Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
12 My eyes have witnessed the downfall of my enemies;
my ears have heard the rout of my wicked foes.
13 [a]The righteous will flourish like the palm tree;
they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon.
14 They are planted in the house of the Lord[b]
and will flourish in the courts of our God.
15 They still will bear fruit, in their old age,
and they will remain fresh and green,
Kings of Israel and Judah
Chapter 14
Amaziah of Judah. 1 Amaziah, the son of Joash, the king of Judah, began to reign during the second year of the reign of Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz, the king of Israel. 2 He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jehoaddin, and she was from Jerusalem.
3 He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, but not like David, his father. He did everything like his father Joash had done. 4 He did not eliminate the high places, and the people continued to sacrifice and burn incense upon the high places.
5 As soon as the kingdom was firmly in his hands, he killed the servants of his father, the king. 6 He did not put to death the sons of the murderers for it is written in the book of the law of Moses, “You shall not put the fathers to death on account of the sons, nor shall you put to death the sons on account of the fathers. Each man is to be put to death for his own sins.”[a]
7 He slew ten thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt, and he captured Sela in battle. He named it Joktheel, which is its name up to the present.
8 Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, the king of Israel saying, “Come, let us meet face to face.” 9 Jehoash, the king of Israel, replied to Amaziah, the king of Judah, saying, “A thistle in Lebanon sent to a cedar in Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son in marriage.’ A wild beast in Lebanon passed by and trampled on the thistle. 10 You have defeated Edom, and now you have become arrogant. Stay at home in your glory. Why should you stir up trouble and cause the downfall of yourself and of Judah as well?”
11 But Amaziah would not listen, so Jehoash, the king of Israel, attacked him. He and Amaziah, the king of Judah, met face to face at Beth-shemesh in Judah. 12 Judah was defeated by Israel, and each man fled to his own tent.
13 Jehoash, the king of Israel, captured Amaziah, the king of Judah, the son of Jehoash, the son of Ahaziah, at Beth-shemesh. He then went to Jerusalem and broke down the walls of Jerusalem from the Ephraim Gate up to the Corner Gate, a distance of four hundred cubits. 14 He took all of the gold and all of the silver and all of the utensils from the temple of the Lord and from the treasury of the royal palace. He also took hostages and returned to Samaria.
Chapter 4
The Parables—A Veiled Language[a]
The Parable of the Sower. 1 On another occasion he began to teach by the side of the lake. However, such a large crowd gathered that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while the whole crowd gathered on the shore facing the lake. 2 Then he taught them many things in parables.
In the course of his teaching, he said to them: 3 “Listen! A sower went out to sow. 4 As he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Other seed fell on rocky ground, where there was little soil. It sprouted quickly, since the soil had no depth, 6 but when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it lacked roots, it withered away. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it produced no crop. 8 But some seed fell onto rich soil and brought forth grain, increasing and yielding thirty, sixty, and a hundred times what was sown.” 9 He then added, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
10 The Reason for Parables. When he was alone, the Twelve and his other companions asked him about the parables. 11 He told them, “To you has been granted knowledge of the mysteries[b] of the kingdom of God, but to those outside, everything comes in parables, 12 so that
‘they may look and see but not perceive,
and hear and listen but fail to understand,
lest they be converted and be forgiven.’ ”[c]
13 The Explanation of the Parable of the Sower.[d] He went on to say to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then are you to understand any of the parables? 14 What the sower is sowing is the word.
15 “Some people are like seed that falls along the path where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan immediately comes and carries off the word that has been sown in them.
16 “Others are like the seed sown on rocky ground. As soon as they hear the word they immediately receive it with joy. 17 But they have no deep root and they endure for only a short time. When some trial or tribulation arises on account of the word, they immediately fall away.
18 “Those sown among thorns are the ones who hear the word, 19 but worldly cares, the lure of riches, and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it bears no fruit.
20 “But those sown in rich soil are those who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit and yield thirty or sixty or a hundred times what was sown.”
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