^44:24  Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer,
          who formed you in the womb:
     I am the LORD, who made all things,
          who alone stretched out the heavens,
          who by myself spread out the earth;
²⁵  who frustrates the omens of liars,
          and makes fools of diviners;
     who turns back the wise,
          and makes their knowledge foolish;
²⁶  who confirms the word of his servant,
          and fulfills the prediction of his messengers;
     who says of Jerusalem, “It shall be inhabited,”
          and of the cities of Judah, “They shall be rebuilt,
          and I will raise up their ruins”;
²⁷  who says to the deep, “Be dry —
          I will dry up your rivers”;
²⁸  who says of Cyrus, “He is my shepherd,
          and he shall carry out all my purpose”;
     and who says of Jerusalem, “It shall be rebuilt,”
          and of the temple, “Your foundation shall be laid.”

^45:1  Thus says the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus,
          whose right hand I have grasped
     to subdue nations before him
          and strip kings of their robes,
     to open doors before him —
          and the gates shall not be closed:
²   I will go before you
          and level the mountains,
     I will break in pieces the doors of bronze
          and cut through the bars of iron,
³   I will give you the treasures of darkness
          and riches hidden in secret places,
     so that you may know that it is I, the LORD,
          the God of Israel, who call you by your name.
⁴   For the sake of my servant Jacob,
          and Israel my chosen,
     I call you by your name,
          I surname you, though you do not know me.
⁵   I am the LORD, and there is no other;
          besides me there is no god.
          I arm you, though you do not know me,
⁶   so that they may know, from the rising of the sun
          and from the west, that there is no one besides me;
          I am the LORD, and there is no other.
⁷   I form light and create darkness,
          I make weal and create woe;
          I the LORD do all these things.

¹Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, ²and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

³But fornication and impurity of any kind, or greed, must not even be mentioned among you, as is proper among saints. ⁴Entirely out of place is obscene, silly, and vulgar talk; but instead, let there be thanksgiving. ⁵Be sure of this, that no fornicator or impure person, or one who is greedy (that is, an idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

⁶Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes on those who are disobedient. ⁷Therefore do not be associated with them. ⁸For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light — ⁹for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true. ¹⁰Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord. ¹¹Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. ¹²For it is shameful even to mention what such people do secretly; ¹³but everything exposed by the light becomes visible, ¹⁴for everything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,
     “Sleeper, awake!
          Rise from the dead,
     and Christ will shine on you.”

¹Again he began to teach beside the sea. Such a very large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat on the sea and sat there, while the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. ²He began to teach them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: ³“Listen! A sower went out to sow. ⁴And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up. ⁵Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up quickly, since it had no depth of soil. ⁶And when the sun rose, it was scorched; and since it had no root, it withered away. ⁷Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. ⁸Other seed fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.” ⁹And he said, “Let anyone with ears to hear listen!”

¹⁰When he was alone, those who were around him along with the twelve asked him about the parables. ¹¹And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside, everything comes in parables; ¹²in order that
     ‘they may indeed look, but not perceive,
          and may indeed listen, but not understand;
     so that they may not turn again and be forgiven.’”

¹³And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand all the parables? ¹⁴The sower sows the word. ¹⁵These are the ones on 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: when they hear the word, they immediately receive it with joy. ¹⁷But they have no root, and endure only for a while; then, when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. ¹⁸And others are those sown among the thorns: these are the ones who hear the word, ¹⁹but the cares of the world, and the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it yields nothing. ²⁰And these are the ones sown on the good soil: they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.”