Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
The Transplanted Vine
22 This is what the Lord God says, “I’m also going to take a shoot from the top of a cedar and plant it. I’ll pluck off its delicate twigs and transplant it on a high and lofty mountain. 23 I’ll transplant it on Israel’s land, and it will grow branches, bear fruit, and become a majestic cedar. All sorts[a] of birds will rest under it, and they’ll settle down in the shade of its branches. 24 Then all the trees of the fields will know that I, the Lord, bring down the lofty tree and exalt the lowly tree. I dry up the green[b] tree and cause the dry tree to bud. I the Lord have spoken this, and I will fulfill it.”
A Psalm. A song for the Sabbath Day
Praise and Thanksgiving to God
92 It is good to give thanks to the Lord
and to sing praise to your name, Most High;
2 to proclaim your gracious love in the morning
and your faithfulness at night,
3 accompanied by a ten-stringed instrument and a lyre,
and the contemplative sound of a harp.
4 Because you made me glad
with your awesome deeds, Lord,
I will sing for joy at the works of your hands.
12 The righteous will flourish like palm trees;
they will grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
13 Planted in the Lord’s Temple,
they will flourish in the courtyard of our God.
14 They will still bear fruit even in old age;[a]
they will be luxuriant and green.
15 They will proclaim: “The Lord is upright;
my rock, in whom there is no injustice.”
6 Therefore, we are always confident, and we know that as long as we are at home in this body we are away from the Lord. 7 For we live by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, then, and would prefer to be away from this body and to live with the Lord. 9 So whether we are at home or away from home, our goal is to be pleasing to him. 10 For all of us must appear before the judgment seat of the Messiah,[a] so that each of us may receive what he deserves for what he has done in his body, whether good or worthless.[b]
The Messiah’s Love Controls Us
11 Therefore, since we know what it means to fear the Lord, we try to persuade people. We ourselves are perfectly known to God. I hope we are also really known to your consciences. 12 We are not recommending ourselves to you again but are giving you a reason to be proud of us, so that you can answer those who are proud of outward things rather than inward character.[a] 13 So if we were crazy, it was for God; if we are sane, it is for you.
14 The love of the Messiah[a] controls us, for we are convinced of this: that one person died for all people; therefore, all people have died. 15 He died for all people, so that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for the one who died and rose for them.
16 So then, from now on we do not think of anyone from a human point of view.[b] Even if we did think of the Messiah[c] from a human point of view,[d] we don’t think of him that way anymore. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in the Messiah,[e] he is a new creation. Old things have disappeared, and—look!—all things have become new!
The Parable about a Growing Seed
26 He was also saying, “The kingdom of God is like a man who scatters seeds on the ground. 27 He sleeps and gets up night and day while the seeds sprout and grow, although he doesn’t know how 28 the ground produces grain by itself—first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. 29 But when the grain is ripe, he immediately starts cutting with his sickle because the harvest time has come.”
The Parable about a Mustard Seed(A)
30 He was also saying, “How can we show what the kingdom of God is like, or what parable can we use to describe it? 31 It’s like a mustard seed planted in the ground. Although it’s the smallest of[a] all the seeds on earth, 32 when it’s planted it comes up and becomes larger than all the garden plants. It grows such large branches that the birds in the sky can nest in its shade.”
Why Jesus Used Parables(B)
33 With many other parables like these, Jesus[b] kept speaking his message to them according to their ability to understand. 34 He did not tell them anything without using[c] a parable, though he explained everything to his disciples in private.
Copyright © 1995-2014 by ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC.