Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Praise to the Lord for His Love and Faithfulness
A Psalm. A Song for the Sabbath day.
92 It is (A)good to give thanks to the Lord,
And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High;
2 To (B)declare Your lovingkindness in the morning,
And Your faithfulness every night,
3 (C)On an instrument of ten strings,
On the lute,
And on the harp,
With harmonious sound.
4 For You, Lord, have made me glad through Your work;
I will triumph in the works of Your hands.
12 (A)The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree,
He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
13 Those who are planted in the house of the Lord
Shall flourish in the courts of our God.
14 They shall still bear fruit in old age;
They shall be [a]fresh and [b]flourishing,
15 To declare that the Lord is upright;
(B)He is my rock, and (C)there is no unrighteousness in Him.
Amaziah Reigns in Judah(A)
14 In (B)the second year of Joash the son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel, (C)Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, became king. 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 of Jerusalem. 3 And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, yet not like his father David; he did everything (D)as his father Joash had done. 4 (E)However the [a]high places were not taken away, and the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.
5 Now it happened, as soon as the kingdom was established in his hand, that he executed his servants (F)who had murdered his father the king. 6 But the children of the murderers he did not execute, according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, in which the Lord commanded, saying, (G)“Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall children be put to death for their fathers; but a person shall be put to death for his own sin.”
7 (H)He killed ten thousand Edomites in (I)the Valley of Salt, and took [b]Sela by war, (J)and called its name Joktheel to this day.
8 (K)Then Amaziah sent messengers to [c]Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, “Come, let us face one another in battle.” 9 And Jehoash king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, (L)“The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the (M)cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son as wife’; and a wild beast that was in Lebanon passed by and trampled the thistle. 10 You have indeed defeated Edom, and (N)your heart has [d]lifted you up. Glory in that, and stay at home; for why should you meddle with trouble so that you fall—you and Judah with you?”
11 But Amaziah would not heed. Therefore Jehoash king of Israel went out; so he and Amaziah king of Judah faced one another at (O)Beth Shemesh, which belongs to Judah. 12 And Judah was defeated by Israel, and every man fled to his tent. 13 Then Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Jehoash, the son of Ahaziah, at Beth Shemesh; and he went to Jerusalem, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from (P)the Gate of Ephraim to (Q)the Corner Gate—[e]four hundred cubits. 14 And he took all (R)the gold and silver, all the articles that were found in the house of the Lord and in the treasuries of the king’s house, and hostages, and returned to Samaria.
The Parable of the Sower(A)
4 And (B)again He began to teach by the sea. And a great multitude was gathered to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat in it on the sea; and the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea. 2 Then He taught them many things by parables, (C)and said to them in His teaching:
3 “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4 And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds [a]of the air came and devoured it. 5 Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth. 6 But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away. 7 And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no [b]crop. 8 But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”
9 And He said [c]to them, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
The Purpose of Parables(D)
10 (E)But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable. 11 And He said to them, “To you it has been given to (F)know the [d]mystery of the kingdom of God; but to (G)those who are outside, all things come in parables, 12 so that
(H)‘Seeing they may see and not perceive,
And hearing they may hear and not understand;
Lest they should turn,
And their sins be forgiven them.’ ”
The Parable of the Sower Explained(I)
13 And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? 14 (J)The sower sows the word. 15 And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts. 16 These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; 17 and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word’s sake, immediately they stumble. 18 Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, 19 and the (K)cares of this world, (L)the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 20 But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, [e]accept it, and bear (M)fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.