Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The End of the Wicked and the Peace of the Godly
To the Chief Musician. A [a]Contemplation of David (A)when Doeg the Edomite went and (B)told Saul, and said to him, “David has gone to the house of Ahimelech.”
52 Why do you boast in evil, O mighty man?
The goodness of God endures continually.
2 Your tongue devises destruction,
Like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.
3 You love evil more than good,
Lying rather than speaking righteousness. Selah
4 You love all devouring words,
You deceitful tongue.
5 God shall likewise destroy you forever;
He shall take you away, and pluck you out of your dwelling place,
And uproot you from the land of the living. Selah
6 The righteous also shall see and fear,
And shall laugh at him, saying,
7 “Here is the man who did not make God his strength,
But trusted in the abundance of his riches,
And strengthened himself in his [b]wickedness.”
Warnings to Zion and Samaria
6 Woe (A)to you who are at (B)ease in Zion,
And (C)trust in Mount Samaria,
Notable persons in the (D)chief nation,
To whom the house of Israel comes!
2 (E)Go over to (F)Calneh and see;
And from there go to (G)Hamath the great;
Then go down to Gath of the Philistines.
(H)Are you better than these kingdoms?
Or is their territory greater than your territory?
3 Woe to you who (I)put far off the day of (J)doom,
(K)Who cause (L)the seat of violence to come near;
4 Who lie on beds of ivory,
Stretch out on your couches,
Eat lambs from the flock
And calves from the midst of the stall;
5 (M)Who sing idly to the sound of stringed instruments,
And invent for yourselves (N)musical instruments (O)like David;
6 Who (P)drink wine from bowls,
And anoint yourselves with the best ointments,
(Q)But are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.
7 Therefore they shall now go (R)captive as the first of the captives,
And those who recline at banquets shall be removed.
8 (S)The Lord God has sworn by Himself,
The Lord God of hosts says:
“I abhor (T)the pride of Jacob,
And hate his palaces;
Therefore I will deliver up the city
And all that is in it.”
9 Then it shall come to pass, that if ten men remain in one house, they shall die. 10 And when [a]a relative of the dead, with one who will burn the bodies, picks up the [b]bodies to take them out of the house, he will say to one inside the house, “Are there any more with you?”
Then someone will say, “None.”
And he will say, (U)“Hold your tongue! (V)For we dare not mention the name of the Lord.”
11 For behold, (W)the Lord gives a command:
(X)He will break the great house into bits,
And the little house into pieces.
The Parable of the Sower(A)
4 (B)And when a great multitude had gathered, and they had come to Him from every city, He spoke by a parable: 5 “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it. 6 Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture. 7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. 8 But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded [a]a crop a hundredfold.” When He had said these things He cried, (C)“He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
The Purpose of Parables(D)
9 (E)Then His disciples asked Him, saying, “What does this parable mean?”
10 And He said, “To you it has been given to know the [b]mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, that
(F)‘Seeing they may not see,
And hearing they may not understand.’
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.