Day 396 of 730

¹On that day Jesus went out of the house, and sat by the seaside.

²And great multitudes gathered to him, so that he entered into a boat, and sat, and all the multitude stood on the beach.

³And he spoke to them many things in parables, saying, "Behold, a farmer went out to sow.

⁴And as he sowed, some seeds fell by the roadside, and the birds came and devoured them.

⁵And others fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of earth.

⁶But when the sun had risen, they were scorched. Because they had no root, they withered away.

⁷Others fell among thorns. The thorns grew up and choked them.

⁸Still others fell on good soil, and yielded fruit: some one hundred times as much, some sixty, and some thirty.

⁹He who has ears, let him hear."

¹⁰Then the disciples came, and said to him, "Why do you speak to them in parables?"

¹¹And he answered them, "To you it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but it is not given to them.

¹²For whoever has, to him will be given, and he will have abundance, but whoever does not have, from him will be taken away even that which he has.

¹³Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing, they do not hear, neither do they understand.

¹⁴And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says, 'By hearing you will hear, and will in no way understand; Seeing you will see, and will in no way perceive:

¹⁵for this people's heart has grown callous, and their ears are dull of hearing, and they have closed their eyes; or else perhaps they might perceive with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and should turn again; and I would heal them.'

¹⁶"But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear.

¹⁷For truly I tell you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see the things which you see, and did not see them; and to hear the things which you hear, and did not hear them.

¹⁸"Hear, then, the parable of the farmer.

¹⁹When anyone hears the word of the Kingdom, and does not understand it, the evil one comes, and snatches away that which has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown by the roadside.

²⁰And what was sown on the rocky places, this is he who hears the word, and immediately with joy receives it;

²¹yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while. When oppression or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.

²²And what was sown among the thorns, this is he who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.

²³And what was sown on the good ground, this is he who hears the word, and understands it, who truly bears fruit, and brings forth, some one hundred times as much, some sixty, and some thirty."

²⁴He set another parable before them, saying, "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field,

²⁵but while people slept, his enemy came and sowed tares also among the wheat, and went away.

²⁶But when the blade sprang up and brought forth fruit, then the tares appeared also.

²⁷So the servants of the householder came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where did these tares come from?'

²⁸"And he said to them, 'An enemy has done this.' "The servants asked him, 'Do you want us to go and gather them up?'

²⁹"But he said, 'No, lest perhaps while you gather up the tares, you root up the wheat with them.

³⁰Let both grow together until the harvest, and in the harvest time I will tell the reapers, "First, gather up the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn."'"

³¹He set another parable before them, saying, "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field;

³²which indeed is smaller than all seeds. But when it is grown, it is greater than the herbs, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in its branches."

³³He spoke another parable to them. "The Kingdom of Heaven is like yeast, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, until it was all leavened."

³⁴Jesus spoke all these things in parables to the multitudes; and without a parable, he did not speak to them,

³⁵that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying, "I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden since the beginning of the world. "

³⁶Then Jesus sent the multitudes away, and went into the house. His disciples came to him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the tares in the field."

³⁷And he answered them, "The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man,

³⁸and the field is the world; and the good seed, these are the sons of the Kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one,

³⁹and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels.

⁴⁰As therefore the tares are gathered up and burned with fire; so will it be at the end of the age.

⁴¹The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather out of his Kingdom all things that cause stumbling, and those who do iniquity,

⁴²and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be weeping and the gnashing of teeth.

⁴³Then the righteous will shine forth like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.

⁴⁴"The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found, and hid. In his joy, he goes and sells all that he has, and buys that field.

⁴⁵"Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who is a merchant seeking fine pearls,

⁴⁶and having found one pearl of great price, he went and sold all that he had, and bought it.

⁴⁷"Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a dragnet, that was cast into the sea, and gathered some fish of every kind,

⁴⁸which, when it was filled, they drew up on the beach. They sat down, and gathered the good into containers, but the bad they threw away.

⁴⁹So will it be in the end of the world. The angels will come forth, and separate the wicked from among the righteous,

⁵⁰and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth."

