Matthew 13; Luke 8

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Matthew 13

1 That same day Jesus left the house and went to the lakeside, where he sat down to teach.

2 The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it, while the crowd stood on the shore.

3 He used parables to tell them many things. "Once there was a man who went out to sow grain.

4 As he scattered the seed in the field, some of it fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.

5 Some of it fell on rocky ground, where there was little soil. The seeds soon sprouted, because the soil wasn't deep.

6 But when the sun came up, it burned the young plants; and because the roots had not grown deep enough, the plants soon dried up.

7 Some of the seed fell among thorn bushes, which grew up and choked the plants.

8 But some seeds fell in good soil, and the plants bore grain: some had one hundred grains, others sixty, and others thirty."

9 And Jesus concluded, "Listen, then, if you have ears!"

10 Then the disciples came to Jesus and asked him, "Why do you use parables when you talk to the people?"

11 Jesus answered, "The knowledge about the secrets of the Kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.

12 For the person who has something will be given more, so that he will have more than enough; but the person who has nothing will have taken away from him even the little he has.

13 The reason I use parables in talking to them is that they look, but do not see, and they listen, but do not hear or understand.

14 So the prophecy of Isaiah applies to them: "This people will listen and listen, but not understand; they will look and look, but not see,

15 because their minds are dull, and they have stopped up their ears and have closed their eyes. Otherwise, their eyes would see, their ears would hear, their minds would understand, and they would turn to me, says God, and I would heal them.'

16 "As for you, how fortunate you are! Your eyes see and your ears hear.

17 I assure you that many prophets and many of God's people wanted very much to see what you see, but they could not, and to hear what you hear, but they did not.

18 "Listen, then, and learn what the parable of the sower means.

19 Those who hear the message about the Kingdom but do not understand it are like the seeds that fell along the path. The Evil One comes and snatches away what was sown in them.

20 The seeds that fell on rocky ground stand for those who receive the message gladly as soon as they hear it.

21 But it does not sink deep into them, and they don't last long. So when trouble or persecution comes because of the message, they give up at once.

22 The seeds that fell among thorn bushes stand for those who hear the message; but the worries about this life and the love for riches choke the message, and they don't bear fruit.

23 And the seeds sown in the good soil stand for those who hear the message and understand it: they bear fruit, some as much as one hundred, others sixty, and others thirty."

24 Jesus told them another parable: "The Kingdom of heaven is like this. A man sowed good seed in his field.

25 One night, when everyone was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away.

26 When the plants grew and the heads of grain began to form, then the weeds showed up.

27 The man's servants came to him and said, "Sir, it was good seed you sowed in your field; where did the weeds come from?'

28 "It was some enemy who did this,' he answered. "Do you want us to go and pull up the weeds?' they asked him.

29 "No,' he answered, "because as you gather the weeds you might pull up some of the wheat along with them.

30 Let the wheat and the weeds both grow together until harvest. Then I will tell the harvest workers to pull up the weeds first, tie them in bundles and burn them, and then to gather in the wheat and put it in my barn.' "

31 Jesus told them another parable: "The Kingdom of heaven is like this. A man takes a mustard seed and sows it in his field.

32 It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it grows up, it is the biggest of all plants. It becomes a tree, so that birds come and make their nests in its branches."

33 Jesus told them still another parable: "The Kingdom of heaven is like this. A woman takes some yeast and mixes it with a bushel of flour until the whole batch of dough rises."

34 Jesus used parables to tell all these things to the crowds; he would not say a thing to them without using a parable.

35 He did this to make come true what the prophet had said, "I will use parables when I speak to them; I will tell them things unknown since the creation of the world."

36 When Jesus had left the crowd and gone indoors, his disciples came to him and said, "Tell us what the parable about the weeds in the field means."

37 Jesus answered, "The man who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man;

38 the field is the world; the good seed is the people who belong to the Kingdom; the weeds are the people who belong to the Evil One;

39 and the enemy who sowed the weeds is the Devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvest workers are angels.

