Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

To the Director: A Davidic Psalm.

A Prayer for Victory

Saul’s Battles against the Philistines

13 Saul was 30^[a] years old when he began to reign, and he ruled for 42^[b] years over Israel. ² Saul chose for himself 3,000 men from Israel. There were 2,000 with Saul in Michmash and the hill country of Bethel, while 1,000 were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. He had sent the rest of the people home.^[c]

³ Jonathan attacked the Philistine garrison^[d] in Geba, and the Philistines heard about it. Saul blew the trumpet throughout the land: “Listen, Hebrews!” ⁴ All Israel heard the report,^[e] “Saul has attacked the Philistine garrison^[f] and Israel has also become repulsive to the Philistines.” Then the people were summoned to Saul at Gilgal.

⁵ The Philistines assembled to fight against Israel with 30,000 chariots, 6,000 horsemen, and people as numerous as the sand on the seashore. And they advanced and camped in Michmash, east of Beth-aven. ⁶ When the men of Israel saw that they were in distress (for the people were in difficult circumstances), the people hid themselves in caves, in thickets, in crags, in tombs, and in pits. ⁷ Hebrews went across the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead, but Saul remained in Gilgal, and all the people followed him, trembling.

⁸ Saul^[g] waited seven days for the appointment set by Samuel. When Samuel did not arrive at Gilgal, as the people began to scatter from Saul,^{[h] 9} Saul said, “Bring the burnt offering and the peace offering to me,” and he offered the burnt offering. ¹⁰ Just as he finished offering the burnt offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to meet and greet him.

¹¹ Samuel said, “What have you done?”

Saul replied, “When? I saw that the people were scattering from me, that you didn’t come at the appointed time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Michmash. ¹² I^[i] thought, ‘The Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal but I’ve not sought the favor of the Lord,’ so I forced myself to offer the burnt offering.”

¹³ Then Samuel told Saul, “You have acted foolishly. You haven’t obeyed the commandment of the Lord your God, which he commanded you. For then the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever, ¹⁴ but now your kingdom won’t be established. The Lord has sought for himself a man after his own heart, and the Lord has appointed him as Commander-in-Chief^[j] over his people because you didn’t obey that which the Lord commanded you.”

¹⁵ Then Samuel got up and went from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin. Saul mustered the people present with him, about 600 men.

The Parable about a Farmer^(A)

4 Then Jesus^[a] began to teach again beside the sea. Such a large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it,^[b] while the entire crowd remained beside the sea on the shore. ² He began teaching them many things in parables. While he was teaching them he said, ³ “Listen! A farmer went out to sow. ⁴ As he was sowing, some seeds fell along the path, and birds came and ate them up. ⁵ Others fell on stony ground, where they didn’t have a lot of soil. They sprouted at once, because the soil wasn’t deep. ⁶ But when the sun came up, they were scorched. Since they didn’t have any roots, they dried up. ⁷ Others fell among thorn bushes, and the thorn bushes came up and choked them out, and they didn’t produce anything. ⁸ But others fell on good soil and produced a crop. They grew up, increased in size, and produced 30, 60, or 100 times what was sown.”^{[c] 9} He added, “Let the person who has ears to hear, listen!”

The Purpose of the Parables^(B)

¹⁰ When he was alone with the Twelve and those around him, they began to ask him about the parables. ¹¹ He told them, “The secret about the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside, everything comes in parables ¹² so that

Jesus Explains the Parable about the Farmer^(C)

¹³ Then he told them, “You don’t understand this parable, so how can you understand any of the parables? ¹⁴ The farmer sows the word. ¹⁵ Some people are like the seeds^[e] along the path, where the word is sown. When they hear it, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. ¹⁶ Others are like the seeds^[f] sown on the stony ground. When they hear the word, at once they joyfully accept it, ¹⁷ but since they don’t have any roots, they last for only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes along because of the word, they immediately fall away. ¹⁸ Still others are like the seeds^[g] sown among the thorn bushes. These are the people who hear the word, ¹⁹ but the worries of life, the deceitful pleasures of wealth, and the desires for other things come in and choke the word so that it can’t produce a crop. ²⁰ Others are like the seeds^[h] sown on good soil. They hear the word, accept it, and produce crops—30, 60, or 100 times what was sown.”^[i]