1 The words of aJeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, one of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, 2 to whom the word of the Lord came in the days of bJosiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the cthirteenth year of his reign. 3 It came also in the days of dJehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, and until the end of the eeleventh year of fZedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the captivity of Jerusalem in the gfifth month.
The Call of Jeremiah
4 Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
5 h“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
6 Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, iI do not know how to speak, for I am jonly a youth.” 7 But the Lord said to me,
“Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’;
for to all to whom I send you, you shall go,
and whatever I command you, kyou shall speak.
8 lDo not be afraid of them,
for I am mwith you to deliver you,
declares the Lord.”
9 Then the Lord put out his hand and ntouched my mouth. And the Lord said to me,
“Behold, oI have put my words in your mouth.
10 See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms,
to ppluck up and to break down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant.”
11 For no one can lay a foundation dother than that which is laid, ewhich is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13 each one’s work will become manifest, for the fDay will gdisclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 14 If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.
16 Do you not know that you1 are hGod’s temple and that iGod’s Spirit dwells in you? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.
18 Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. 19 For jthe wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, k“He catches the wise in their craftiness,” 20 and again, l“The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” 21 So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, 22 whether mPaul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or nlife or death or the present or the future—all are yours, 23 and you are oChrist’s, and pChrist is God’s.
Jesus’ Mother and Brothers
31 xAnd his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. 32 And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers1 are outside, yseeking you.” 33 And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 And zlooking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 For awhoever bdoes the will of God, he is my cbrother and sister and mother.”
The Parable of the Sower
1 dAgain he began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd egathered about him, so 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 he was teaching them many things in fparables, and in his teaching he said to them: 3 “Listen! Behold, 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 when the gsun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, 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 a hhundredfold.” 9 And he said, “He who has iears to hear, let him hear.”
