Tell the Coming Generation
A Maskil1 of hAsaph.
1 iGive ear, O my people, to my teaching;
incline your ears to the words of my mouth!
2 jI will open my mouth kin a parable;
I will utter dark sayings from of old,
3 things that we have heard and known,
that our lfathers have told us.
4 We will not mhide them from their children,
but ntell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might,
and othe wonders that he has done.
5 He established pa testimony in qJacob
and appointed a law in qIsrael,
which he commanded our fathers
to teach to their children,
6 that rthe next generation might know them,
the children yet unborn,
and arise and tell them to their children,
7 so that they should set their hope in God
and not forget sthe works of God,
but tkeep his commandments;
8 and that they should not be ulike their fathers,
va stubborn and rebellious generation,
a generation wwhose heart was not steadfast,
whose spirit was not faithful to God.
9 The Ephraimites, armed with2 the bow,
xturned back on the day of battle.
10 They ydid not keep God’s covenant,
but refused to walk according to his law.
11 They zforgot his works
and athe wonders that he had shown them.
12 In the sight of their fathers bhe performed wonders
in the land of Egypt, in cthe fields of Zoan.
13 He ddivided the sea and let them pass through it,
and made the waters estand like a heap.
14 fIn the daytime he led them with a cloud,
and all the night with a fiery light.
15 He gsplit rocks in the wilderness
and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep.
16 He made streams come out of hthe rock
and caused waters to flow down like rivers.
17 Yet they sinned still more against him,
irebelling against the Most High in the desert.
18 They jtested God in their heart
by demanding the food they craved.
19 They spoke against God, saying,
k“Can God lspread a table in the wilderness?
20 mHe struck the rock so that water gushed out
and streams overflowed.
Can he also give bread
or provide meat for his people?”
21 Therefore, when the Lord heard, he was full of wrath;
na fire was kindled against Jacob;
his anger rose against Israel,
22 because they odid not believe in God
and did not trust his saving power.
23 Yet he commanded the skies above
and popened the doors of heaven,
24 and he qrained down on them manna to eat
and gave them rthe grain of heaven.
25 Man ate of the bread of sthe angels;
he sent them food tin abundance.
26 He ucaused the east wind to blow in the heavens,
and by his power he led out the south wind;
27 he rained meat on them like vdust,
winged birds like wthe sand of the seas;
28 he xlet them fall in the midst of their camp,
all around their dwellings.
29 And they yate and were well filled,
for he gave them what they zcraved.
30 But before they had satisfied their craving,
awhile the food was still in their mouths,
31 the anger of God rose against them,
and he killed bthe strongest of them
and laid low cthe young men of Israel.
32 In spite of all this, they dstill sinned;
edespite his wonders, they did not believe.
33 So he made ftheir days gvanish like3 a breath,4
and their years in terror.
34 When he killed them, they hsought him;
they repented and sought God earnestly.
35 They remembered that God was their irock,
the Most High God their jredeemer.
36 But they kflattered him with their mouths;
they llied to him with their tongues.
37 Their mheart was not nsteadfast toward him;
they were not faithful to his covenant.
38 Yet he, being ocompassionate,
patoned for their iniquity
and did not destroy them;
he restrained his anger often
and did not stir up all his wrath.
39 He qremembered that they were but rflesh,
sa wind that passes and comes not again.
40 How often they trebelled against him in the wilderness
and ugrieved him in vthe desert!
41 They wtested God again and again
and provoked xthe Holy One of Israel.
42 They ydid not remember his power5
or the day when he redeemed them from the foe,
43 zwhen he performed his asigns in Egypt
and his bmarvels in cthe fields of Zoan.
44 He dturned their rivers to blood,
so that they could not drink of their streams.
45 He sent among them swarms of eflies, which devoured them,
and ffrogs, which destroyed them.
46 He gave their crops to gthe destroying locust
and the fruit of their labor to the locust.
