; the good seed are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked;

³⁹ and the enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.

⁴⁰ As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of this age.

⁴¹ The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend and those who do iniquity

⁴² and shall cast them into the furnace of fire; there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

⁴³ Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.