Promises to Abram^(A)

12 Now the ^(B)Lord had said to Abram:

⁵ Now ^(A)therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and ^(B)keep My covenant, then ^(C)you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is ^(D)Mine. ⁶ And you shall be to Me a ^(E)kingdom of priests and a ^(F)holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”

Isaiah Called to Be a Prophet^(A)

6 In the year that ^(B)King Uzziah died, I ^(C)saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. ² Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, ^(D)with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. ³ And one cried to another and said:

⁴ And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.

⁵ So I said:

⁶ Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from ^(H)the altar. ⁷ And he ^(I)touched my mouth with it, and said:

⁸ Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying:

Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”

³⁷ Then He said to His disciples, ^(A)“The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. ^38 (B)Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”

Sending Out the Twelve^(A)

⁵ These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: ^(B)“Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of ^(C)the Samaritans. ^6 (D)But go rather to the ^(E)lost sheep of the house of Israel. ^7 (F)And as you go, preach, saying, ^(G)‘The kingdom of heaven ^[a]is at hand.’ ⁸ Heal the sick, ^[b]cleanse the lepers, ^[c]raise the dead, cast out demons. ^(H)Freely you have received, freely give. ^9 (I)Provide neither gold nor silver nor ^(J)copper in your money belts, ¹⁰ nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs; ^(K)for a worker is worthy of his food.

^11 (L)“Now whatever city or town you enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and stay there till you go out. ¹² And when you go into a household, greet it. ^13 (M)If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it. ^(N)But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. ^14 (O)And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, ^(P)shake off the dust from your feet. ¹⁵ Assuredly, I say to you, ^(Q)it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!

The Parable of the Sower Explained^(A)

^18 (B)“Therefore hear the parable of the sower: ¹⁹ When anyone hears the word ^(C)of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside. ²⁰ But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately ^(D)receives it with joy; ²¹ yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when ^(E)tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately ^(F)he stumbles. ²² Now ^(G)he who received seed ^(H)among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. ²³ But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears ^(I)fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”

The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares

²⁴ Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; ²⁵ but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. ²⁶ But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. ²⁷ So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ ²⁸ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ ²⁹ But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. ³⁰ Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but ^(J)gather the wheat into my barn.” ’ ”

³⁷ He answered and said to them: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. ^38 (A)The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are ^(B)the sons of the wicked one. ³⁹ The enemy who sowed them is the devil, ^(C)the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. ⁴⁰ Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. ⁴¹ The Son of Man will send out His angels, ^(D)and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, ^42 (E)and will cast them into the furnace of fire. ^(F)There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. ^43 (G)Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. ^(H)He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

^19 (A)And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth ^[a]will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

⁹ Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.’ ¹⁰ So those servants went out into the highways and ^(A)gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests.