Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 138[a]
Hymn of a Grateful Heart
1 Of David.
I
I thank you, Lord, with all my heart;(A)
in the presence of the angels[b] to you I sing.
2 I bow low toward your holy temple;
I praise your name for your mercy and faithfulness.
For you have exalted over all
your name and your promise.
3 On the day I cried out, you answered;
you strengthened my spirit.
II
4 All the kings of earth will praise you, Lord,
when they hear the words of your mouth.
5 They will sing of the ways of the Lord:
“How great is the glory of the Lord!”
6 The Lord is on high, but cares for the lowly(B)
and knows the proud from afar.
7 Though I walk in the midst of dangers,
you guard my life when my enemies rage.
You stretch out your hand;
your right hand saves me.
8 The Lord is with me to the end.
Lord, your mercy endures forever.
Never forsake the work of your hands!
Chapter 6
The Ark Is Returned. 1 The ark of the Lord had been in the land of the Philistines seven months 2 when they summoned priests and diviners to ask, “What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us what we should send back with it.” 3 They replied: “If you intend to send back the ark of the God of Israel, you must not send it alone, but must, by all means, make amends to God through a reparation offering.[a] Then you will be healed, and will learn why God continues to afflict you.” 4 When asked further, “What reparation offering should be our amends to God?” they replied: “Five golden tumors and five golden mice to correspond to the number of Philistine leaders, since the same plague has struck all of you and your leaders. 5 Therefore, make images of the tumors and of the mice that are devastating your land and so give glory to the God of Israel. Perhaps then God will lift his hand from you, your gods, and your land. 6 Why should you become stubborn, the way the Egyptians and Pharaoh were stubborn? Was it not after he had dealt ruthlessly with them that the Israelites were released and departed?(A) 7 So now set to work and make a new cart. Then take two milk cows that have not borne the yoke; hitch them to the cart, but drive their calves indoors away from them.[b](B) 8 You shall next take the ark of the Lord and place it on the cart, putting the golden articles that you are offering as reparation for your guilt in a box beside it. Start it on its way, and let it go. 9 Then watch! If it goes up to Beth-shemesh[c] along the route to the Lord’s territory, then it was the Lord who brought this great calamity upon us; if not, we will know that it was not the Lord’s hand, but a bad turn, that struck us.”
The Ark in Beth-shemesh. 10 They acted upon this advice. Taking two milk cows, they hitched them to the cart but shut up their calves indoors. 11 Then they placed the ark of the Lord on the cart, along with the box containing the golden mice and the images of the tumors. 12 The cows went straight for the route to Beth-shemesh and continued along this road, mooing as they went, turning neither right nor left. The Philistine leaders followed them as far as the border of Beth-shemesh. 13 The people of Beth-shemesh were harvesting the wheat in the valley. They looked up and rejoiced when they saw the ark. 14 The cart came to the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite and stopped there. At a large stone in the field, the wood of the cart was split up and the cows were offered as a burnt offering to the Lord.(C) 15 The Levites, meanwhile, had taken down the ark of God and the box beside it, with the golden articles, and had placed them on the great stone. The people of Beth-shemesh also offered other burnt offerings and sacrifices to the Lord that day.(D) 16 After witnessing this, the five Philistine leaders returned to Ekron the same day.
17 The golden tumors the Philistines sent back as a reparation offering to the Lord were as follows: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, and one for Ekron. 18 The golden mice, however, corresponded to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five leaders, including fortified cities and open villages.[d] The large stone on which the ark of the Lord was placed is still in the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite at the present time.(E)
4 [a]When a large crowd gathered, with people from one town after another journeying to him, he spoke in a parable.[b] 5 “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path and was trampled, and the birds of the sky ate it up. 6 Some seed fell on rocky ground, and when it grew, it withered for lack of moisture. 7 Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew with it and choked it. 8 And some seed fell on good soil, and when it grew, it produced fruit a hundredfold.” After saying this, he called out, “Whoever has ears to hear ought to hear.”(A)
The Purpose of the Parables.(B) 9 Then his disciples asked him what the meaning of this parable might be. 10 He answered, “Knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of God has been granted to you; but to the rest, they are made known through parables so that ‘they may look but not see, and hear but not understand.’(C)
The Parable of the Sower Explained.[c] 11 (D)“This is the meaning of the parable. The seed is the word of God.(E) 12 Those on the path are the ones who have heard, but the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts that they may not believe and be saved. 13 Those on rocky ground are the ones who, when they hear, receive the word with joy, but they have no root; they believe only for a time and fall away in time of trial. 14 As for the seed that fell among thorns, they are the ones who have heard, but as they go along, they are choked by the anxieties and riches and pleasures of life, and they fail to produce mature fruit. 15 But as for the seed that fell on rich soil, they are the ones who, when they have heard the word, embrace it with a generous and good heart, and bear fruit through perseverance.
The Parable of the Lamp.[d]
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.