40 Just as the weeds are gathered up and burned in the fire, so the same thing will happen at the end of the age:

41 the Son of Man will send out his angels to gather up out of his Kingdom all those who cause people to sin and all others who do evil things,

42 and they will throw them into the fiery furnace, where they will cry and gnash their teeth.

43 Then God's people will shine like the sun in their Father's Kingdom. Listen, then, if you have ears!

44 "The Kingdom of heaven is like this. A man happens to find a treasure hidden in a field. He covers it up again, and is so happy that he goes and sells everything he has, and then goes back and buys that field.

45 "Also, the Kingdom of heaven is like this. A man is looking for fine pearls,

46 and when he finds one that is unusually fine, he goes and sells everything he has, and buys that pearl.

47 "Also, the Kingdom of heaven is like this. Some fishermen throw their net out in the lake and catch all kinds of fish.

48 When the net is full, they pull it to shore and sit down to divide the fish: the good ones go into the buckets, the worthless ones are thrown away.

49 It will be like this at the end of the age: the angels will go out and gather up the evil people from among the good

50 and will throw them into the fiery furnace, where they will cry and gnash their teeth.

51 "Do you understand these things?" Jesus asked them. "Yes," they answered.

52 So he replied, "This means, then, that every teacher of the Law who becomes a disciple in the Kingdom of heaven is like a homeowner who takes new and old things out of his storage room."

53 When Jesus finished telling these parables, he left that place

54 and went back to his hometown. He taught in the synagogue, and those who heard him were amazed. "Where did he get such wisdom?" they asked. "And what about his miracles?

55 Isn't he the carpenter's son? Isn't Mary his mother, and aren't James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas his brothers?

56 Aren't all his sisters living here? Where did he get all this?"

57 And so they rejected him. Jesus said to them, "A prophet is respected everywhere except in his hometown and by his own family."

58 Because they did not have faith, he did not perform many miracles there.

Luke 8

1 Some time later Jesus traveled through towns and villages, preaching the Good News about the Kingdom of God. The twelve disciples went with him,

2 and so did some women who had been healed of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (who was called Magdalene), from whom seven demons had been driven out;

3 Joanna, whose husband Chuza was an officer in Herod's court; and Susanna, and many other women who used their own resources to help Jesus and his disciples.

4 People kept coming to Jesus from one town after another; and when a great crowd gathered, Jesus told this parable:

5 "Once there was a man who went out to sow grain. As he scattered the seed in the field, some of it fell along the path, where it was stepped on, and the birds ate it up.

6 Some of it fell on rocky ground, and when the plants sprouted, they dried up because the soil had no moisture.

7 Some of the seed fell among thorn bushes, which grew up with the plants and choked them.

8 And some seeds fell in good soil; the plants grew and bore grain, one hundred grains each." And Jesus concluded, "Listen, then, if you have ears!"

9 His disciples asked Jesus what this parable meant,

10 and he answered, "The knowledge of the secrets of the Kingdom of God has been given to you, but to the rest it comes by means of parables, so that they may look but not see, and listen but not understand.

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

12 The seeds that fell along the path stand for those who hear; but the Devil comes and takes the message away from their hearts in order to keep them from believing and being saved.

13 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.

14 The seeds that fell among thorn bushes stand for those who hear; but the worries and riches and pleasures of this life crowd in and choke them, and their fruit never ripens.

15 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.

16 "No one lights a lamp and covers it with a bowl or puts it under a bed. Instead, it is put on the lampstand, so that people will see the light as they come in.

17 "Whatever is hidden away will be brought out into the open, and whatever is covered up will be found and brought to light.

18 "Be careful, then, how you listen; because those who have something will be given more, but whoever has nothing will have taken away from them even the little they think they have."

