Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 130
Awaiting Redemption
A song of ascents.
1 Out of the depths I call to you, Lord!(A)
2 Lord, listen to my voice;
let your ears be attentive
to my cry for help.(B)
3 Lord, if you kept an account of iniquities,
Lord, who could stand?(C)
4 But with you there is forgiveness,
so that you may be revered.(D)
Man and Woman in the Garden
4 These are the records(A) of the heavens and the earth, concerning their creation. At the time[a] that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, 5 no shrub of the field(B) had yet grown on the land,[b] and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the Lord God had not made it rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground. 6 But mist would come up from the earth and water all the ground. 7 Then the Lord God formed the man out of the dust from the ground(C) and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils,(D) and the man became a living being.(E)
8 The Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east,(F) and there he placed the man he had formed. 9 The Lord God caused to grow out of the ground every tree pleasing in appearance and good for food, including the tree of life in the middle of the garden,(G) as well as the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.(H)
10 A river went[c] out from Eden to water the garden. From there it divided and became the source of four rivers.[d] 11 The name of the first is Pishon, which flows through the entire land of Havilah,[e](I) where there is gold. 12 Gold from that land is pure;[f] bdellium[g] and onyx[h] are also there. 13 The name of the second river is Gihon, which flows through the entire land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is Tigris,(J) which runs east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.(K)
The Parable of the Sower
4 As a large crowd was gathering, and people were coming to Jesus from every town, he said in a parable,(A) 5 “A sower went out to sow his seed. As he sowed, some seed fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds of the sky devoured it. 6 Other seed fell on the rock; when it grew up, it withered away, since it lacked moisture. 7 Other seed fell among thorns; the thorns grew up with it and choked it. 8 Still other seed fell on good ground; when it grew up, it produced fruit: a hundred times what was sown.”(B) As he said this, he called out, “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen.”(C)
Why Jesus Used Parables
9 Then his disciples asked him, “What does this parable mean?” (D) 10 So he said, “The secrets of the kingdom of God have been given for you(E) to know, but to the rest it is in parables, so that
The Parable of the Sower Explained
11 “This is the meaning of the parable:(G) The seed is the word of God.(H) 12 The seed along the path are those who have heard and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. 13 And the seed on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy. Having no root, these believe for a while and fall away in a time of testing.(I) 14 As for the seed that fell among thorns, these are the ones who, when they have heard, go on their way and are choked with worries, riches, and pleasures of life,(J) and produce no mature fruit. 15 But the seed in the good ground—these are the ones who, having heard the word with an honest and good heart, hold on to it and by enduring,(K) produce fruit.
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