Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Thanksgiving for the Lord’s Favor.

A Psalm of David.

The Ark Returned to Israel

6 Now the ark of the Lord had been in the territory of the Philistines for seven months. ² And ^(A)the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, “What are we to do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us ^[a]how we may send it to its place.” ³ And they said, “If you are going to send the ark of the God of Israel away, ^(B)do not send it empty; but you shall certainly ^(C)return to Him a guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and it will be revealed to you why His hand does not leave you.” ⁴ Then they said, “What is to be the guilt offering that we shall return to Him?” And they said, “Five gold ^(D)tumors and five gold mice ^(E)corresponding to the number of the governors of the Philistines, since one plague was on all of ^[b]you and on your governors. ⁵ So you shall make likenesses of your tumors and likenesses of your mice that are ruining the land, and ^(F)you shall give glory to the God of Israel; perhaps ^(G)He will lighten His hand from you, ^(H)your gods, and your land. ⁶ Why then do you harden your hearts ^(I)as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When He had severely dealt with them, ^(J)did they not let ^[c]the people go, and they left? ⁷ Now then, take and ^(K)prepare a new cart and two milk cows on which there ^(L)has never been a yoke; and hitch the cows to the cart and take their calves back home, away from them. ⁸ Then take the ark of the Lord and place it on the cart; and put ^(M)the articles of gold which you return to Him as ^(N)a guilt offering in a saddlebag by its side. Then send it away that it may go. ⁹ But watch: if it goes up by the way of its own territory to ^(O)Beth-shemesh, then He has done this great evil to us. But if not, then ^(P)we will know that it was not His hand that struck us; it happened to us by chance.”

¹⁰ Then the men did so: they took two milk cows and hitched them to the cart, and shut in their calves at home. ¹¹ And they put the ark of the Lord on the cart, and the saddlebag with the gold mice and the likenesses of their tumors. ¹² Now the cows went straight in the ^[d]direction of ^(Q)Beth-shemesh; they went on ^(R)the same road, bellowing as they went, and did not turn off to the right or to the left. And the governors of the Philistines followed them to the border of Beth-shemesh.

¹³ Now the people of Beth-shemesh were gathering in their wheat harvest in the valley, and they raised their eyes and saw the ark, and rejoiced at seeing it. ¹⁴ And the cart came into the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite and stopped there where there was a large stone; and they split the wood of the cart and ^(S)offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord. ¹⁵ And ^(T)the Levites took down the ark of the Lord and the saddlebag that was with it, in which were the articles of gold, and put them on the large stone; and the men of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices that day to the Lord. ¹⁶ When the ^(U)five governors of the Philistines saw it, they returned to Ekron that day.

¹⁷ Now ^(V)these are the gold tumors which the Philistines returned as a guilt offering to the Lord: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, and one for Ekron; ¹⁸ and the gold mice, corresponding to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five governors, ^(W)both of fortified cities and of country villages. ^(X)The large ^[e]stone on which they placed the ark of the Lord is a witness to this day in the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite.

Parable of the Sower

^4 (A)Now when a large crowd was coming together, and those from the various cities were journeying to Him, He spoke by way of a parable: ⁵ “The sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell beside the road, and it was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the sky ate it up. ⁶ Other seed fell on rocky soil, and when it came up, it withered away because it had no moisture. ⁷ Other seed fell among the thorns; and the thorns grew up with it and choked it out. ⁸ And yet other seed fell into the good soil, and grew up, and produced a crop a hundred times as much.” As He said these things, He would call out, “^(B)The one who has ears to hear, ^[a]let him hear.”

^9 (C)Now His disciples began asking Him what this parable ^[b]meant. ¹⁰ And He said, “^(D)To you it has been granted to know the ^[c]mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest they are told in parables, so that ^[d](E)while seeing they may not see, and ^[e]while hearing they may not understand.

¹¹ “Now this is the parable: ^(F)the seed is the word of God. ¹² And those beside the road are the ones who have heard, then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they will not believe and be saved. ¹³ Those on the rocky soil are the ones who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and yet these do not have a firm root; ^[f]they believe for a while, and in a time of temptation they ^[g]fall away. ¹⁴ And the seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked by worries, riches, and pleasures of this life, and they bring no fruit to maturity. ¹⁵ But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word ^[h]with a good and virtuous heart, and hold it firmly, and produce fruit with ^[i]perseverance.