Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Psalm 20

For the Music Director. A Psalm of David.

Saul Fails His Commission

13 Saul was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty-two years over Israel.^[a]

² Saul chose for himself three thousand men of Israel. Two thousand were with Saul in Mikmash and in mountains of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. The rest of the people he sent each to his tent.

³ Jonathan struck the garrison of the Philistines that was in Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear.” ⁴ All Israel heard that Saul had struck the garrison of the Philistines, and that Israel had become odious to the Philistines. And the people were called together after Saul to Gilgal.

⁵ The Philistines gathered together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen, with people like the sand which is on the seashore in multitude. And they came up and camped in Mikmash, east of Beth Aven. ⁶ When Israel’s fighting men saw that they were in a strait (for the people were distressed), then the people hid themselves in caves, in hollows, among rocks, and in cellars and cisterns. ⁷ Some of the Hebrews went over Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead.

But as for Saul, he was still in Gilgal, and all the people followed him, trembling. ⁸ He waited seven days, according to the set time that Samuel had appointed. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattered from him. ⁹ Saul said, “Bring here to me the burnt offering and the peace offerings.” Then he offered the burnt offering. ¹⁰ When he finished offering the burnt offering, Samuel came. And Saul went out to meet him to greet him.

¹¹ Samuel said, “What have you done?”

And Saul said, “Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that you did not come to the appointed assembly days, and the Philistines are gathering themselves together at Mikmash, ¹² therefore I said, ‘The Philistines will come down now upon me to Gilgal, and I have not yet appeased the face of the Lord.’ So I forced myself, and offered the burnt offering.”

¹³ Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you. Truly now, the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. ¹⁴ But now your kingdom will not continue. The Lord has sought for Himself a man after His own heart and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over His people, because you have not kept that which the Lord commanded you.”

¹⁵ Samuel arose, and went up from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin. And Saul numbered the people that were present with him, about six hundred men.

The Parable of the Sower^(A)

4 Again He began to teach by the seaside. A large crowd was gathered before Him, so that He entered a boat and sat in it on the sea. And the whole crowd was by the sea on the land. ² He taught them many things in parables and said to them in His teaching: ³ “Listen! And take note: A sower went out to sow. ⁴ As he sowed, some seed fell beside the path, and the birds of the air came and devoured it. ⁵ Some seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and soon it sprang up because it did not have deep soil. ⁶ But when the sun rose, it was scorched. And because it had no root, it withered away. ⁷ Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. ⁸ And other seed fell on good ground, and it yielded grain that sprang up and increased by thirty, sixty, or a hundred times as much.”

⁹ Then He said to them, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

The Purpose of the Parables^(B)

¹⁰ When He was alone, those who were around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable. ¹¹ He said to them, “To you is given the secret of the kingdom of God, but to those who are outside, everything is said in parables, ¹² so that

The Parable of the Sower Explained^(C)

¹³ Then He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? ¹⁴ The sower sows the word. ¹⁵ These are those beside the path, where the word is sown. But when they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word which is sown in their hearts. ¹⁶ Others, likewise, are seed sown on rocky ground, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness, ¹⁷ but have no root in themselves, and so endure for a time. Afterward, when affliction or persecution rises for the word’s sake, immediately they fall away. ¹⁸ And others are seed sown among thorns, the ones who hear the word. ¹⁹ But the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. ²⁰ Still others are seed sown on good ground, those who hear the word, and receive it, and bear fruit: thirty, sixty, or a hundred times as much.”