Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

(A: iv, S: ii) ⁴ Here is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created. On the day when Adonai, God, made earth and heaven, ⁵ there was as yet no wild bush on the earth, and no wild plant had as yet sprung up; for Adonai, God, had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no one to cultivate the ground. ⁶ Rather, a mist went up from the earth which watered the entire surface of the ground.

⁷ Then Adonai, God, formed a person ^[a] from the dust of the ground ^[b] and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, so that he became a living being. ⁸ Adonai, God, planted a garden toward the east, in ‘Eden, and there he put the person whom he had formed. ⁹ Out of the ground Adonai, God, caused to grow every tree pleasing in appearance and good for food, including the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

¹⁰ A river went out of ‘Eden to water the garden, and from there it divided into four streams. ¹¹ The name of the first is Pishon; it winds throughout the land of Havilah, where there is gold. ¹² The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx stone are also found there. ¹³ The name of the second river is Gichon; it winds throughout the land of Kush. ¹⁴ The name of the third river is Tigris; it is the one that flows toward the east of Ashur. The fourth river is the Euphrates.

⁴ After a large crowd had gathered from the people who kept coming to him from town after town, Yeshua told this parable: ⁵ “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he sowed, some fell along the path and was stepped on, and the birds flying around ate it up. ⁶ Some fell on rock; and after it sprouted, it dried up from lack of moisture. ⁷ Some fell in the midst of thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. ⁸ But some fell into rich soil, and grew, and produced a hundred times as much as had been sown.” After saying this, he called out, “Whoever has ears to hear with, let him hear!”

⁹ His talmidim asked him what this parable might mean, ¹⁰ and he said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the Kingdom of God; but the rest are taught in parables, so that they may look but not see, and listen but not understand.^[a]

¹¹ “The parable is this: the seed is God’s message. ¹² The ones along the path are those who hear, but then the Adversary comes and takes the message out of their hearts, in order to keep them from being saved by trusting it. ¹³ The ones on rock are those who, when they hear the word, accept it with joy; but these have no root — they go on trusting for awhile; but when a time of testing comes, they apostatize. ¹⁴ As for what fell in the midst of thorns these are the ones who hear; but as they go along, worries and wealth and life’s gratifications crowd in and choke them, so that their fruit never matures. ¹⁵ But what fell in rich soil — these are the ones who, when they hear the message, hold onto it with a good, receptive heart; and by persevering, they bring forth a harvest.