Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

How Great Are Your Works

A Psalm. A Song for the Sabbath.

Amaziah Reigns in Judah

14 ^(A)In the ^(B)second year of Joash the son of Joahaz, king of Israel, ^(C)Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, began to reign. ² He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jehoaddin of Jerusalem. ³ And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, yet not like David his father. He did in all things as Joash his father had done. ^4 (D)But the high places were not removed; ^(E)the people still sacrificed and made offerings on the high places. ⁵ And as soon as the royal power was ^(F)firmly in his hand, he struck down his servants ^(G)who had struck down the king his father. ⁶ But he did not put to death the children of the murderers, according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, where the Lord commanded, ^(H)“Fathers shall not be put to death because of their children, nor shall children be put to death because of their fathers. But each one shall die for his own sin.”

^7 (I)He struck down ten thousand Edomites in ^(J)the Valley of Salt and took ^(K)Sela by storm, and called it ^(L)Joktheel, which is its name to this day.

^8 (M)Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash^[a] the son of Jehoahaz, son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, “Come, ^(N)let us look one another in the face.” ⁹ And Jehoash king of Israel sent word to Amaziah king of Judah, ^(O)“A thistle on Lebanon sent to a cedar on Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son for a wife,’ and a wild beast of Lebanon passed by and trampled down the thistle. ¹⁰ You have indeed ^(P)struck down Edom, ^(Q)and your heart has lifted you up. Be content with your glory, and stay at home, for why should you provoke trouble so that you fall, you and Judah with you?”

¹¹ But Amaziah would not listen. So Jehoash king of Israel went up, and he and Amaziah king of Judah ^(R)faced one another in battle at ^(S)Beth-shemesh, which belongs to Judah. ¹² And Judah was defeated by Israel, ^(T)and every man fled to his home. ¹³ And Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Jehoash, son of Ahaziah, at Beth-shemesh, and came to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem for four hundred cubits,^[b] from ^(U)the Ephraim Gate to ^(V)the Corner Gate. ¹⁴ And he seized ^(W)all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of the Lord and in the treasuries of the king's house, also hostages, and he returned to Samaria.

The Parable of the Sower

4 Again ^(A)he began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him, ^(B)so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. ² And ^(C)he was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: ³ “Listen! Behold, ^(D)a sower went out to sow. ⁴ And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. ⁵ Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. ⁶ And ^(E)when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, ^(F)it withered away. ⁷ Other seed fell among ^(G)thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. ⁸ And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and ^(H)a hundredfold.” ⁹ And he said, ^(I)“He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

The Purpose of the Parables

¹⁰ And ^(J)when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. ¹¹ And he said to them, ^(K)“To you has been given ^(L)the secret of the kingdom of God, but for ^(M)those outside everything is in parables, ^12 (N)so that

^13 (Q)And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? ^14 (R)The sower sows ^(S)the word. ¹⁵ And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. ¹⁶ And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it ^(T)with joy. ¹⁷ And they have no root in themselves, but ^(U)endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately ^(V)they fall away.^{[a] 18} And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, ¹⁹ but ^(W)the cares of ^(X)the world and ^(Y)the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. ²⁰ But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and ^(Z)bear fruit, ^(AA)thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”