Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

²² Thus says the Lord God: I Myself will take a twig from the lofty top of the cedar and will set it out; I will crop off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one and will plant it upon a mountain high and exalted.^(A)

²³ On the mountain height of Israel will I plant it, that it may bring forth boughs and bear fruit and be a noble cedar, and under it shall dwell all birds of every feather; in the shade of its branches they shall nestle and find rest.

²⁴ And all the trees of the field shall know (understand and realize) that I the Lord have brought low the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree flourish. I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it.

Psalm 92

A Psalm. A song for the Sabbath day.

¹ It is a good and delightful thing to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises [with musical accompaniment] to Your name, O Most High,

² To show forth Your loving-kindness in the morning and Your faithfulness by night,

³ With an instrument of ten strings and with the lute, with a solemn sound upon the lyre.

⁴ For You, O Lord, have made me glad by Your works; at the deeds of Your hands I joyfully sing.

¹² The [uncompromisingly] righteous shall flourish like the palm tree [be long-lived, stately, upright, useful, and fruitful]; they shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon [majestic, stable, durable, and incorruptible].

¹³ Planted in the house of the Lord, they shall flourish in the courts of our God.

¹⁴ [Growing in grace] they shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be full of sap [of spiritual vitality] and [rich in the] verdure [of trust, love, and contentment].

¹⁵ [They are living memorials] to show that the Lord is upright and faithful to His promises; He is my Rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.^(A)

⁶ So then, we are always full of good and hopeful and confident courage; we know that while we are at home in the body, we are abroad from the home with the Lord [that is promised us].

⁷ For we walk by faith [we ^[a]regulate our lives and conduct ourselves by our conviction or belief respecting man’s relationship to God and divine things, with trust and holy fervor; thus we walk] not by sight or appearance.

⁸ [Yes] we have confident and hopeful courage and are pleased rather to be away from home out of the body and be at home with the Lord.

⁹ Therefore, whether we are at home [on earth away from Him] or away from home [and with Him], we are constantly ambitious and strive earnestly to be pleasing to Him.

¹⁰ For we must all appear and be revealed as we are before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive [his pay] according to what he has done in the body, whether good or evil [considering ^[b]what his purpose and motive have been, and what he has ^[c]achieved, been busy with, and given himself and his attention to accomplishing].

¹¹ Therefore, being conscious of fearing the Lord with respect and reverence, we seek to win people over [to persuade them]. But ^[a]what sort of persons we are is plainly recognized and thoroughly understood by God, and I hope that it is plainly recognized and thoroughly understood also by your consciences (your inborn discernment).

¹² We are not commending ourselves to you again, but we are providing you with an occasion and incentive to be [rightfully] proud of us, so that you may have a reply for those who pride themselves on surface appearances [^[b]on the virtues they only appear to have], although their heart is devoid of them.

¹³ For if we are beside ourselves [mad, as some say], it is for God and concerns Him; if we are in our right mind, it is for your benefit,

¹⁴ For the love of Christ controls and urges and impels us, because we are of the opinion and conviction that [if] One died for all, then all died;

¹⁵ And He died for all, so that all those who live might live no longer to and for themselves, but to and for Him Who died and was raised again for their sake.

¹⁶ Consequently, from now on we estimate and regard no one from a [purely] human point of view [in terms of natural standards of value]. [No] even though we once did estimate Christ from a human viewpoint and as a man, yet now [we have such knowledge of Him that] we know Him no longer [in terms of the flesh].

¹⁷ Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come!

²⁶ And He said, The kingdom of God is like a man who scatters seed upon the ground,

²⁷ And then continues sleeping and rising night and day while the seed sprouts and grows and ^[a]increases—he knows not how.

²⁸ The earth produces [acting] by itself—first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.

²⁹ But when the grain is ripe and permits, immediately he ^[b]sends forth [the reapers] and puts in the sickle, because the harvest stands ready.

³⁰ And He said, With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use to illustrate and explain it?

³¹ It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all seeds upon the earth;

³² Yet after it is sown, it grows up and becomes the greatest of all garden herbs and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air are able to make nests and dwell in its shade.

³³ With many such parables [Jesus] spoke the Word to them, as they were able to hear and ^[c]to comprehend and understand.

³⁴ He did not tell them anything without a parable; but privately to His disciples (^[d]those who were peculiarly His own) He explained everything [fully].