Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

This is a special song that David wrote for the music leader.

It was when Doeg, the man from Edom, went to Saul and told him, ‘David went to the house of Ahimelech, the priest.’

Cruel words^[a]

God promises to send trouble to his people

6 Trouble is coming to you people who live in Zion and on Samaria's hill. You think that you are safe. You think that you are important people who live in the best nation on earth. Israelite people respect you as their leaders.

² Go and look at Calneh city. And go and look at Hamath city. Then go and look at Gath city, where the Philistines live. Are your cities stronger than their cities? Do you have more land than they do? ³ You refuse to think that trouble might come to you. But the cruel things that you do are causing trouble to come very soon. ⁴ You lie on beautiful, expensive beds. You do not work, but you rest all the time. You eat fat young sheep and cows. ⁵ Like King David, you play music on your harps and you sing new songs. ⁶ You drink lots of wine. You put beautiful oils on your bodies. But you are not sad that Joseph's descendants are destroying themselves as a nation.^[a]

⁷ You will be the first people that your enemies will take away as prisoners. You will no longer enjoy your feasts and wild parties.

⁸ The Lord God Almighty has promised that this will surely happen. He has spoken this strong message: ‘The Israelites think that they are very strong. But I have turned against them. I hate their strong buildings. So I will give their great city and everything in it to their enemies.’^[b]

⁹ At that time, if ten people are safe together in one house, they will still all die. ¹⁰ When a man comes to carry a dead body outside to burn it, he will ask his relative, ‘Is there anyone with you in the house?’ The relative will answer, ‘No.’ Then the man will say, ‘Be quiet!. Do not speak the name of the Lord!’^{[c] 11} When the Lord gives his command, enemies will destroy all the houses, great and small. They will break them all into pieces.

¹² Horses cannot run on rocks. People do not try to plough the sea. But you Israelites have changed what is fair and honest into something bad. You have made justice seem like poison. ¹³ You are proud because you won against Lo-Debar and Karnaim. You think that your own strength did that.

¹⁴ But the Lord God Almighty says to you Israelites, ‘I am sending an enemy nation to attack you. They will bring trouble to you everywhere, all the way from Lebo-Hamath in the north, to the Arabah valley in the south.’

A story about a farmer that planted seeds

⁴ Lots of people were coming to Jesus from many towns. A large crowd had already come together when Jesus told this story:

⁵ ‘A farmer went out to plant seeds in his field. While he was throwing the seeds, some of them fell on the path. Then people walked on them. Birds came down and they ate those seeds. ⁶ Some seeds fell on ground which had rocks. The seeds started to grow. But the young plants died because the ground was not wet enough in that place. ⁷ Some seeds fell among thorn bushes. Those bushes grew up with the young plants. They stopped the seeds from growing into strong plants. ⁸ But some seeds fell on good soil. Strong plants grew from those seeds. Each of these plants made 100 seeds.’

When Jesus finished the story, he said, ‘You have ears, so listen well to what I say!’

Jesus explains why he tells stories

⁹ Jesus' disciples asked him about this story. They asked him what it meant. ¹⁰ Jesus replied, ‘God has let you know what these stories mean. You understand how God rules in the lives of his people. But other people only listen to my stories. They look, but they do not really see clearly. They hear the words, but they do not really understand.’