Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 92
God’s Love and Faithfulness
A psalm. A song for the Sabbath day.
1 It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
to sing praise to your name, Most High,(A)
2 to declare your faithful love in the morning
and your faithfulness at night,(B)
3 with a ten-stringed harp[a]
and the music of a lyre.(C)
4 For you have made me rejoice, Lord,
by what you have done;
I will shout for joy
because of the works of your hands.(D)
12 The righteous thrive like a palm tree
and grow like a cedar tree in Lebanon.(A)
13 Planted in the house of the Lord,
they thrive in the courts of our God.(B)
14 They will still bear fruit in old age,
healthy and green,(C)
15 to declare, “The Lord is just;
he is my rock,
and there is no unrighteousness in him.”(D)
Judah’s King Amaziah
14 In(A) the second year of Israel’s King Jehoash[a](B) son of Jehoahaz,[b] Amaziah(C) son of Joash became king of Judah. 2 He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jehoaddan;[c] she was from Jerusalem. 3 He did what was right in the Lord’s sight, but not like his ancestor David. He did everything his father Joash had done.(D) 4 Yet the high places were not taken away, and the people continued sacrificing and burning incense on the high places.(E)
5 As soon as the kingdom was firmly in his grasp, Amaziah killed his servants who had killed his father the king.(F) 6 However, he did not put the children of the killers to death, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses where the Lord commanded, “Fathers are not to be put to death because of children, and children are not to be put to death because of fathers; instead, each one will be put to death for his own sin.”(G)
7 Amaziah killed ten thousand Edomites in Salt Valley.(H) He took Sela(I) in battle and called it Joktheel,(J) which is still its name today. 8 Amaziah then sent messengers to Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, son of Jehu, king of Israel, and challenged him: “Come, let’s meet face to face.”(K)
9 King Jehoash of Israel sent word to King Amaziah of Judah, saying, “The thistle in Lebanon once sent a message to the cedar(L) in Lebanon,(M) saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son as a wife.’ Then a wild animal in Lebanon passed by and trampled the thistle. 10 You have indeed defeated Edom, and you have become overconfident.[d](N) Enjoy your glory and stay at home. Why should you stir up such trouble that you fall—you and Judah with you?”
11 But Amaziah would not listen, so King Jehoash of Israel advanced. He and King Amaziah of Judah met face to face at Beth-shemesh(O) that belonged to Judah. 12 Judah was routed before Israel, and each man fled to his own tent.(P) 13 King Jehoash of Israel captured Judah’s King Amaziah son of Joash,[e] son of Ahaziah, at Beth-shemesh. Then Jehoash went to Jerusalem and broke down two hundred yards[f] of Jerusalem’s wall from the Ephraim Gate(Q) to the Corner Gate.(R) 14 He took all the gold and silver, all the articles found in the Lord’s temple and in the treasuries of the king’s palace, and some hostages.(S) Then he returned to Samaria.
The Parable of the Sower
4 Again(A) he began to teach(B) by the sea, and a very large crowd gathered around him. So he got into a boat on the sea and sat down, while the whole crowd was by the sea on the shore. 2 He taught them many things in parables,(C) and in his teaching(D) he said to them, 3 “Listen! Consider the sower who went out to sow.(E) 4 As he sowed, some seed fell along the path,(F) and the birds came and devoured(G) it. 5 Other seed fell on rocky ground where it didn’t have much soil, and it grew up quickly,(H) since the soil wasn’t deep. 6 When the sun came up, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away.(I) 7 Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it didn’t produce fruit. 8 Still other seed fell on good ground and it grew up, producing fruit that increased(J) thirty, sixty, and a hundred times.”(K) 9 Then he said, “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen.”(L)
Why Jesus Used Parables
10 When he was alone, those around him with the Twelve(M) asked him about the parables.(N) 11 He answered them, “The secret(O) of the kingdom of God(P) has been given to you, but to those outside,(Q) everything comes in parables 12 so that
they may indeed look,
and yet not perceive;
they may indeed listen,
and yet not understand;(R)
otherwise, they might turn back
and be forgiven.”[a][b] (S)
The Parable of the Sower Explained
13 Then(T) he said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable?(U) How then will you understand all of the parables? 14 The sower sows(V) the word.(W) 15 Some are like the word sown on the path.(X) When they hear, immediately Satan(Y) comes and takes away the word(Z) sown in them.[c] 16 And others are like seed sown on rocky ground. When they hear the word, immediately they receive it with joy.(AA) 17 But they have no root; they are short-lived. When distress(AB) or persecution comes because of the word, they immediately fall away.(AC) 18 Others are like seed sown among thorns; these are the ones who hear the word, 19 but the worries(AD) of this age,(AE) the deceitfulness[d](AF) of wealth,(AG) and the desires(AH) for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.(AI) 20 And those like seed sown on good ground hear the word,(AJ) welcome it, and produce fruit(AK) thirty, sixty, and a hundred times what was sown.”
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