4Again Jesus began to teach by the Sea of Galilee. The crowd that gathered around him was very large. So he got into a boat. He sat down in it out on the lake. All the people were along the shore at the water’s edge. ²He taught them many things by using stories.

In his teaching he said, ³“Listen! A farmer went out to plant his seed. ⁴He scattered the seed on the ground. Some fell on a path. Birds came and ate it up. ⁵Some seed fell on rocky places, where there wasn’t much soil. The plants came up quickly, because the soil wasn’t deep. ⁶When the sun came up, it burned the plants. They dried up because they had no roots. ⁷Other seed fell among thorns. The thorns grew up and crowded out the plants. So the plants did not bear grain. ⁸Still other seed fell on good soil. It grew up and produced a crop 30, 60, or even 100 times more than the farmer planted.”

⁹Then Jesus said, “Those who have ears should listen.”

¹⁰Later Jesus was alone. The Twelve asked him about the stories. So did the others around him. ¹¹He told them, “The secret of God’s kingdom has been given to you. But to outsiders everything is told by using stories. ¹²In that way,

“ ‘They will see but never know what they are seeing.

They will hear but never understand.

Otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!’ ”

¹³Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this story? Then how will you understand any stories of this kind? ¹⁴The seed the farmer plants is God’s message. ¹⁵What is seed scattered on a path like? The message is planted. The people hear the message. Then Satan comes. He takes away the message that was planted in them. ¹⁶And what is seed scattered on rocky places like? The people hear the message. At once they receive it with joy. ¹⁷But they have no roots. So they last only a short time. They quickly fall away from the faith when trouble or suffering comes because of the message. ¹⁸And what is seed scattered among thorns like? The people hear the message. ¹⁹But then the worries of this life come to them. Wealth comes with its false promises. The people also long for other things. All of those are the kinds of things that crowd out the message. They keep it from producing fruit. ²⁰And what is seed scattered on good soil like? The people hear the message. They accept it. They produce a good crop 30, 60, or even 100 times more than the farmer planted.”

A Lamp on a Stand

²¹Jesus said to them, “Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a large bowl or a bed? Don’t you put it on its stand? ²²What is hidden is meant to be seen. And what is put out of sight is meant to be brought out into the open. ²³Everyone who has ears should listen.”

²⁴“Think carefully about what you hear,” he said. “As you give, so you will receive. In fact, you will receive even more. ²⁵If you have something, you will be given more. If you have nothing, even what you have will be taken away from you.”

The Story of the Growing Seed

²⁶Jesus also said, “Here is what God’s kingdom is like. A farmer scatters seed on the ground. ²⁷Night and day the seed comes up and grows. It happens whether the farmer sleeps or gets up. He doesn’t know how it happens. ²⁸All by itself the soil produces grain. First the stalk comes up. Then the head appears. Finally, the full grain appears in the head. ²⁹Before long the grain ripens. So the farmer cuts it down, because the harvest is ready.”

The Story of the Mustard Seed

³⁰Again Jesus said, “What can we say God’s kingdom is like? What story can we use to explain it? ³¹It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed planted in the ground. ³²But when you plant the seed, it grows. It becomes the largest of all garden plants. Its branches are so big that birds can rest in its shade.”

³³Using many stories like those, Jesus spoke the word to them. He told them as much as they could understand. ³⁴He did not say anything to them without using a story. But when he was alone with his disciples, he explained everything.

Jesus Calms the Storm

³⁵When evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s go over to the other side of the lake.” ³⁶They left the crowd behind. And they took him along in a boat, just as he was. There were also other boats with him.

³⁷A wild storm came up. Waves crashed over the boat. It was about to sink. ³⁸Jesus was in the back, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him up. They said, “Teacher! Don’t you care if we drown?”

³⁹He got up and ordered the wind to stop. He said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down. And it was completely calm.

⁴⁰He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Don’t you have any faith at all yet?”