47 He destroyed their vines with hhail
and their sycamores with frost.
48 He gave over their icattle to the hail
and their flocks to thunderbolts.
49 He let loose on them his burning anger,
wrath, indignation, and distress,
a company of jdestroying angels.
50 He made a path for his anger;
he did not spare them from death,
but gave their lives over to the plague.
51 He struck down every kfirstborn in Egypt,
the firstfruits of their strength in the tents of lHam.
52 Then he led out his people mlike sheep
and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.
53 nHe led them in safety, so that they owere not afraid,
but pthe sea overwhelmed their enemies.
54 And he brought them to his qholy land,
rto the mountain which his right hand had swon.
55 He tdrove out nations before them;
he uapportioned them for a possession
and settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.
56 Yet they vtested and wrebelled against the Most High God
and did not keep his testimonies,
57 but turned away and acted treacherously like their fathers;
they twisted like xa deceitful bow.
58 For they yprovoked him to anger with their zhigh places;
they amoved him to jealousy with their bidols.
59 When God heard, he was full of cwrath,
and he utterly rejected Israel.
60 He dforsook his dwelling at eShiloh,
the tent where he dwelt among mankind,
61 and delivered his fpower to captivity,
his gglory to the hand of the foe.
62 He hgave his people over to the sword
and ivented his wrath on his heritage.
63 jFire devoured their young men,
and their young women had no kmarriage song.
64 Their lpriests fell by the sword,
and their mwidows made no lamentation.
65 Then the Lord nawoke as from sleep,
like a strong man shouting because of wine.
66 And he oput his adversaries to rout;
he put them to everlasting shame.
67 He rejected the tent of pJoseph;
he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,
68 but he chose the tribe of Judah,
Mount Zion, which he qloves.
69 He rbuilt his sanctuary like the high heavens,
like the earth, which he has founded forever.
70 He schose David his servant
and took him from the sheepfolds;
71 from tfollowing the nursing ewes he brought him
to ushepherd Jacob his people,
Israel his vinheritance.
72 With wupright heart he shepherded them
and xguided them with his skillful hand.
The Parable of the Sower
1 Again vhe began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him, wso that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. 2 And xhe was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: 3 “Listen! yBehold, a sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. 5 Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. 6 And zwhen the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, ait withered away. 7 Other seed fell among bthorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. 8 And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and ca hundredfold.” 9 And he said, d“He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
The Purpose of the Parables
10 And ewhen he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. 11 And he said to them, f“To you has been given gthe secret of the kingdom of God, but for hthose outside everything is in parables, 12 iso that
“‘they jmay indeed see but not perceive,
and may indeed hear but not understand,
lest they kshould turn and be forgiven.’”
13 lAnd he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? 14 mThe sower sows nthe word. 15 And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. 16 And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it owith joy. 17 And they have no root in themselves, but pendure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately qthey fall away.1 18 And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, 19 but rthe cares of sthe world and tthe deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 20 But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and ubear fruit, vthirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”
A Lamp Under a Basket
21 wAnd he said to them, x“Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand? 22 yFor nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light. 23 zIf anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” 24 And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear: awith the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you. 25 bFor to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”
The Parable of the Seed Growing
26 And he said, c“The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. 27 He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; dhe knows not how. 28 The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. 29 But when the grain is ripe, at once ehe puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
The Parable of the Mustard Seed
30 fAnd he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? 31 It is like ga grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, 32 yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”
33 hWith many such parables he spoke ithe word to them, jas they were able to hear it. 34 He did not speak to them kwithout a parable, but lprivately to his own disciples he mexplained everything.
Jesus Calms a Storm
35 nOn that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” 36 And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. 37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves owere breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. 38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39 And he awoke and prebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and qthere was a great calm. 40 He said to them, “Why are you rso afraid? Have you still no faith?” 41 And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, s“Who then is this, that even tthe wind and the sea obey him?”
