Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 138[a]
By David.
138 I will give you thanks with all my heart;
before the heavenly assembly[b] I will sing praises to you.
2 I will bow down toward your holy temple,
and give thanks to your name,
because of your loyal love and faithfulness,
for you have exalted your promise above the entire sky.[c]
3 When[d] I cried out for help, you answered me.
You made me bold and energized me.[e]
4 Let all the kings of the earth give thanks[f] to you, O Lord,
when they hear the words you speak.[g]
5 Let them sing about the Lord’s deeds,[h]
for the Lord’s splendor is magnificent.[i]
6 Though the Lord is exalted, he looks after the lowly,
and from far away humbles[j] the proud.
7 Even when I must walk in the midst of danger,[k] you revive me.
You oppose my angry enemies,[l]
and your right hand delivers me.
8 The Lord avenges me.[m]
O Lord, your loyal love endures.
Do not abandon those whom you have made.[n]
The Philistines Return the Ark
6 When the ark of the Lord had been in the land[a] of the Philistines for seven months,[b] 2 the Philistines called the priests and the omen readers, saying, “What should we do with the ark of the Lord? Advise us as to how we should send it back to its place.”
3 They replied, “If you are going to send the ark of[c] the God of Israel back, don’t send it away empty. Be sure to return it with a guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and you will understand why his hand has not been removed from you.” 4 They inquired, “What is the guilt offering that we should send to him?”
They replied, “The Philistine leaders number five. So send five gold sores and five gold mice, for it is the same plague that has afflicted both you and your leaders. 5 You should make images of the sores and images of the mice[d] that are destroying the land. You should honor the God of Israel. Perhaps he will release his grip on you, your gods, and your land.[e] 6 Why harden your hearts like the Egyptians and Pharaoh did?[f] When God[g] treated them harshly, didn’t the Egyptians send the Israelites on their way?[h] 7 So now go and make a new cart. Get two cows that have calves and that have never had a yoke placed on them. Harness the cows to the cart, and take their calves from them back to their stalls. 8 Then take the ark of the Lord and place it on the cart, and put in a chest beside it the gold objects you are sending to him as a guilt offering. You should then send it on its way. 9 But keep an eye on it. If it should go up by the way of its own border to Beth Shemesh, then he has brought this great calamity on us. But if that is not the case, then we will know that it was not his hand that struck us; rather, it just happened to us by accident.”
10 So the men did as instructed.[i] They took two cows that had calves and harnessed the cows to a cart; they also removed their calves to their stalls. 11 They put the ark of the Lord on the cart, along with the chest, the gold mice, and the images of the sores. 12 Then the cows went directly on the road to Beth Shemesh. They went along that route, bellowing[j] more and more;[k] they turned neither to the right nor to the left. The leaders of the Philistines were walking along behind them all the way to the border of Beth Shemesh.
13 Now the residents of Beth Shemesh were harvesting wheat in the valley. When they looked up and saw the ark, they were pleased at the sight. 14 The cart was coming to the field of Joshua, who was from Beth Shemesh. It paused there near a big stone. Then they cut up the wood of the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord. 15 The Levites took down the ark of the Lord and the chest that was with it, which contained the gold objects. They placed them near the big stone. At that time the people of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the Lord. 16 The five leaders of the Philistines watched what was happening and then returned to Ekron on the same day.
17 These are the gold sores that the Philistines brought as a guilt offering to the Lord—one for each of the following cities: Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron. 18 The gold mice corresponded in number to all the Philistine cities of the five leaders, from the fortified cities to hamlet villages, to greater Abel.[l] They positioned the ark of the Lord on a rock until this very day in the field of Joshua who was from Beth Shemesh.
The Parable of the Sower
4 While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus[a] from one town after another,[b] he spoke to them[c] in a parable: 5 “A sower went out to sow[d] his seed.[e] And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled on, and the wild birds[f] devoured it. 6 Other seed fell on rock,[g] and when it came up, it withered because it had no moisture. 7 Other seed fell among the thorns,[h] and they grew up with it and choked[i] it. 8 But[j] other seed fell on good soil and grew,[k] and it produced a hundred times as much grain.”[l] As he said this,[m] he called out, “The one who has ears to hear had better listen!”[n]
9 Then[o] his disciples asked him what this parable meant.[p] 10 He[q] said, “You have been given[r] the opportunity to know[s] the secrets[t] of the kingdom of God,[u] but for others they are in parables, so that although they see they may not see, and although they hear they may not understand.[v]
11 “Now the parable means[w] this: The seed is the word of God. 12 Those along the path are the ones who have heard; then the devil[x] comes and takes away the word[y] from their hearts, so that they may not believe[z] and be saved. 13 Those[aa] on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while,[ab] but[ac] in a time of testing[ad] fall away.[ae] 14 As for the seed that[af] fell among thorns, these are the ones who hear, but[ag] as they go on their way they are choked[ah] by the worries and riches and pleasures of life,[ai] and their fruit does not mature.[aj] 15 But as for the seed that landed on good soil, these are the ones who, after hearing[ak] the word, cling to it[al] with an honest and good[am] heart, and bear fruit with steadfast endurance.[an]
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