Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
22 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“‘I will take a sprig[a] from the lofty top of the cedar and plant it.[b]
I will pluck from the top one of its tender twigs;
I myself will plant it on a high and lofty mountain.
23 I will plant it on a high mountain of Israel,
and it will raise branches and produce fruit and become a beautiful cedar.
Every bird will live under it;
Every winged creature will live in the shade of its branches.
24 All the trees of the field will know that I am the Lord.
I make the high tree low; I raise up the low tree.
I make the green tree wither, and I make the dry tree sprout.
I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will do it!’”
Psalm 92[a]
A psalm; a song for the Sabbath day.
92 It is fitting[b] to thank the Lord,
and to sing praises to your name, O Most High.[c]
2 It is fitting[d] to proclaim your loyal love in the morning,
and your faithfulness during the night,
3 to the accompaniment of a ten-stringed instrument and a lyre,
to the accompaniment of the meditative tone of the harp.
4 For you, O Lord, have made me happy by your work.
I will sing for joy because of what you have done.[e]
12 The godly[a] grow like a palm tree;
they grow high like a cedar in Lebanon.[b]
13 Planted in the Lord’s house,
they grow in the courts of our God.
14 They bear fruit even when they are old;
they are filled with vitality and have many leaves.[c]
15 So they proclaim that the Lord, my Protector,
is just and never unfair.[d]
6 Therefore we are always full of courage, and we know that as long as we are alive here on earth[a] we are absent from the Lord— 7 for we live[b] by faith, not by sight. 8 Thus we are full of courage and would prefer to be away[c] from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So then whether we are alive[d] or away, we make it our ambition to please him.[e] 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ,[f] so that each one may be paid back according to what he has done while in the body, whether good or evil.[g]
The Message of Reconciliation
11 Therefore, because we know the fear of the Lord,[a] we try to persuade[b] people,[c] but we are well known[d] to God, and I hope we are well known to your consciences too. 12 We are not trying to commend[e] ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to be proud of us,[f] so that you may be able to answer those who take pride[g] in outward appearance[h] and not in what is in the heart. 13 For if we are out of our minds, it is for God; if we are of sound mind, it is for you.
14 For the love of Christ[a] controls us, since we have concluded this, that Christ[b] died for all; therefore all have died. 15 And he died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised.[c] 16 So then from now on we acknowledge[d] no one from an outward human point of view.[e] Even though we have known Christ from such a human point of view,[f] now we do not know him in that way any longer. 17 So then, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; what is old has passed away[g]—look, what is new[h] has come![i]
The Parable of the Growing Seed
26 He also said, “The kingdom of God[a] is like someone who spreads seed on the ground. 27 He goes to sleep and gets up, night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. 28 By itself the soil produces a crop, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain[b] in the head. 29 And when the grain is ripe, he sends in the sickle[c] because the harvest has come.”[d]
The Parable of the Mustard Seed
30 He also asked, “To what can we compare the kingdom of God,[e] or what parable can we use to present it? 31 It is like a mustard seed[f] that when sown in the ground, even though it is the smallest of all the seeds in the ground— 32 when it is sown, it grows up,[g] becomes the greatest of all garden plants, and grows large branches so that the wild birds[h] can nest in its shade.”[i]
The Use of Parables
33 So[j] with many parables like these, he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear. 34 He did not speak to them without a parable. But privately he explained everything to his own disciples.
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