Apostles Silas, Silvanus, Crescens, Epenetus, and Andronicus of the Seventy; Hieromartyr Polychronius, Bishop of Babylon, and those with him (251); Venerable Angelina, Princess of Albania.

But Paul and Barnabas stayed in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also.

³⁶After some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let’s return now and visit our brothers in every city in which we proclaimed the word of the Lord, to see how they are doing.” ³⁷Barnabas planned to take John, who was called Mark, with them also. ³⁸But Paul didn’t think that it was a good idea to take with them someone who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia, and didn’t go with them to do the work. ³⁹Then the contention grew so sharp that they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus, ⁴⁰but Paul chose Silas and went out, being commended by the brothers to the grace of God. ⁴¹He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the assemblies.

The disciples came, and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?”

¹¹He answered them, “To you it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but it is not given to them. ¹²For whoever has, to him will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever doesn’t have, from him will be taken away even that which he has. ¹³Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they don’t see, and hearing, they don’t hear, neither do they understand. ¹⁴In them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says, ‘By hearing you will hear, and will in no way understand; Seeing you will see, and will in no way perceive; ¹⁵for this people’s heart has grown callous, their ears are dull of hearing, and they have closed their eyes; or else perhaps they might perceive with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and would turn again, and I would heal them.’

¹⁶“But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear. ¹⁷For most certainly I tell you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see the things which you see, and didn’t see them; and to hear the things which you hear, and didn’t hear them.

¹⁸“Hear, then, the parable of the farmer. ¹⁹When anyone hears the word of the Kingdom and doesn’t understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away that which has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown by the roadside. ²⁰What was sown on the rocky places, this is he who hears the word and immediately with joy receives it; ²¹yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while. When oppression or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. ²²What was sown among the thorns, this is he who hears the word, but the cares of this age and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. ²³What was sown on the good ground, this is he who hears the word and understands it, who most certainly bears fruit and produces, some one hundred times as much, some sixty, and some thirty.” ⁴³Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.