131 That day Jesus went out of the house and was sitting by the sea . 2 And large crowds gathered to Him, so He got into a boat and sat down , and the whole crowd was standing on the beach . 3 And He spoke many things to them in parables , saying , "Behold , the sower went out to sow ; 4 and as he sowed , some seeds fell beside the road , and the birds came and ate them up. 5 "Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil ; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil . 6 "But when the sun had risen , they were scorched ; and because they had no root , they withered away . 7 "Others fell among the thorns , and the thorns came up and choked them out. 8 "And others fell on the good soil and yielded a crop , some a hundredfold , some sixty , and some thirty . 9 " He who has ears , let him hear ."
10 And the disciples came and said to Him, "Why e do You speak to them in parables ?" 11 Jesus answered them, " To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven , but to them it has not been granted . 12 " For whoever has , to him more shall be given , and he will have an abundance ; but whoever does not have , even what he has shall be taken away from him. 13 "Therefore e I speak to them in parables ; because while seeing they do not see , and while hearing they do not hear , nor do they understand . 14 "In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled , which says , ' YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING , BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND ; YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING , BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE ; 15 FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL , WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR , AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES , OTHERWISE THEY WOULD SEE WITH THEIR EYES , HEAR WITH THEIR EARS , AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN , AND I WOULD HEAL THEM.' 16 " But blessed are your eyes , because they see ; and your ears , because they hear . 17 "For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see , and did not see it, and to hear what you hear , and did not hear it.
18 " Hear then the parable of the sower . 19 "When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart . This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road . 20 "The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy ; 21 yet he has no firm root in himself , but is only temporary , and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word , immediately he falls away . 22 "And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns , this is the man who hears the word , and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word , and it becomes unfruitful . 23 "And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil , this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth , some a hundredfold , some sixty , and some thirty ."
24 Jesus presented another parable to them, saying , " The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field . 25 "But while his men were sleeping , his enemy came and sowed tares among e the wheat , and went away . 26 "But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain , then the tares became evident also . 27 "The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, 'Sir , did you not sow good seed in your field ? How then does it have tares ?' 28 "And he said to them, 'An enemy e has done this !' The slaves said to him, 'Do you want us, then , to go and gather them up?' 29 "But he said , 'No ; for while you are gathering up the tares , you may uproot the wheat with them. 30 'Allow both to grow together until the harvest ; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers , "First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn ."' "
31 He presented another parable to them, saying , " The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed , which a man took and sowed in his field ; 32 and this is smaller than all other seeds , but when it is full grown , it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree , so that THE BIRDS OF THE AIR come and NEST IN ITS BRANCHES ."
33 He spoke another parable to them, " The kingdom of heaven is like leaven , which a woman took and hid in three pecks of flour until it was all leavened ."
34 All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables , and He did not speak to them without a parable . 35 This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet : " I WILL OPEN MY MOUTH IN PARABLES ; I WILL UTTER THINGS HIDDEN SINCE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD ."
36 Then He left the crowds and went into the house . And His disciples came to Him and said , " Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field ." 37 And He said , "The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man , 38 and the field is the world ; and as for the good seed , these are the sons of the kingdom ; and the tares are the sons of the evil one; 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil , and the harvest is the end of the age ; and the reapers are angels . 40 "So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire , so shall it be at the end of the age . 41 " The Son of Man will send forth His angels , and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks , and those who commit lawlessness , 42 and will throw them into the furnace of fire ; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth . 43 " Then THE RIGHTEOUS WILL SHINE FORTH AS THE SUN in the kingdom of their Father . He who has ears , let him hear .
44 " The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field , which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field .
45 "Again , the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls , 46 and upon finding one pearl of great value , he went and sold all that he had and bought it.
47 "Again , the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea , and gathering fish of every kind ; 48 and when it was filled , they drew it up on the beach ; and they sat down and gathered the good fish into containers , but the bad they threw away . 49 "So it will be at the end of the age ; the angels will come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous , 50 and will throw them into the furnace of fire ; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth .
51 "Have you understood all these things ?" They said to Him, "Yes ." 52 And Jesus said to them, "Therefore e every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household , who brings out of his treasure things new and old ."
53 When Jesus had finished these parables , He departed from there . 54 He came to His hometown and began teaching them in their synagogue , so that they were astonished , and said , "Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers ? 55 "Is not this the carpenter's son ? Is not His mother called Mary , and His brothers , James and Joseph and Simon and Judas ? 56 "And His sisters , are they not all with us? Where then did this man get all these things ?" 57 And they took offense at Him. But Jesus said to them, " A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household ." 58 And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief .
81 Soon afterwards e , He began going around from one city and village to another , proclaiming and preaching the kingdom of God . The twelve were with Him, 2 and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and sicknesses : Mary who was called Magdalene , from whom seven demons had gone out, 3 and Joanna the wife of Chuza , Herod's steward , and Susanna , and many others who were contributing to their support out of their private means .
