The Song of Deborah and Barak

1 ^vThen sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day:

^jAnd the land had rest for forty years.

The Conversion of Saul

1 But Saul, ^bstill ^cbreathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to ^dthe high priest 2 and asked him for letters ^eto the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to ^fthe Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 3 ^gNow as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. 4 And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting ^hme?” 5 And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, ^hwhom you are persecuting. 6 But ⁱrise and enter the city, and you will be told ^jwhat you are to do.” 7 ^kThe men who were traveling with him stood speechless, ^lhearing the voice but seeing no one. 8 Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, ^mhe saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 9 And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

10 Now there was a disciple at Damascus named ⁿAnanias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, ^o“Here I am, Lord.” 11 And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man ^pof Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, 12 and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and ^qlay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” 13 But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, ^rhow much evil he has done to ^syour ^tsaints at Jerusalem. 14 And here he has authority from ^uthe chief priests to bind all who ^vcall on your name.” 15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for ^whe is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name ^xbefore the Gentiles and ^ykings and the children of Israel. 16 For ^zI will show him how much ^ahe must suffer ^bfor the sake of my name.” 17 So ^cAnanias departed and entered the house. And ^dlaying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and ^ebe filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and ^fhe regained his sight. Then ^ghe rose and was baptized; 19 and ^htaking food, he was strengthened.

Saul Proclaims Jesus in Synagogues

For ⁱsome days he was with the disciples at Damascus. 20 And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, ^j“He is the Son of God.” 21 And all who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who ^kmade havoc ^lin Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?” 22 But Saul ^mincreased all the more in strength, and ⁿconfounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving ^othat Jesus was the Christ.

Saul Escapes from Damascus

23 ^pWhen many days had passed, the Jews¹ plotted to kill him, 24 but their ^qplot became known to Saul. ^rThey were watching the gates day and night in order to kill him, 25 but his disciples took him by night and ^slet him down through an opening in the wall,² lowering him in a basket.

Saul in Jerusalem

26 And ^twhen he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples. And they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple. 27 But ^uBarnabas took him and ^vbrought him to the apostles and declared to them ^whow on the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and ^xhow at Damascus he had ^ypreached boldly in the name of Jesus. 28 So he went ^zin and out among them at Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord. 29 And he spoke and disputed against ^athe Hellenists.³ But ^bthey were seeking to kill him. 30 And when ^cthe brothers learned this, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off ^dto Tarsus.

31 So ^ethe church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And ^fwalking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, ^git multiplied.

The Healing of Aeneas

32 Now ^has Peter went here and there among them all, he came down also to the saints who lived at Lydda. 33 There he found a man named Aeneas, bedridden for eight years, who was paralyzed. 34 And Peter said to him, “Aeneas, ⁱJesus Christ heals you; rise and make your bed.” And immediately he rose. 35 ^jAnd all the residents of Lydda and ^kSharon saw him, and ^lthey turned to the Lord.

Dorcas Restored to Life

36 Now there was in ^mJoppa a disciple named Tabitha, which, translated, means Dorcas.⁴ She was full of ⁿgood works and acts of charity. 37 In those days she became ill and died, and when they had washed her, they laid her in ^oan upper room. 38 Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to him, urging him, ^p“Please come to us without delay.” 39 So Peter rose and went with them. And when he arrived, they took him to ^qthe upper room. All the widows stood beside him weeping and showing tunics⁵ and other garments that Dorcas made while she was with them. 40 But Peter ^rput them all outside, and ^sknelt down and prayed; and turning to the body ^the said, “Tabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up. 41 And he gave her his hand and raised her up. Then, calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive. 42 And it became known throughout all Joppa, and ^umany believed in the Lord. 43 And he stayed in Joppa for many days ^vwith one Simon, a tanner.

The Potter and the Clay

1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Arise, and go down to ^qthe potter’s house, and there I will let you hear¹ my words.” 3 So I went down to ^rthe potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. 4 And the vessel he was making of clay was ^sspoiled in the potter’s hand, and ^the reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do.

5 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 6 “O house of Israel, ^ucan I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the Lord. ^vBehold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. 7 If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will ^wpluck up and break down and destroy it, 8 and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, ^xturns from its evil, ^yI will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. 9 And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will ^wbuild and plant it, 10 and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it. 11 Now, therefore, say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: ‘Thus says the Lord, Behold, I am shaping disaster against you and devising a plan against you. ^zReturn, every one from his evil way, and ^aamend your ways and your deeds.’

12 “But they say, ^b‘That is in vain! We will follow our own plans, and will every one act according to ^cthe stubbornness of his evil heart.’

18 Then they said, ^p“Come, let us make plots against Jeremiah, ^qfor the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. ^rCome, let us strike him with the tongue, and let us not pay attention to any of his words.”

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

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?”