"In the time of Noah I promised never again to flood the earth. Now I promise not to be angry with you again; I will not reprimand or punish you.

My teaching will fall like drops of rain and form on the earth like dew. My words will fall like showers on young plants, like gentle rain on tender grass.

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

"This is what the parable means: the seed is the word of God.

The seeds that fell on rocky ground stand for those who hear the message and receive it gladly. But it does not sink deep into them; they believe only for a while but when the time of testing comes, they fall away.

The seeds that fell in good soil stand for those who hear the message and retain it in a good and obedient heart, and they persist until they bear fruit.

What gives life is God's Spirit; human power is of no use at all. The words I have spoken to you bring God's life-giving Spirit.

So then, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message comes through preaching Christ.

For the message about Christ's death on the cross is nonsense to those who are being lost; but for us who are being saved it is God's power.

I planted the seed, Apollos watered the plant, but it was God who made the plant grow.

There is no difference between the one who plants and the one who waters; God will reward each one according to the work each has done.

And there is another reason why we always give thanks to God. When we brought you God's message, you heard it and accepted it, not as a message from human beings but as God's message, which indeed it is. For God is at work in you who believe.

God blesses the soil which drinks in the rain that often falls on it and which grows plants that are useful to those for whom it is cultivated.

By his own will he brought us into being through the word of truth, so that we should have first place among all his creatures.

For through the living and eternal word of God you have been born again as the children of a parent who is immortal, not mortal.

But when my servant makes a prediction, when I send a messenger to reveal my plans, I make those plans and predictions come true. I tell Jerusalem that people will live there again, and the cities of Judah that they will be rebuilt. Those cities will rise from the ruins.

I say to Cyrus, 'You are the one who will rule for me; you will do what I want you to do: you will order that Jerusalem be rebuilt and that the foundations of the Temple be laid.' "

My promise is true, and it will not be changed. I solemnly promise by all that I am: Everyone will come and kneel before me and vow to be loyal to me.

From the beginning I predicted the outcome; long ago I foretold what would happen. I said that my plans would never fail, that I would do everything I intended to do.

God did what he had purposed, and made known to us the secret plan he had already decided to complete by means of Christ.

All things are done according to God's plan and decision; and God chose us to be his own people in union with Christ because of his own purpose, based on what he had decided from the very beginning.