Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Thanksgiving for Yahweh’s Goodness
Of David.[a]
138 I give you thanks with my whole heart;
before the gods I sing your praise.
2 I bow down toward your holy temple
and give thanks to your name,
because of your loyal love and faithfulness,
for you have magnified your word[b] according to all your name.[c]
3 When[d] I called and you answered me,
you emboldened me in my soul with strength.
4 All the kings of the earth
will praise you, O Yahweh,
when they have heard the words[e] of your mouth,
5 and they will sing of the ways of Yahweh,
because Yahweh’s glory is great.
6 Though Yahweh is high, yet he sees the lowly,
but the proud he perceives[f] at a distance.
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
you preserve me alive.
You stretch out your hand against the anger of my enemies,
and you save me with your right hand.
8 Yahweh accomplishes things for my benefit.
O Yahweh, your loyal love endures forever;
do not abandon the works of your hands.
The Return of the Ark of Covenant
6 Now the ark of Yahweh had been in the territory of the Philistines for seven months, 2 and the Philistines called to the priests and to those who practiced divination, saying, “What should we do with the ark of Yahweh? Inform us how we should send it to its place.” 3 They said, “If you are sending the ark of the God of Israel away, you must not send it away empty, but by all means return it with a guilt offering. Then you will be healed and it will become known to you why his hand is not turned aside from you.” 4 And they said, “What is the guilt offering that we should return to him?” They said, “The number of the rulers of the Philistines is five. Therefore send five gold tumors[a] and five gold mice, because one plague was on all of you and all your rulers. 5 You must make images of your tumors[b] and images of your mice that are ravaging the land, and you must give glory to the God of Israel. Perhaps he will lighten his hand on you and on your gods and on your land. 6 Why should you harden your hearts like the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their heart? Is it not just like when he dealt with them wantonly so that they sent them away and they left? 7 So then, prepare[c] one new utility cart and two milking cows that have never had a yoke on them, and you must harness the cows to the utility cart and then turn their calves from following them to their stall. 8 And you must take the ark of Yahweh and place it on the utility cart with the gold objects that you are returning to him as a guilt offering. You must place them in the container[d] beside the ark and then send it off so that it goes away. 9 You must watch; if it goes up by the way of its territory to Beth Shemesh, he has caused this great disaster to come on us. But if not, then we will know his hand has not struck us; it was by chance that this happened to us. 10 So the men did so; they took two milking cows and harnessed them to the utility cart, but they shut up their calves in the stall. 11 Then they put the ark of Yahweh on the utility cart with the container[e] holding the gold mice and the images of their tumors. 12 The cows went straight on the way on the road to Beth Shemesh, on the one main road, lowing as they went.[f] They did not turn aside to the right or to the left, and the rulers of the Philistines were walking after them up to the border of Beth Shemesh.
13 Now the people of Beth Shemesh were reaping the wheat harvest in the valley. They lifted their eyes and saw the ark, and they were glad to see it. 14 The utility cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh and stopped there where there was a large stone. They split the wood of the utility cart and sacrificed the cows as a burnt offering to Yahweh. 15 Then the Levites took down the ark of Yahweh and the container[g] that was beside it, in which were the gold objects, and they set them on the large stone.[h] Then the men of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings, and they made[i] sacrifices to Yahweh on that day. 16 The five rulers of the Philistines saw it and returned to Ekron that same day.
17 Now these are the gold tumors which the Philistines returned as a guilt offering to Yahweh: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, one for Ekron. 18 And the gold mice according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines, for their five rulers, from the fortified city to the unwalled village of the open country as far as the great stone, where they set[j] the ark of Yahweh until this day in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh.
The Parable of the Sower
4 And while[a] a large crowd was gathering and they were going to him from town after town, he spoke by means of a parable: 5 “The sower went out to sow his seed, and while he was sowing, some seed[b] fell on the side of the path and was trampled under foot, and the birds of the sky devoured it. 6 And other seed fell on the rock, and when it[c] came up, it withered, because it did not have moisture. 7 And other seed fell in the midst of the thorn plants, and the thorn plants grew up with it[d] and[e] choked it. 8 And other seed fell on the good soil, and when it[f] came up, it produced a hundred times as much grain.” As he[g] said these things, he called out, “The one who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
The Reason for the Parables
9 And his disciples asked him what this parable meant. 10 And he said, “To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest they are in parables, so that
‘Seeing they may not see,
and hearing they may not understand.’[h]
The Parable of the Sower Interpreted
11 Now the parable means this: the seed is the word of God, 12 and those beside the path are the ones who have heard. Then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they may not believe and[i] be saved. 13 And those on the rock are those who receive the word with joy when they hear it,[j] and these do not have enough root, who believe for a time and in a time of testing fall away. 14 And the seed that fell into the thorn plants—these are the ones who hear and as they[k] go along are choked by the worries and riches and pleasures of life, and they do not bear fruit to maturity. 15 But the seed on the good soil—these are the ones who, after[l] hearing the word, hold fast to it[m] with a noble and good heart, and bear fruit with patient endurance.
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