The Song of Deborah and Barak

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

²“That the leaders took the lead in Israel,

that wthe people offered themselves willingly,

bless the Lord!

³“Hear, O kings; give ear, O princes;

to the Lord I will sing;

I will make melody to the Lord, the God of Israel.

⁴“Lord, xwhen you went out from Seir,

when you marched from the region of Edom,

ythe earth trembled

and the heavens dropped,

yes, the clouds dropped water.

⁵The mountains zquaked before the Lord,

aeven Sinai before the Lord,1 the God of Israel.

⁶“In the days of bShamgar, son of Anath,

in the days of cJael, dthe highways were abandoned,

and travelers kept to the byways.

⁷The villagers ceased in Israel;

they ceased to be until I arose;

I, Deborah, arose as a mother in Israel.

⁸eWhen new gods were chosen,

then war was in the gates.

fWas shield or spear to be seen

among forty thousand in Israel?

⁹My heart goes out to the commanders of Israel

who goffered themselves willingly among the people.

Bless the Lord.

¹⁰“Tell of it, hyou who ride on white donkeys,

you who sit on rich carpets2

and you who walk by the way.

¹¹To the sound of musicians3 at the watering places,

there they repeat the righteous triumphs of the Lord,

the righteous triumphs of his villagers in Israel.

“Then down to the gates marched the people of the Lord.

¹²i“Awake, awake, Deborah!

Awake, awake, break out in a song!

Arise, Barak, jlead away your captives,

O son of Abinoam.

¹³Then down marched the remnant of the noble;

the people of the Lord marched down for me against the mighty.

¹⁴From kEphraim their root lthey marched down into the valley,4

following you, Benjamin, with your kinsmen;

from mMachir marched down the commanders,

and from Zebulun those who bear the lieutenant's5 staff;

¹⁵the princes of Issachar came with Deborah,

and Issachar faithful to nBarak;

into the valley they rushed at his heels.

Among the clans of Reuben

there were great searchings of heart.

¹⁶Why did you sit still oamong the sheepfolds,

to hear the whistling for the flocks?

Among the clans of Reuben

there were great searchings of heart.

¹⁷pGilead stayed beyond the Jordan;

qand Dan, why did he stay with the ships?

rAsher sat still sat the coast of the sea,

staying by his landings.

¹⁸tZebulun is a people who risked their lives to the death;

tNaphtali, too, on the heights of the field.

¹⁹“The kings came, they fought;

then fought the kings of Canaan,

at uTaanach, by the waters of vMegiddo;

wthey got no spoils of silver.

²⁰xFrom heaven the stars fought,

from their courses they fought against Sisera.

²¹yThe torrent Kishon swept them away,

the ancient torrent, the torrent Kishon.

March on, my soul, with might!

²²“Then loud beat the horses' hoofs

with the galloping, galloping of his steeds.

²³“Curse Meroz, says the angel of the Lord,

curse its inhabitants thoroughly,

zbecause they did not come to the help of the Lord,

to the help of the Lord against the mighty.

²⁴“Most blessed of women be aJael,

the wife of Heber the Kenite,

of tent-dwelling women most blessed.

²⁵bHe asked for water and she gave him milk;

she brought him curds in a noble's bowl.

²⁶cShe sent her hand to the tent peg

and her right hand to the workmen's mallet;

she struck Sisera;

she crushed his head;

she shattered and pierced his temple.

²⁷Between her feet

he sank, he fell, he lay still;

between her feet

he sank, he fell;

where he sank,

there he fell—dead.

²⁸d“Out of the window she peered,

the mother of Sisera wailed through ethe lattice:

‘Why is his chariot so long in coming?

Why tarry the hoofbeats of his chariots?’

²⁹Her wisest princesses answer,

indeed, she answers herself,

³⁰‘Have they not found and fdivided the spoil?—

A womb or two for every man;

spoil of dyed materials for Sisera,

spoil of dyed materials embroidered,

two pieces of dyed work embroidered for the neck as spoil?’

³¹g“So may all your enemies perish, O Lord!

But your friends be hlike the sun ias he rises in his might.”

jAnd the land had rest for forty years.

The Conversion of Saul

¹But Saul, bstill cbreathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to dthe high priest ²and 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. ³gNow as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. ⁴And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting hme?” ⁵And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, hwhom you are persecuting. ⁶But irise and enter the city, and you will be told jwhat you are to do.” ⁷kThe men who were traveling with him stood speechless, lhearing the voice but seeing no one. ⁸Saul 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. ⁹And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

¹⁰Now 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.” ¹¹And 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, ¹²and 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.” ¹³But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, rhow much evil he has done to syour tsaints at Jerusalem. ¹⁴And here he has authority from uthe chief priests to bind all who vcall on your name.” ¹⁵But 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. ¹⁶For zI will show him how much ahe must suffer bfor the sake of my name.” ¹⁷So 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.” ¹⁸And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and fhe regained his sight. Then ghe rose and was baptized; ¹⁹and htaking food, he was strengthened.

