Naaman Is Healed

5 Now ^(A)Naaman, captain of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man ^[a]with his master, and highly respected, because by him the Lord had given victory to Aram. The man was also a valiant warrior, but he was a leper. ² Now the Arameans had gone out ^(B)in bands and had taken captive a little girl from the land of Israel; and she ^[b]waited on Naaman’s wife. ³ She said to her mistress, “I wish that my master were ^[c]with the prophet who is in Samaria! Then he would cure him of his leprosy.” ^4 [d]Naaman went in and told his master, saying, “Thus and thus spoke the girl who is from the land of Israel.” ⁵ Then the king of Aram said, “Go ^[e]now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” He departed and ^(C)took with him ten talents of silver and six thousand shekels of gold and ten ^(D)changes of clothes.

⁶ He brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, “And now as this letter comes to you, behold, I have sent Naaman my servant to you, that you may cure him of his leprosy.” ⁷ When the king of Israel read the letter, ^(E)he tore his clothes and said, “^(F)Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man is sending word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? But ^(G)consider now, and see how he is seeking ^[f]a quarrel against me.”

⁸ It happened when Elisha ^(H)the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, that he sent word to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Now let him come to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.” ⁹ So Naaman came with his horses and his chariots and stood at the doorway of the house of Elisha. ¹⁰ Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “^(I)Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh will be restored to you and you will be clean.” ¹¹ But Naaman was furious and went away and said, “Behold, I ^[g]thought, ‘He will surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper.’ ¹² Are not ^[h]Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and ^(J)went away in a rage. ^13 (K)Then his servants came near and spoke to him and said, “^(L)My father, had the prophet told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” ¹⁴ So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; and ^(M)his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child and ^(N)he was clean.

Gehazi’s Greed

¹⁵ When he returned to the man of God ^[i]with all his company, and came and stood before him, he said, “Behold now, ^(O)I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel; so please ^(P)take a ^[j]present from your servant now.” ¹⁶ But he said, “^(Q)As the Lord lives, before whom I stand, ^(R)I will take nothing.” And he urged him to take it, but he refused. ¹⁷ Naaman said, “If not, please let your servant at least be given two mules’ load of ^(S)earth; for your servant will no longer offer burnt offering nor will he sacrifice to other gods, but to the Lord. ¹⁸ In this matter may the Lord pardon your servant: when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and ^(T)he leans on my hand and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, when I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, the Lord pardon your servant in this matter.” ¹⁹ He said to him, “^(U)Go in peace.” So he departed from him some distance.

²⁰ But ^(V)Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, ^[k]thought, “Behold, my master has spared this Naaman the Aramean, ^[l]by not receiving from his hands what he brought. ^(W)As the Lord lives, I will run after him and take something from him.” ²¹ So Gehazi pursued Naaman. When Naaman saw one running after him, he came down from the chariot to meet him and said, “Is all well?” ²² He said, “^(X)All is well. My master has sent me, saying, ‘Behold, just now two young men of the sons of the prophets have come to me from ^(Y)the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them a talent of silver and ^(Z)two changes of clothes.’” ²³ Naaman said, “^(AA)Be pleased to take two talents.” And he urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags with two changes of clothes and gave them to two of his servants; and they carried them before him. ²⁴ When he came to the ^[m]hill, he took them from their hand and ^(AB)deposited them in the house, and he sent the men away, and they departed. ²⁵ But he went in and stood before his master. And Elisha said to him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?” And he said, “^(AC)Your servant went nowhere.”

²⁶ Then he said to him, “Did not my heart go with you, when the man turned from his chariot to meet you? ^(AD)Is it a time to receive money and to receive clothes and olive groves and vineyards and sheep and oxen and male and female servants? ²⁷ Therefore, the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and to your ^[n]descendants forever.” So he went out from his presence ^(AE)a leper as white as snow.

Ministering Women

8 Soon afterwards, He began going around from one city and village to another, ^(A)proclaiming and preaching the kingdom of God. The twelve were with Him, ² and also ^(B)some women who had been healed of evil spirits and sicknesses: ^(C)Mary who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, ³ and Joanna the wife of Chuza, ^(D)Herod’s ^(E)steward, and Susanna, and many others who were contributing to their support out of their private means.

Parable of the Sower

^4 (F)When a large crowd was coming together, and those from the various cities were journeying to Him, He spoke by way of a parable: ⁵ “The sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell beside the road, and it was trampled under foot and the birds of the ^[a]air ate it up. ⁶ Other seed fell on rocky soil, and as soon as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. ⁷ Other seed fell among the thorns; and the thorns grew up with it and choked it out. ⁸ Other seed fell into the good soil, and grew up, and produced a crop a hundred times as great.” As He said these things, He would call out, “^(G)He who has ears to hear, ^[b]let him hear.”

^9 (H)His disciples began questioning Him as to what this parable meant. ¹⁰ And He said, “^(I)To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is in parables, so that ^(J)seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.

¹¹ “Now the parable is this: ^(K)the seed is the word of God. ¹² Those beside the road are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they will not believe and be saved. ¹³ Those on the rocky soil are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no firm root; ^[c]they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away. ¹⁴ The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity. ¹⁵ But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with ^[d]perseverance.

Parable of the Lamp

¹⁶ “Now ^(L)no one after lighting a lamp covers it over with a container, or puts it under a bed; but he puts it on a lampstand, so that those who come in may see the light. ^17 (M)For nothing is hidden that will not become evident, nor anything secret that will not be known and come to light. ¹⁸ So take care how you listen; ^(N)for whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he ^[e]thinks he has shall be taken away from him.”

^19 (O)And His mother and brothers came to Him, and they were unable to get to Him because of the crowd. ²⁰ And it was reported to Him, “Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, wishing to see You.” ²¹ But He answered and said to them, “My mother and My brothers are these ^(P)who hear the word of God and do it.”

Jesus Stills the Sea

^22 (Q)Now on one of those days Jesus and His disciples got into a boat, and He said to them, “Let us go over to the other side of ^(R)the lake.” So they launched out. ²³ But as they were sailing along He fell asleep; and a fierce gale of wind descended on ^(S)the lake, and they began to be swamped and to be in danger. ²⁴ They came to Jesus and woke Him up, saying, “^(T)Master, Master, we are perishing!” And He got up and ^(U)rebuked the wind and the surging waves, and they stopped, and ^[f]it became calm. ²⁵ And He said to them, “Where is your faith?” They were fearful and amazed, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him?”