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God Pleads with Israel to Repent

2The word of the Lord came to me, saying: ²Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem, Thus says the Lord:
I remember the devotion of your youth,
   your love as a bride,
how you followed me in the wilderness,
   in a land not sown.
³ Israel was holy to the Lord,
   the first fruits of his harvest.
All who ate of it were held guilty;
   disaster came upon them,

says the Lord.

⁷ I brought you into a plentiful land
   to eat its fruits and its good things.
But when you entered you defiled my land,
   and made my heritage an abomination.
⁸ The priests did not say, ‘Where is the Lord?’
   Those who handle the law did not know me;
the rulers^* transgressed against me;
   the prophets prophesied by Baal,
   and went after things that do not profit.

¹² Be appalled, O heavens, at this,
   be shocked, be utterly desolate,

says the Lord,
¹³ for my people have committed two evils:
   they have forsaken me,
the fountain of living water,
   and dug out cisterns for themselves,
cracked cisterns
   that can hold no water.

Psalm 36

Human Wickedness and Divine Goodness

To the leader. Of David, the servant of the Lord.
¹ Transgression speaks to the wicked
   deep in their hearts;
there is no fear of God
   before their eyes.
⁶ Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,
   your judgements are like the great deep;
   you save humans and animals alike, O Lord.

⁷ How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
   All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
⁸ They feast on the abundance of your house,
   and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
⁹ For with you is the fountain of life;
   in your light we see light.

¹⁰ O continue your steadfast love to those who know you,
   and your salvation to the upright of heart!
¹¹ Do not let the foot of the arrogant tread on me,
   or the hand of the wicked drive me away.

The Purpose of the Parables

10 Then the disciples came and asked him, ‘Why do you speak to them in parables?’ ¹¹He answered, ‘To you it has been given to know the secrets^* of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. ¹²For to those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. ¹³The reason I speak to them in parables is that “seeing they do not perceive, and hearing they do not listen, nor do they understand.” ¹⁴With them indeed is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah that says:
“You will indeed listen, but never understand,
   and you will indeed look, but never perceive.
¹⁵ For this people’s heart has grown dull,
   and their ears are hard of hearing,
     and they have shut their eyes;
     so that they might not look with their eyes,
   and listen with their ears,
and understand with their heart and turn—
   and I would heal them.”
¹⁶But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. ¹⁷Truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.