Matthew 8:14-34; Mark 4; Mark 5

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Matthew 8:14-34

14 When Jesus went to Peter's house, he saw Peter's mother-in-law in bed with a fever.
15 Jesus touched her hand, and the fever went away. So she got up and prepared a meal for him.
16 In the evening the people brought him many who were possessed by demons. He forced the [evil] spirits out of people with a command and cured everyone who was sick.
17 So what the prophet Isaiah had said came true: "He took away our weaknesses and removed our diseases."
18 Now, when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he ordered [his disciples] to cross to the other side of the Sea of Galilee.
19 A scribe came to him and said, "Teacher, I'll follow you wherever you go."
20 Jesus told him, "Foxes have holes, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to sleep."
21 Another disciple said to him, "Sir, first let me go to bury my father."
22 But Jesus told him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead."
23 Jesus' disciples went with him as he left in a boat.
24 Suddenly, a severe storm came across the sea. The waves were covering the boat. Yet, Jesus was sleeping.
25 So they woke him up, saying, "Lord! Save us! We're going to die!"
26 Jesus said to them, "Why do you cowards have so little faith?" Then he got up, gave an order to the wind and the sea, and the sea became very calm.
27 The men were amazed and asked, "What kind of man is this? Even the wind and the sea obey him!"
28 When he arrived in the territory of the Gadarenes on the other side [of the Sea of Galilee], two men met him. They were possessed by demons and had come out of the tombs. No one could travel along that road because the men were so dangerous.
29 They shouted, "Why are you bothering us now, Son of God? Did you come here to torture us before it is time?"
30 A large herd of pigs was feeding in the distance.
31 The demons begged Jesus, "If you're going to force us out, send us into that herd of pigs."
32 Jesus said to them, "Go!" The demons came out and went into the pigs. Suddenly, the whole herd rushed down the cliff into the sea and died in the water.
33 Those who took care of the pigs ran into the city. There they reported everything, especially about the men possessed by demons.
34 Everyone from the city went to meet Jesus. When they saw him, they begged him to leave their territory.
GOD'S WORD® is a copyrighted work of God's Word to the Nations. Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Mark 4

1 Jesus began to teach again by the Sea of Galilee. A very large crowd gathered around him, so he got into a boat and sat in it. The boat was in the water while the entire crowd lined the shore.
2 He used stories as illustrations to teach them many things. While he was teaching them, he said,
3 "Listen! A farmer went to plant seed.
4 Some seeds were planted along the road, and birds came and devoured them.
5 Other seeds were planted on rocky ground, where there wasn't much soil. The plants sprouted quickly because the soil wasn't deep.
6 When the sun came up, they were scorched. They didn't have any roots, so they withered.
7 Other seeds were planted among thornbushes. The thornbushes grew up and choked them, and they didn't produce anything.
8 But other seeds were planted on good ground, sprouted, and produced thirty, sixty, or one hundred times as much as was planted."
9 He added, "Let the person who has ears listen!"
10 When he was alone with his followers and the twelve apostles, they asked him about the stories.
11 Jesus replied to them, "The mystery about the kingdom of God has been given [directly] to you. To those on the outside, it is given in stories:
12 'They see clearly but don't perceive. They hear clearly but don't understand. They never return to me and are never forgiven.'"
13 Jesus asked them, "Don't you understand this story? How, then, will you understand any of the stories I use as illustrations?
14 "The farmer plants the word.
15 Some people are like seeds that were planted along the road. Whenever they hear the word, Satan comes at once and takes away the word that was planted in them.
16 Other people are like seeds that were planted on rocky ground. Whenever they hear the word, they accept it at once with joy.
17 But they don't develop any roots. They last for a short time. When suffering or persecution comes along because of the word, they immediately fall [from faith].
18 Other people are like seeds planted among thornbushes. They hear the word,
19 but the worries of life, the deceitful pleasures of riches, and the desires for other things take over. They choke the word so that it can't produce anything.
20 Others are like seeds planted on good ground. They hear the word, accept it, and produce crops--thirty, sixty, or one hundred times as much as was planted."
21 Jesus said to them, "Does anyone bring a lamp into a room to put it under a basket or under a bed? Isn't it put on a lamp stand?
22 There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed. There is nothing kept secret that will not come to light.
23 Let the person who has ears listen!"
24 He went on to say, "Pay attention to what you're listening to! [Knowledge] will be measured out to you by the measure [of attention] you give. This is the way knowledge increases.
25 Those who understand [these mysteries] will be given [more knowledge]. However, some people don't understand [these mysteries]. Even what they understand will be taken away from them."
26 Jesus said, "The kingdom of God is like a man who scatters seeds on the ground.
27 He sleeps at night and is awake during the day. The seeds sprout and grow, although the man doesn't know how.
28 The ground produces grain by itself. First the green blade appears, then the head, then the head full of grain.
29 As soon as the grain is ready, he cuts it with a sickle, because harvest time has come."
30 Jesus asked, "How can we show what the kingdom of God is like? To what can we compare it?
31 It's like a mustard seed planted in the ground. The mustard seed is one of the smallest seeds on earth.
32 However, when planted, it comes up and becomes taller than all the garden plants. It grows such large branches that birds can nest in its shade."
33 Jesus spoke [God's] word to them using many illustrations like these. In this way people could understand what he taught.
34 He did not speak to them without using an illustration. But when he was alone with his disciples, he explained everything to them.
35 That evening, Jesus said to his disciples, "Let's cross to the other side."
36 Leaving the crowd, they took Jesus along in a boat just as he was. Other boats were with him.
37 A violent windstorm came up. The waves were breaking into the boat so that it was quickly filling up.
38 But he was sleeping on a cushion in the back of the boat. So they woke him up and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care that we're going to die?"
39 Then he got up, ordered the wind to stop, and said to the sea, "Be still, absolutely still!" The wind stopped blowing, and the sea became very calm.
40 He asked them, "Why are you such cowards? Don't you have any faith yet?"
41 They were overcome with fear and asked each other, "Who is this man? Even the wind and the sea obey him!"
GOD'S WORD® is a copyrighted work of God's Word to the Nations. Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Mark 5

