Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
6 “Thus says Yahweh, the (A)King of Israel and his (B)Redeemer, Yahweh of hosts:
‘I am the (C)first, and I am the last,
And there is no God (D)besides Me.
7 Who is like Me? (E)Let him call out and declare it;
And let him tell it to Me in order,
[a]From the time that I established the ancient [b]people.
And let them declare to them the things that are to come
And the events that are going to take place.
8 Do not be in dread and do not be afraid;
(F)Have I not long since caused it to be heard to you and declared it?
And (G)you are My witnesses.
Is there any God (H)besides Me,
Or is there any other (I)Rock?
I know of none.’”
11 (A)Teach me Your way, O Yahweh;
I will walk in Your truth;
(B)Unite my heart to fear Your name.
12 I will (C)give thanks to You, O Lord my God, with all my heart,
And will glorify Your name forever.
13 For Your lovingkindness toward me is great,
And You have (D)delivered my soul from Sheol below.
14 O God, arrogant men have (E)risen up against me,
And [a]a band of ruthless men have sought my [b]life,
And they have not set You before them.
15 But You, O Lord, are a God (F)compassionate and gracious,
Slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness and [c]truth.
16 (G)Turn to me, and be gracious to me;
Oh (H)grant Your strength to Your slave,
And save the (I)son of Your maidservant.
17 [d](J)Show me a sign for good,
That those who hate me may (K)see it and be ashamed,
Because You, O Yahweh, (L)have helped me and comforted me.
12 So then, brothers, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— 13 for (A)if you are living according to the flesh, you [a]must die, but if by the Spirit you are (B)putting to death the (C)practices of the body, you will live. 14 For as many as are (D)being led by the Spirit of God, these are (E)sons of God. 15 For you (F)have not received a spirit of slavery [b]leading to fear again, but you (G)have received the Spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry out, “(H)Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit Himself (I)testifies with our spirit that we are (J)children of God, 17 and if children, also (K)heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, (L)if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.
Present Suffering and Future Glory
18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time (M)are not worthy to be compared with the (N)glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the (O)anxious longing of the creation eagerly waits for (P)the revealing of the (Q)sons of God. 20 For the creation (R)was subjected to (S)futility, not willingly, but (T)because of Him who subjected it, in hope 21 [c]that (U)the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation (V)groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. 23 (W)And not only this, but also we ourselves, having (X)the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves (Y)groan within ourselves, (Z)eagerly waiting for our adoption as sons, (AA)the redemption of our body. 24 For (AB)in hope we were saved, but (AC)hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what he already sees? 25 But (AD)if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we eagerly wait for it.
The Parable of Tares Among Wheat
24 He presented another parable to them, saying, “(A)The kingdom of heaven [a]may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed [b]tares among the wheat, and went away. 26 But when the [c]wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also. 27 The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? [d]How then does it have tares?’ 28 And he said to them, ‘An [e]enemy has done this!’ The slaves *said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’ 29 But he *said, ‘No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them. 30 Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but (B)gather the wheat into my barn.”’”
The Parable of Tares Explained
36 Then He left the crowds and went into (A)the house. And His disciples came to Him and said, “(B)Explain to us the parable of the [a]tares of the field.” 37 And He answered and said, “The one who sows the good seed is (C)the Son of Man, 38 and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are (D)the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are (E)the sons of (F)the evil one; 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is (G)the [b]end of the age; and the reapers are angels. 40 So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at (H)the [c]end of the age. 41 (I)The Son of Man (J)will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom [d]all (K)stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, 42 and (L)will throw them into the fiery furnace; in that place (M)there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 (N)Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. (O)He who has ears, [e]let him hear.
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