Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

(A psalm and a song for the Sabbath.)

Sing Praises to the Lord

King Amaziah of Judah

(2 Chronicles 25.1-24)

14 Amaziah son of Joash became king of Judah in the second year of Jehoash's rule in Israel. ² Amaziah was 25 years old when he became king, and he ruled 29 years from Jerusalem, which was also the hometown of his mother Jehoaddin.

³ Amaziah followed the example of his father Joash by obeying the Lord and doing right. But he was not as faithful as his ancestor David. ⁴ Amaziah did not destroy the local shrines, and they were still used as places for offering sacrifices.

⁵ As soon as Amaziah had control of Judah, he arrested and killed the officers who had murdered his father. ^6 (A) But the children of those officers were not killed. The Lord had commanded in the Law of Moses that only the people who sinned were to be punished, not their parents or children.^[a]

⁷ While Amaziah was king, he killed 10,000 Edomite soldiers in Salt Valley. He captured the town of Sela and renamed it Joktheel, which is still its name.

⁸ One day, Amaziah sent a message to King Jehoash of Israel: “Come out and face me in battle!”

⁹ Jehoash sent back this reply:

Once upon a time, a small thornbush in Lebanon announced that his son was going to marry the daughter of a large cedar tree. But a wild animal came along and trampled the small bush.

¹⁰ Amaziah, you think you're so powerful because you defeated Edom. Go ahead and celebrate—but stay at home. If you cause any trouble, both you and your kingdom of Judah will be destroyed.

¹¹ But Amaziah refused to listen. So Jehoash and his troops marched to the town of Beth-Shemesh in Judah to attack Amaziah and his troops. ¹² During the battle, Judah's army was crushed. Every soldier from Judah ran back home, ¹³ and Jehoash captured Amaziah.

Jehoash then marched to Jerusalem and broke down the city wall from Ephraim Gate to Corner Gate, a section nearly 200 meters long. ¹⁴ He took the gold and silver, as well as everything of value from the Lord's temple and the king's treasury. He took hostages, then returned to Samaria.

A Story about a Farmer

(Matthew 13.1-9; Luke 8.4-8)

4 ^(A) The next time Jesus taught beside Lake Galilee, a big crowd gathered. It was so large that he had to sit in a boat out on the lake, while the people stood on the shore. ² He used stories to teach them many things, and this is part of what he taught:

³ Now listen! A farmer went out to scatter seed in a field. ⁴ While the farmer was scattering the seed, some of it fell along the road and was eaten by birds. ⁵ Other seeds fell on thin, rocky ground and quickly started growing because the soil wasn't very deep. ⁶ But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched and dried up, because they did not have deep roots. ⁷ Some other seeds fell where thornbushes grew up and choked out the plants. So they did not produce any grain. ⁸ But a few seeds did fall on good ground where the plants grew and produced 30 or 60 or even 100 times as much as was scattered.

⁹ Then Jesus said, “If you have ears, pay attention.”

Why Jesus Used Stories

(Matthew 13.10-17; Luke 8.9,10)

¹⁰ When Jesus was alone with the twelve apostles and some others, they asked him about these stories. ¹¹ He answered:

I have explained the secret about God's kingdom to you, but for others I can use only stories. ^12 (B) The reason is,

Jesus Explains the Story about the Farmer

(Matthew 13.18-23; Luke 8.11-15)

¹³ Jesus then told them:

If you don't understand this story, you won't understand any others. ¹⁴ What the farmer is spreading is really the message about the kingdom. ¹⁵ The seeds that fell along the road are the people who hear the message. But Satan soon comes and snatches it away from them. ¹⁶ The seeds that fell on rocky ground are the people who gladly hear the message and accept it at once. ¹⁷ But they don't have roots, and they don't last very long. As soon as life gets hard or the message gets them in trouble, they give up.

¹⁸ The seeds that fell among the thornbushes are also people who hear the message. ¹⁹ But they start worrying about the needs of this life. They are fooled by the desire to get rich and to have all kinds of other things. So the message gets choked out, and they never produce anything. ²⁰ The seeds that fell on good ground are the people who hear and welcome the message. They produce 30 or 60 or even 100 times as much as was planted.