⁵¹"Have you understood all these things?" They answered him, "Yes, Lord."

⁵²And he said to them, "Therefore, every scribe who has been made a disciple in the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who is a householder, who brings out of his treasure new and old things."

⁵³And it happened that when Jesus had finished these parables, he departed from there.

⁵⁴And coming into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, "Where did this man get this wisdom, and these mighty works?

⁵⁵Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary, and his brothers, Jacob and Joses and Simon and Judas?

⁵⁶And are not all of his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all of these things?"

⁵⁷And they were offended by him. But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country, and in his own house."

⁵⁸And he did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.

¹Sing to the Lord a new song! Sing to the Lord, all the earth.

²Sing to the Lord! Bless his name! Proclaim his salvation from day to day!

³Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples.

⁴For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised! He is to be feared above all gods.

⁵For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the Lord made the heavens.

⁶Honor and majesty are before him. Strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.

⁷Ascribe to the Lord, you families of nations, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.

⁸Ascribe to the Lord the glory due to his name. Bring an offering, and come into his courts.

⁹Worship the Lord in holy array. Tremble before him, all the earth.

¹⁰Say among the nations, "The Lord reigns." The world is also established. It can't be moved. He will judge the peoples with equity.

¹¹Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice. Let the sea roar, and its fullness!

¹²Let the field and all that is in it exult! Then all the trees of the woods shall sing for joy

¹³before the Lord; for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, the peoples with his truth.

¹Do not be envious of evil men; neither desire to be with them:

²for their hearts plot violence, and their lips talk about mischief.

³Through wisdom a house is built; by understanding it is established;

⁴by knowledge the rooms are filled with all rare and beautiful treasure.

⁵A wise man has great power; and a knowledgeable man increases strength;

⁶for by wise guidance you wage your war; and victory is in many advisors.

⁷Wisdom is too high for a fool: he doesn't open his mouth in the gate.

⁸One who plots to do evil will be called a schemer.

⁹The schemes of folly are sin. The mocker is detested by men.

¹⁰If you falter in the time of trouble, your strength is small.

¹¹Rescue those who are being led away to death! Indeed, hold back those who are staggering to the slaughter!

¹²If you say, "Behold, we did not know this;" doesn't he who weighs the hearts consider it? He who keeps your soul, doesn't he know it? Shall he not render to every man according to his work?

¹³My son, eat honey, for it is good; the droppings of the honeycomb, which are sweet to your taste:

¹⁴so you shall know wisdom to be to your soul; if you have found it, then there will be a reward, your hope will not be cut off.

¹⁵Do not lie in wait, wicked man, against the habitation of the righteous. Do not destroy his resting place:

¹⁶for a righteous man falls seven times, and rises up again; but the wicked are overthrown by calamity.

¹⁷Do not rejoice when your enemy falls. Do not let your heart be glad when he is overthrown;

¹⁸lest the Lord see it, and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him.

¹⁹Do not fret yourself because of evildoers; neither be envious of the wicked:

²⁰for there will be no reward to the evil man; and the lamp of the wicked shall be snuffed out.

²¹My son, fear the Lord and the king. Do not join those who are rebellious:

²²for their calamity will rise suddenly; the destruction from them both-who knows?

²³These also are sayings of the wise. To show partiality in judgment is not good.

²⁴He who says to the wicked, "You are righteous;" peoples shall curse him, and nations shall abhor him-

²⁵but it will go well with those who convict the guilty, and a rich blessing will come on them.

²⁶An honest answer is like a kiss on the lips.

²⁷Prepare your work outside, and get your fields ready. Afterwards, build your house.

²⁸Do not be a witness against your neighbor without cause. Do not deceive with your lips.

²⁹Do not say, "I will do to him as he has done to me; I will render to the man according to his work."

³⁰I went by the field of the sluggard, by the vineyard of the man void of understanding;

³¹Behold, it was all grown over with thorns. Its surface was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down.

³²Then I saw, and considered well. I saw, and received instruction:

³³a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep;

³⁴so your poverty will come as a robber, and your want as an armed man.