⁴¹They were terrified. They asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

Jesus Heals a Man Controlled by Demons

5They went across the Sea of Galilee to the area of the Gerasenes. ²Jesus got out of the boat. A man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet him. ³The man lived in the tombs. No one could keep him tied up anymore. Not even a chain could hold him. ⁴His hands and feet had often been chained. But he tore the chains apart. And he broke the iron cuffs on his ankles. No one was strong enough to control him. ⁵Night and day he screamed among the tombs and in the hills. He cut himself with stones.

⁶When he saw Jesus a long way off, he ran to him. He fell on his knees in front of him. ⁷He shouted at the top of his voice, “Jesus, Son of the Most High God, what do you want with me? Promise before God that you won’t hurt me!” ⁸This was because Jesus had said to him, “Come out of this man, you evil spirit!”

⁹Then Jesus asked the demon, “What is your name?”

“My name is Legion,” he replied. “There are many of us.” ¹⁰And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area.

¹¹A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. ¹²The demons begged Jesus, “Send us among the pigs. Let us go into them.” ¹³Jesus allowed it. The evil spirits came out of the man and went into the pigs. There were about 2,000 pigs in the herd. The whole herd rushed down the steep bank. They ran into the lake and drowned.

¹⁴Those who were tending the pigs ran off. They told the people in the town and countryside what had happened. The people went out to see for themselves.

¹⁵Then they came to Jesus. They saw the man who had been controlled by many demons. He was sitting there. He was now dressed and thinking clearly. All this made the people afraid. ¹⁶Those who had seen it told them what had happened to the man. They told about the pigs as well. ¹⁷Then the people began to beg Jesus to leave their area.

¹⁸Jesus was getting into the boat. The man who had been controlled by demons begged to go with him. ¹⁹Jesus did not let him. He said, “Go home to your family. Tell them how much the Lord has done for you. Tell them how kind he has been to you.”

²⁰So the man went away. In the area known as the Ten Cities, he began to tell how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.

A Dying Girl and a Suffering Woman

²¹Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee in a boat. It landed at the other side. There a large crowd gathered around him. ²²Then a man named Jairus came. He was a synagogue ruler. Seeing Jesus, he fell at his feet. ²³He begged Jesus, “Please come. My little daughter is dying. Place your hands on her to heal her. Then she will live.” ²⁴So Jesus went with him.

A large group of people followed. They crowded around him. ²⁵A woman was there who had a sickness that made her bleed. It had lasted for 12 years. ²⁶She had suffered a great deal, even though she had gone to many doctors. She had spent all the money she had. But she was getting worse, not better. ²⁷Then she heard about Jesus. She came up behind him in the crowd and touched his clothes. ²⁸She thought, “I just need to touch his clothes. Then I will be healed.” ²⁹Right away her bleeding stopped. She felt in her body that her suffering was over.

³⁰At once Jesus knew that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd. He asked, “Who touched my clothes?”

³¹“You see the people,” his disciples answered. “They are crowding against you. And you still ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ”

³²But Jesus kept looking around. He wanted to see who had touched him.

³³Then the woman came and fell at his feet. She knew what had happened to her. She was shaking with fear. But she told him the whole truth.

³⁴He said to her, “Dear woman, your faith has healed you. Go in peace. You are free from your suffering.”

³⁵While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus. He was the synagogue ruler. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher anymore?”

³⁶But Jesus didn’t listen to them. He told the synagogue ruler, “Don’t be afraid. Just believe.”

³⁷He let only Peter, James, and John, the brother of James, follow him. ³⁸They came to the home of the synagogue ruler. There Jesus saw a lot of confusion. People were crying and sobbing loudly. ³⁹He went inside. Then he said to them, “Why all this confusion and sobbing? The child is not dead. She is only sleeping.” ⁴⁰But they laughed at him.

He made them all go outside. He took only the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him. And he went in where the child was. ⁴¹He took her by the hand. Then he said to her, “Talitha koum!” This means, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!” ⁴²The girl was 12 years old. Right away she stood up and walked around. They were totally amazed at this. ⁴³Jesus gave strict orders not to let anyone know what had happened. And he told them to give her something to eat.

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