^aAnd He began to teach again ^bby the sea. And such a very large crowd gathered to Him that ^cHe got into a boat in the sea and sat down; and the whole crowd was by the sea on the land. 2 And He was teaching them many things in ^aparables, and was saying to them in His teaching, 3 “Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow; 4 and it happened that as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 And other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil. 6 And after the sun rose, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. 7 And other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no ¹crop. 8 And other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they were yielding a ¹crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.” 9 And He was saying, “^aHe who has ears to hear, ¹let him hear.”

10 And when He was alone, ¹His followers, along with the twelve, began asking Him about the parables. 11 And He was saying to them, “To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but to ^athose who are outside, everything comes ^bin parables, 12 so that ^aWHILE SEEING, THEY MAY SEE AND NOT PERCEIVE, AND WHILE HEARING, THEY MAY HEAR AND NOT UNDERSTAND, LEST THEY RETURN AND BE FORGIVEN.”

13 ^aAnd He *said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand all the parables? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 And these are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown: when they hear, immediately ^aSatan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them. 16 And in a similar way, these are the ones being sown on the rocky places: those who, when hearing the word, immediately receive it with joy; 17 and they have no root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they ¹fall away. 18 And others are those being sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, 19 but the worries of ^athe ¹world, and the ^bdeceitfulness of riches, and the desires for anything else enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 20 And those are the ones which were sown on the good soil: they who hear the word and accept it and ^aare bearing fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.”

21 And He was saying to them, “^aIs a lamp brought to be put under a ¹basket or under a bed? Is it not to be put on the lampstand? 22 ^aFor nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light. 23 ^aIf anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” 24 And He was saying to them, “Beware what you listen to. ^1aBy your standard of measure it will be measured to you, and more will be given to you. 25 ^aFor whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.”

26 And He was saying, “The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil; 27 and he sleeps and rises, night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows—how, he himself does not know. 28 The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. 29 But when the grain ¹is ripe, he immediately ^2aputs in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

30 ^aAnd He was saying, “How shall we ^bcompare the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is ¹smallest of all the seeds that are upon the soil, 32 yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes ¹largest of all the garden plants and forms large branches; so that ^aTHE BIRDS OF THE ²AIR can NEST UNDER ITS SHADE.”

33 And with many such parables He was speaking the word to them, as they were able to hear it; 34 and He was not speaking to them ^awithout a parable; but He was ^bexplaining everything privately to His own disciples.

35 ^aAnd on that day, when evening came, He *said to them, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 ¹And leaving the crowd, they *took Him along with them ^ain the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him. 37 And a great windstorm *arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat so that the boat was already filling up. 38 And Jesus Himself was in the stern, sleeping on the cushion; and they *got Him up and *said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” 39 And He woke up and ^arebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Silence! Be still.” And the wind died down and ¹it became ²perfectly calm. 40 And He said to them, “Why are you so cowardly? ^aDo you still have no faith?” 41 And they became ¹very afraid and were saying to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”

^aAgain Jesus began to teach ^bbeside the sea of Galilee. And a very large crowd gathered around Him, so ^cHe got into a boat anchoring it a short distance out on the sea and sat down; and the whole crowd was by the sea on the shore. Matt 13:1-15; Luke 8:4-15 2 And He taught them many things in ^aparables, and in His teaching He said to them, 3 “Listen! A sower went out to sow seed; 4 and as he was sowing, some seed fell by the road, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Other seed fell on rocks where there was not much soil; and immediately a plant sprang up ¹because the soil had no depth. 6 And when the sun came up, the plant was scorched; and because it had no root, it dried up and withered away. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. 8 And other seed fell into good soil, and as the plants grew and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundred times as much as had been sown.” 9 And He said, “^aHe who has ears to hear, let him hear and heed My words.”

10 As soon as He was alone, those who were around Him, together with the twelve disciples, began asking Him about the interpretation of the parables. 11 He said to them, “The mystery of the kingdom of God has been given to you who have teachable hearts, but ^athose who are outside the unbelievers, the spiritually blind get everything ^bin parables, 12 so that ^aTHEY WILL CONTINUALLY LOOK BUT NOT SEE, AND THEY WILL CONTINUALLY HEAR BUT NOT UNDERSTAND, OTHERWISE THEY MIGHT TURN from their rejection of the truth AND BE FORGIVEN.” Is 6:9, 10; Matt 13:11-15

13 ^aThen He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand and grasp the meaning of all the parables? Matt 13:18-23; Luke 8:11-15 14 The sower sows the word of God, the good news regarding the way of salvation. 15 These in the first group are the ones along the road where the word is sown; but when they hear, ^aSatan immediately comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them. 16 In a similar way these in the second group are the ones on whom seed was sown on rocky ground, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy but accept it only superficially; 17 and they have no real root in themselves, so they endure only for a little while; then, when trouble or persecution comes because of the word, immediately they are offended and displeased at being associated with Me and stumble and fall away. 18 And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, 19 but the worries and cares of ^athe world the distractions of this age with its worldly pleasures, and the ^bdeceitfulness and the false security or glamour of wealth or fame, and the passionate desires for all the other things creep in and choke out the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 20 And those in the last group are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word of God, the good news regarding the way of salvation and accept it and ^abear fruit—thirty, sixty, and a hundred times as much as was sown.”