Saul Proclaims Jesus in Synagogues

For isome days he was with the disciples at Damascus. ²⁰And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, j“He is the Son of God.” ²¹And 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?” ²²But 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

²³pWhen many days had passed, the Jews1 plotted to kill him, ²⁴but their qplot became known to Saul. rThey were watching the gates day and night in order to kill him, ²⁵but 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

²⁶And 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. ²⁷But 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. ²⁸So he went zin and out among them at Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord. ²⁹And he spoke and disputed against athe Hellenists.3 But bthey were seeking to kill him. ³⁰And when cthe brothers learned this, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off dto Tarsus.

³¹So 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

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

Dorcas Restored to Life

³⁶Now there was in mJoppa a disciple named Tabitha, which, translated, means Dorcas.4 She was full of ngood works and acts of charity. ³⁷In those days she became ill and died, and when they had washed her, they laid her in oan upper room. ³⁸Since 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.” ³⁹So 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. ⁴⁰But 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. ⁴¹And he gave her his hand and raised her up. Then, calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive. ⁴²And it became known throughout all Joppa, and umany believed in the Lord. ⁴³And he stayed in Joppa for many days vwith one Simon, a tanner.

The Potter and the Clay

¹The 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.” ³So I went down to rthe potter's house, and there he was working at his wheel. ⁴And 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.

⁵Then 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. ⁷If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will wpluck up and break down and destroy it, ⁸and 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. ⁹And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will wbuild and plant it, ¹⁰and 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. ¹¹Now, 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.’

¹³“Therefore thus says the Lord:

dAsk among the nations,

Who has heard the like of this?

The virgin Israel

has done ea very horrible thing.

¹⁴Does the snow of Lebanon leave

the crags of Sirion?2

Do the mountain waters run dry,3

the cold flowing streams?

¹⁵fBut my people have forgotten me;

they make offerings to gfalse gods;

they made them stumble in their ways,

hin the ancient roads,

and to walk into side roads,

inot the highway,

¹⁶making their land ja horror,

a thing jto be hissed at forever.

kEveryone who passes by it is horrified

land shakes his head.

¹⁷mLike the east wind nI will scatter them

before the enemy.

oI will show them my back, not my face,

in the day of their calamity.”

¹⁸Then 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.”

¹⁹Hear me, O Lord,

and slisten to the voice of my adversaries.

²⁰tShould good be repaid with evil?

Yet uthey have dug a pit for my life.

vRemember how I stood before you

to speak good for them,

to turn away your wrath from them.

²¹Therefore wdeliver up their children to famine;

give them over to the power of the sword;

let their wives become childless xand widowed.

May their men meet death by pestilence,

their youths be struck down by the sword in battle.

²²yMay a cry be heard from their houses,

when you bring the plunderer suddenly upon them!

For uthey have dug a pit to take me

zand laid snares for my feet.

²³Yet ayou, O Lord, know

all their plotting to kill me.

bForgive not their iniquity,

nor blot out their sin from your sight.

Let them be overthrown before you;

deal with them in the time of your anger.

The Parable of the Sower

¹Again 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. ²And xhe was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: ³“Listen! Behold, ya sower went out to sow. ⁴And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. ⁵Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. ⁶And zwhen the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, ait withered away. ⁷Other seed fell among bthorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. ⁸And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and ca hundredfold.” ⁹And he said, d“He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

The Purpose of the Parables

¹⁰And ewhen he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. ¹¹And 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, ¹²iso that

“‘they jmay indeed see but not perceive,

and may indeed hear but not understand,

lest they kshould turn and be forgiven.’”

¹³lAnd he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? ¹⁴mThe sower sows nthe word. ¹⁵And 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. ¹⁶And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it owith joy. ¹⁷And 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 ¹⁸And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, ¹⁹but 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. ²⁰But 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

²¹wAnd 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? ²²yFor nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light. ²³zIf anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” ²⁴And 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. ²⁵bFor 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

²⁶And he said, c“The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. ²⁷He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; dhe knows not how. ²⁸The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. ²⁹But when the grain is ripe, at once ehe puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

³⁰fAnd he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? ³¹It is like ga grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, ³²yet 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.”

³³hWith many such parables he spoke ithe word to them, jas they were able to hear it. ³⁴He did not speak to them kwithout a parable, but lprivately to his own disciples he mexplained everything.

Jesus Calms a Storm

³⁵nOn that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” ³⁶And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. ³⁷And a great windstorm arose, and the waves owere breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. ³⁸But 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?” ³⁹And he awoke and prebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and qthere was a great calm. ⁴⁰He said to them, “Why are you rso afraid? Have you still no faith?” ⁴¹And 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?”