4 When a large crowd was coming together , and those from the various cities were journeying to Him, He spoke by way of a parable : 5 "The sower went out to sow his seed ; and as he sowed , some fell beside the road , and it was trampled under foot and the birds of the air ate it up. 6 "Other seed fell on rocky soil, and as soon as it grew up, it withered away , because it had no moisture . 7 "Other seed fell among e the thorns ; and the thorns grew up with it and choked it out. 8 "Other seed fell into the good soil , and grew up, and produced a crop a hundred times as great ." As He said these things , He would call out, " He who has ears to hear , let him hear ." 9 His disciples began questioning Him as to what this parable meant . 10 And He said , " To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God , but to the rest it is in parables , so that SEEING THEY MAY NOT SEE , AND HEARING THEY MAY NOT UNDERSTAND . 11 "Now the parable is this : the seed is the word of God . 12 "Those beside the road are those who have heard ; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart , so that they will not believe and be saved . 13 "Those on the rocky soil are those who , when they hear , receive the word with joy ; and these have no firm root ; they believe for a while , and in time of temptation fall away . 14 "The seed which fell among the thorns , these are the ones who have heard , and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life , and bring no fruit to maturity . 15 "But the seed in the good soil , these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart , and hold it fast , and bear fruit with perseverance .
16 "Now no one after lighting a lamp covers it over with a container , or puts it under a bed ; but he puts it on a lampstand , so that those who come in may see the light . 17 " For nothing is hidden that will not become evident , nor anything secret that will not be known and come to light . 18 "So take care how you listen ; for whoever e has , to him more shall be given ; and whoever e does not have , even what he thinks he has shall be taken away from him."
19 And His mother and brothers came to Him, and they were unable e to get to Him because of the crowd . 20 And it was reported to Him, "Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside , wishing to see You." 21 But He answered and said to them, "My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it."
22 Now on one of those days Jesus and His disciples got into a boat , and He said to them, "Let us go over to the other side of the lake ." So they launched out. 23 But as they were sailing along He fell asleep ; and a fierce gale of wind descended on the lake , and they began to be swamped and to be in danger . 24 They came to Jesus and woke Him up, saying , " Master , Master , we are perishing !" And He got up and rebuked the wind and the surging waves , and they stopped , and it became calm . 25 And He said to them, "Where is your faith ?" They were fearful and amazed , saying to one another , "Who then is this , that He commands even the winds and the water , and they obey Him?"
26 Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes , which is opposite Galilee . 27 And when He came out onto the land , He was met by a man from the city who was possessed with demons ; and who had not put on any clothing for a long time , and was not living in a house , but in the tombs . 28 Seeing Jesus , he cried out and fell before Him, and said in a loud voice , " What business do we have with each other, Jesus , Son of the Most High God ? I beg You, do not torment me." 29 For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man . For it had seized him many times ; and he was bound with chains and shackles and kept under guard , and yet he would break his bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert . 30 And Jesus asked him, "What is your name ?" And he said , " Legion "; for many demons had entered him. 31 They were imploring Him not to command them to go away into the abyss . 32 Now there was a herd of many swine feeding there on the mountain ; and the demons implored Him to permit them to enter the swine. And He gave them permission . 33 And the demons came out of the man and entered the swine ; and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned . 34 When the herdsmen saw what had happened , they ran away and reported it in the city and out in the country . 35 The people went out to see what had happened ; and they came to Jesus , and found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting down at the feet of Jesus , clothed and in his right mind ; and they became frightened . 36 Those who had seen it reported to them how the man who was demon-possessed had been made well . 37 And all the people of the country of the Gerasenes and the surrounding district asked Him to leave them, for they were gripped with great fear ; and He got into a boat and returned . 38 But the man from whom the demons had gone out was begging Him that he might accompany e Him; but He sent him away , saying , 39 "Return to your house and describe what great things God has done for you." So he went away , proclaiming throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.
40 And as Jesus returned , the people welcomed Him, for they had all been waiting for Him. 41 And there came a man named Jairus , and he was an official of the synagogue ; and he fell at Jesus' feet , and began to implore Him to come to his house ; 42 for he had an only daughter , about twelve years old, and she was dying . But as He went , the crowds were pressing against Him. 43 And a woman who had a hemorrhage e for twelve years , and could not be healed by anyone , 44 came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak , and immediately her hemorrhage e stopped . 45 And Jesus said , "Who is the one who touched Me?" And while they were all denying it, Peter said , " Master , the people are crowding and pressing in on You." 46 But Jesus said , "Someone did touch Me, for I was aware that power had gone out of Me." 47 When the woman saw that she had not escaped notice , she came trembling and fell down before Him, and declared in the presence of all the people the reason why e she had touched Him, and how she had been immediately healed . 48 And He said to her, "Daughter , your faith has made you well ; go in peace ." 49 While He was still speaking , someone came from the house of the synagogue official , saying , "Your daughter has died ; do not trouble the Teacher anymore ." 50 But when Jesus heard this, He answered him, " Do not be afraid any longer; only believe , and she will be made well ." 51 When He came to the house , He did not allow anyone to enter with Him, except Peter and John and James , and the girl's father and mother . 52 Now they were all weeping and lamenting for her; but He said , "Stop weeping , for she has not died , but is asleep ." 53 And they began laughing at Him, knowing that she had died . 54 He, however , took her by the hand and called , saying , "Child , arise !" 55 And her spirit returned , and she got up immediately ; and He gave orders for something to be given her to eat . 56 Her parents were amazed ; but He instructed them to tell no one what had happened .