19 Jesus' mother and brothers came to him, but were unable to join him because of the crowd.

20 Someone said to Jesus, "Your mother and brothers are standing outside and want to see you."

21 Jesus said to them all, "My mother and brothers are those who hear the word of God and obey it."

22 One day Jesus got into a boat with his disciples and said to them, "Let us go across to the other side of the lake." So they started out.

23 As they were sailing, Jesus fell asleep. Suddenly a strong wind blew down on the lake, and the boat began to fill with water, so that they were all in great danger.

24 The disciples went to Jesus and woke him up, saying, "Master, Master! We are about to die!" Jesus got up and gave an order to the wind and to the stormy water; they quieted down, and there was a great calm.

25 Then he said to the disciples, "Where is your faith?" But they were amazed and afraid, and said to one another, "Who is this man? He gives orders to the winds and waves, and they obey him!"

26 Jesus and his disciples sailed on over to the territory of Gerasa, which is across the lake from Galilee.

27 As Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a man from the town who had demons in him. For a long time this man had gone without clothes and would not stay at home, but spent his time in the burial caves.

28 When he saw Jesus, he gave a loud cry, threw himself down at his feet, and shouted, "Jesus, Son of the Most High God! What do you want with me? I beg you, don't punish me!"

29 He said this because Jesus had ordered the evil spirit to go out of him. Many times it had seized him, and even though he was kept a prisoner, his hands and feet tied with chains, he would break the chains and be driven by the demon out into the desert.

30 Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" "My name is "Mob,' " he answered - because many demons had gone into him.

31 The demons begged Jesus not to send them into the abyss.

32 There was a large herd of pigs near by, feeding on a hillside. So the demons begged Jesus to let them go into the pigs, and he let them.

33 They went out of the man and into the pigs. The whole herd rushed down the side of the cliff into the lake and was drowned.

34 The men who had been taking care of the pigs saw what happened, so they ran off and spread the news in the town and among the farms.

35 People went out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind; and they were all afraid.

36 Those who had seen it told the people how the man had been cured.

37 Then all the people from that territory asked Jesus to go away, because they were terribly afraid. So Jesus got into the boat and left.

38 The man from whom the demons had gone out begged Jesus, "Let me go with you." But Jesus sent him away, saying,

39 "Go back home and tell what God has done for you." The man went through the town, telling what Jesus had done for him.

40 When Jesus returned to the other side of the lake, the people welcomed him, because they had all been waiting for him.

41 Then a man named Jairus arrived; he was an official in the local synagogue. He threw himself down at Jesus' feet and begged him to go to his home,

42 because his only daughter, who was twelve years old, was dying. As Jesus went along, the people were crowding him from every side.

43 Among them was a woman who had suffered from severe bleeding for twelve years; she had spent all she had on doctors, but no one had been able to cure her.

44 She came up in the crowd behind Jesus and touched the edge of his cloak, and her bleeding stopped at once.

45 Jesus asked, "Who touched me?" Everyone denied it, and Peter said, "Master, the people are all around you and crowding in on you."

46 But Jesus said, "Someone touched me, for I knew it when power went out of me."

47 The woman saw that she had been found out, so she came trembling and threw herself at Jesus' feet. There in front of everybody, she told him why she had touched him and how she had been healed at once.

48 Jesus said to her, "My daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace."

49 While Jesus was saying this, a messenger came from the official's house. "Your daughter has died," he told Jairus; "don't bother the Teacher any longer."

50 But Jesus heard it and said to Jairus, "Don't be afraid; only believe, and she will be well."

51 When he arrived at the house, he would not let anyone go in with him except Peter, John, and James, and the child's father and mother.

52 Everyone there was crying and mourning for the child. Jesus said, "Don't cry; the child is not dead - she is only sleeping!"

53 They all made fun of him, because they knew that she was dead.

54 But Jesus took her by the hand and called out, "Get up, child!"

55 Her life returned, and she got up at once, and Jesus ordered them to give her something to eat.

56 Her parents were astounded, but Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone what had happened.

Matthew 13; Luke 8

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Matthew 13

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