21 He said to them, “^aA lamp is not brought in to be put under a basket or under a bed, is it? Is it not brought in to be put on the lampstand? Matt 5:15; Luke 8:16; 11:33 22 ^aFor nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been kept secret, but that it would come to light that is, things are hidden only temporarily, until the appropriate time comes for them to be known. Matt 10:26-33; Luke 12:2-9 23 ^aIf anyone has ears to hear, let him hear and heed My words.” 24 Then He said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear. ^aBy your own standard of measurement that is, to the extent that you study spiritual truth and apply godly wisdom it will be measured to you and you will be given even greater ability to respond—and more will be given to you besides. 25 ^aFor ¹whoever has a teachable heart, to him more understanding will be given; and whoever does not have a yearning for truth, even what he has will be taken away from him.” Matt 13:12; 25:29; Luke 8:18

26 Then He said, “The kingdom of God is like a man who throws seed on the ground; 27 and he goes to bed at night and gets up every day, and in the meantime the seed sprouts and grows; how it does this, he does not know. 28 The earth produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head of grain, then the mature grain in the head. 29 But when the crop ripens, he immediately ^aputs in the sickle to reap, because the time for the harvest has come.”

30 ^aAnd He said, “How shall we ^1bpicture the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use to illustrate and explain it? Matt 13:31, 32; Luke 13:18, 19 31 It is like a mustard seed, which, when it is sown on the ground, even though it is ¹smaller than all the other seeds that are sown on the soil, 32 yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden herbs; and it puts out large branches, so that ^aTHE BIRDS OF THE SKY are able to MAKE NESTS and LIVE UNDER ITS SHADE.” Ps 104:12; Ezek 17:23; 31:6

33 With many such parables, Jesus spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear and understand it; 34 and He did not say anything to them ^awithout using a parable; He did, however, ^bexplain everything privately to His own disciples.

35 ^aOn that same day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us go over to the other side of the Sea of Galilee.” 36 So leaving the crowd, they took Him with them, just as He was, ^ain the boat. And other boats were with Him. Matt 8:23-27; Luke 8:22-25 37 And a ¹fierce windstorm began to blow, and waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was already being swamped. 38 But Jesus was in the stern, asleep with His head on the sailor’s leather cushion. And they woke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are about to die?” 39 And He got up and sternly ^arebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still (muzzled) !” And the wind died down as if it had grown weary and there was at once a great calm a perfect peacefulness. 40 Jesus said to them, “Why are you afraid? ^aDo you still have no faith and confidence in Me?” 41 They were filled with great fear, and said to each other, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”

^aHe began to teach again ^bby the sea. And such a very large crowd gathered to Him that ^cHe got into a boat in the sea and sat down; and the whole crowd was by the sea on the land. 2 And He was teaching them many things in ^aparables, and was saying to them in His teaching, 3 “Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow; 4 as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil. 6 And after the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. 7 Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. 8 Other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.” 9 And He was saying, “^aHe who has ears to hear, ¹let him hear.”

10 As soon as He was alone, ¹His followers, along with the twelve, began asking Him about the parables. 11 And He was saying to them, “To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but ^athose who are outside get everything ^bin parables, 12 so that ^aWHILE SEEING, THEY MAY SEE AND NOT PERCEIVE, AND WHILE HEARING, THEY MAY HEAR AND NOT UNDERSTAND, OTHERWISE THEY MIGHT RETURN AND BE FORGIVEN.”

13 ^aAnd He *said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand all the parables? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 These are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown; and when they hear, immediately ^aSatan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them. 16 In a similar way these are the ones on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy; 17 and they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they ¹fall away. 18 And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, 19 but the worries of ^athe ¹world, and the ^bdeceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 20 And those are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it and ^abear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.”

21 And He was saying to them, “^aA lamp is not brought to be put under a ¹basket, is it, or under a bed? Is it not brought to be put on the lampstand? 22 ^aFor nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light. 23 ^aIf anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” 24 And He was saying to them, “Take care what you listen to. ^1aBy your standard of measure it will be measured to you; and more will be given you besides. 25 ^aFor whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.”

26 And He was saying, “The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil; 27 and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows—how, he himself does not know. 28 The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. 29 But when the crop permits, he immediately ^1aputs in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

30 ^aAnd He said, “How shall we ^1bpicture the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is smaller than all the seeds that are upon the soil, 32 yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and forms large branches; so that ^aTHE BIRDS OF THE ¹AIR can NEST UNDER ITS SHADE.”

33 With many such parables He was speaking the word to them, so far as they were able to hear it; 34 and He did not speak to them ^awithout a parable; but He was ^bexplaining everything privately to His own disciples.

35 ^aOn that day, when evening came, He *said to them, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 ¹Leaving the crowd, they *took Him along with them ^ain the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him. 37 And there *arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up. 38 Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they *woke Him and *said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” 39 And He got up and ^arebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” And the wind died down and ¹it became perfectly calm. 40 And He said to them, “Why are you ¹afraid? ^aDo you still have no faith?” 41 They became very much afraid and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”