1 They arrived in the territory of the Gerasenes on the other side of the Sea of Galilee.
2 As Jesus stepped out of the boat, a man came out of the tombs and met him. The man was controlled by an evil spirit
3 and lived among the tombs. No one could restrain him any longer, not even with a chain.
4 He had often been chained hand and foot. However, he snapped the chains off his hands and broke the chains from his feet. No one could control him.
5 Night and day he was among the tombs and on the mountainsides screaming and cutting himself with stones.
6 The man saw Jesus at a distance. So he ran [to Jesus], bowed down in front of him,
7 and shouted, "Why are you bothering me now, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won't torture me."
8 He shouted this because Jesus said, "You evil spirit, come out of the man."
9 Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" He told Jesus, "My name is Legion [Six Thousand], because there are many of us."
10 He begged Jesus not to send them out of the territory.
11 A large herd of pigs was feeding on a mountainside nearby.
12 The demons begged him, "Send us into the pigs! Let us enter them!"
13 Jesus let them do this. The evil spirits came out of the man and went into the pigs. The herd of about two thousand pigs rushed down the cliff into the sea and drowned.
14 Those who took care of the pigs ran away. In the city and countryside they reported everything that had happened. So the people came to see what had happened.
15 They came to Jesus and saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons. The man was sitting there dressed and in his right mind. The people were frightened.
16 Those who saw this told what had happened to the demon-possessed man and the pigs.
17 Then the people began to beg Jesus to leave their territory.
18 As Jesus stepped into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged him, "Let me stay with you."
19 But Jesus would not allow it. Instead, he told the man, "Go home to your family, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how merciful he has been to you."
20 So the man left. He began to tell how much Jesus had done for him in the Ten Cities. Everyone was amazed.
21 Jesus again crossed to the other side of the Sea of Galilee in a boat. A large crowd gathered around him by the seashore.
22 A synagogue leader named Jairus also arrived. When he saw Jesus, he quickly bowed down in front of him.
23 He begged Jesus, "My little daughter is dying. Come, lay your hands on her so that she may get well and live."
24 Jesus went with the man. A huge crowd followed Jesus and pressed him on every side.
25 In the crowd was a woman who had been suffering from chronic bleeding for twelve years.
26 Although she had been under the care of many doctors and had spent all her money, she had not been helped at all. Actually, she had become worse.
27 Since she had heard about Jesus, she came from behind in the crowd and touched his clothes.
28 She said, "If I can just touch his clothes, I'll get well."
29 Her bleeding stopped immediately. She felt cured from her illness.
30 At that moment Jesus felt power had gone out of him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who touched my clothes?"
31 His disciples said to him, "How can you ask, 'Who touched me,' when you see the crowd pressing you on all sides?"
32 But he kept looking around to see the woman who had done this.
33 The woman trembled with fear. She knew what had happened to her. So she quickly bowed in front of him and told him the whole truth.
34 Jesus told her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace! Be cured from your illness."
35 While Jesus was still speaking to her, some people came from the synagogue leader's home. They told the synagogue leader, "Your daughter has died. Why bother the teacher anymore?"
36 When Jesus overheard what they said, he told the synagogue leader, "Don't be afraid! Just believe."
37 Jesus allowed no one to go with him except Peter and the two brothers James and John.
38 When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a noisy crowd there. People were crying and sobbing loudly.
39 When he came into the house, he asked them, "Why are you making so much noise and crying? The child isn't dead. She's just sleeping."
40 They laughed at him. So he made all of them go outside. Then he took the child's father, mother, and his three disciples and went to the child.
41 Jesus took the child's hand and said to her, "Talitha, koum!" which means, "Little girl, I'm telling you to get up!"
42 The girl got up at once and started to walk. (She was twelve years old.) They were astonished.
43 Jesus ordered them not to let anyone know about this. He also told them to give the little girl something to eat.
GOD'S WORD® is a copyrighted work of God's Word to the Nations. Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. All rights reserved. Used by permission.