New Revised Standard NRS
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 Again he began to teach beside the sea. Such a very large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat on the sea and sat there, while the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land.
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And again he was teaching by the seaside. And a very great number of people had come to him, so that he got into a boat on the sea and took his seat; and all the people were on the land by the seaside.
2 He began to teach them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them:
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And he gave them teaching about a number of things in the form of stories, and said to them in his teaching, Give ear:
3 "Listen! A sower went out to sow.
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A man went out to put seed in the earth:
4 And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up.
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And while he was doing it, some was dropped by the wayside, and the birds came and took it for food.
5 Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up quickly, since it had no depth of soil.
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And some went on the stones, where it had not much earth; and it came up straight away, because the earth was not deep:
6 And when the sun rose, it was scorched; and since it had no root, it withered away.
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And when the sun was high, it was burned; and because it had no root, it became dry and dead.
7 Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain.
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And some went among the thorns, and the thorns came up, and it had no room for growth and gave no fruit.
8 Other seed fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and a hundredfold."
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And some, falling on good earth, gave fruit, coming up and increasing, and giving thirty, sixty, and a hundred times as much.
9 And he said, "Let anyone with ears to hear listen!"
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And he said to them, Whoever has ears, let him give ear.
10 When he was alone, those who were around him along with the twelve asked him about the parables.
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And when he was by himself, those who were round him with the twelve put questions to him about the purpose of the stories.
11 And he said to them, "To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside, everything comes in parables;
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And he said to them, To you is given the secret of the kingdom of God, but to those who are outside, all things are given in the form of stories;
12 in order that "they may indeed look, but not perceive, and may indeed listen, but not understand; so that they may not turn again and be forgiven.' "
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So that seeing they may see, and it will not be clear to them; and hearing it, they will not get the sense; for fear that they may be turned again to me and have forgiveness.
13 And he said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand all the parables?
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And he said to them, If you are not clear about this story, how will you be clear about the others?
14 The sower sows the word.
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The seed is the word.
15 These are the ones on the path where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them.
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And these are they by the wayside, where the word is planted; and when they have given ear, the Evil One comes straight away and takes away the word which has been planted in them.
16 And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: when they hear the word, they immediately receive it with joy.
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And in the same way, these are they who are planted on the stones, who, when the word has come to their ears, straight away take it with joy;
17 But they have no root, and endure only for a while; then, when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away.
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And they have no root in themselves, but go on for a time; then, when trouble comes or pain, because of the word, they quickly become full of doubts.
18 And others are those sown among the thorns: these are the ones who hear the word,
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And others are those planted among the thorns; these are they who have given ear to the word,
19 but the cares of the world, and the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it yields nothing.
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And the cares of this life, and the deceits of wealth, and the desire for other things coming in, put a stop to the growth of the word, and it gives no fruit.
20 And these are the ones sown on the good soil: they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold."
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And these are they who were planted on the good earth; such as give ear to the word, and take it into their hearts, and give fruit, thirty and sixty and a hundred times as much.
21 He said to them, "Is a lamp brought in to be put under the bushel basket, or under the bed, and not on the lampstand?
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And he said to them, When the light comes in, do people put it under a vessel, or under the bed, and not on its table?
22 For there is nothing hidden, except to be disclosed; nor is anything secret, except to come to light.
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There is nothing covered which will not be seen openly, and nothing has been made secret which will not come to light.
23 Let anyone with ears to hear listen!"
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If any man has ears, let him give ear.
24 And he said to them, "Pay attention to what you hear; the measure you give will be the measure you get, and still more will be given you.
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And he said to them, Take care what you give ear to: in the same measure as you give you will get, and more will be given to you.
25 For to those who have, more will be given; and from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away."
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He who has, to him will be given: and he who has not, from him will be taken even that which he has.
26 He also said, "The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground,
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And he said, Such is the kingdom of God, as if a man put seed in the earth,
27 and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how.
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And went to sleep and got up, night and day, and the seed came to growth, though he had no idea how.
28 The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head.
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The earth gives fruit by herself; first the leaf, then the head, then the full grain.
29 But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come."
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But when the grain is ready, he quickly sends men to get it cut, because the time for cutting has come.
30 He also said, "With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it?
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And he said, What picture may we give of the kingdom of God, or with what story may we make it clear?
31 It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth;
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It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is put in the earth, is smaller than all the seeds on the earth,
32 yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade."
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But when it is planted, it comes up, and becomes taller than all the plants, and puts out great branches, so that the birds of heaven are able to take rest in its shade.
33 With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it;
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And with a number of such stories he gave them his teaching, as they were able to take it:
34 he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.
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And without a story he said nothing to them: but privately to his disciples he made all things clear.
35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, "Let us go across to the other side."
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And on that day, when the evening had come, he said to them, Let us go over to the other side.
36 And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him.
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And going away from the people, they took him with them, as he was, in the boat. And other boats were with him.
37 A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped.
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And a great storm of wind came up, and the waves came into the boat, so that the boat was now becoming full.
38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?"
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And he himself was in the back of the boat, sleeping on the cushion: and they, awaking him, said, Master, is it nothing to you that we are in danger of destruction?
39 He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm.
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And he came out of his sleep, and gave strong orders to the wind, and said to the sea, Peace, be at rest. And the wind went down, and there was a great calm.
40 He said to them, "Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?"
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And he said to them, Why are you full of fear? have you still no faith?
41 And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"
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And their fear was great, and they said one to another, Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea do his orders?
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.