Message to Baruch

45 The word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to ^(A)Baruch the son of Neriah, ^(B)when he wrote these words in a book at the dictation of Jeremiah, ^(C)in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: ² “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to you, O Baruch: ³ You said, ^(D)‘Woe is me! For the Lord has added sorrow to my pain. ^(E)I am weary with my groaning, ^(F)and I find no rest.’ ⁴ Thus shall you say to him, Thus says the Lord: ^(G)Behold, what I have built I am breaking down, and what I have planted I am plucking up—that is, the whole land. ⁵ And ^(H)do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not, for behold, ^(I)I am bringing disaster upon all flesh, declares the Lord. But I will give you ^(J)your life as a prize of war in all places to which you may go.”

Judgment on Egypt

46 The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet ^(K)concerning the nations.

² About Egypt. ^(L)Concerning the army of Pharaoh Neco, king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates at Carchemish and which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated in ^(M)the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:

¹³ The word that the Lord spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the coming of ^(AM)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to strike the land of Egypt:

²⁵ The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, said: “Behold, I am bringing punishment upon ^(BM)Amon of ^(BN)Thebes, and Pharaoh and Egypt ^(BO)and her gods and her kings, upon Pharaoh and those who trust in him. ^26 (BP)I will deliver them into the hand of those who seek their life, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his officers. ^(BQ)Afterward Egypt shall be inhabited ^(BR)as in the days of old, declares the Lord.

Judgment on the Philistines

47 The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet ^(BV)concerning the Philistines, before Pharaoh struck down ^(BW)Gaza.

The Steadfast Love of God Endures

To the choirmaster. A Maskil^[a] of David, when ^(A)Doeg, the Edomite, came and told Saul, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.”

The Parable of the Sower

4 Again ^(A)he began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him, ^(B)so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. ² And ^(C)he was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: ³ “Listen! Behold, ^(D)a sower went out to sow. ⁴ And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. ⁵ Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. ⁶ And ^(E)when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, ^(F)it withered away. ⁷ Other seed fell among ^(G)thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. ⁸ And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and ^(H)a hundredfold.” ⁹ And he said, ^(I)“He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

The Purpose of the Parables

¹⁰ And ^(J)when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. ¹¹ And he said to them, ^(K)“To you has been given ^(L)the secret of the kingdom of God, but for ^(M)those outside everything is in parables, ^12 (N)so that

^13 (Q)And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? ^14 (R)The sower sows ^(S)the word. ¹⁵ And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. ¹⁶ And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it ^(T)with joy. ¹⁷ And they have no root in themselves, but ^(U)endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately ^(V)they fall away.^{[a] 18} And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, ¹⁹ but ^(W)the cares of ^(X)the world and ^(Y)the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. ²⁰ But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and ^(Z)bear fruit, ^(AA)thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”

A Lamp Under a Basket

^21 (AB)And he said to them, ^(AC)“Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand? ^22 (AD)For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light. ^23 (AE)If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” ²⁴ And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear: ^(AF)with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you. ^25 (AG)For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

The Parable of the Seed Growing

²⁶ And he said, ^(AH)“The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. ²⁷ He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; ^(AI)he knows not how. ²⁸ The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. ²⁹ But when the grain is ripe, at once ^(AJ)he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

^30 (AK)And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? ³¹ It is like ^(AL)a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, ³² yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”

^33 (AM)With many such parables he spoke ^(AN)the word to them, ^(AO)as they were able to hear it. ³⁴ He did not speak to them ^(AP)without a parable, but ^(AQ)privately to his own disciples he ^(AR)explained everything.

Jesus Calms a Storm

^35 (AS)On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” ³⁶ And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. ³⁷ And a great windstorm arose, and the waves ^(AT)were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. ³⁸ But he 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 awoke and ^(AU)rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and ^(AV)there was a great calm. ⁴⁰ He said to them, “Why are you ^(AW)so afraid? Have you still no faith?” ⁴¹ And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, ^(AX)“Who then is this, that even ^(AY)the wind and the sea obey him?”

Jesus Heals a Man with a Demon

5 ^(AZ)They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes.^{[b] 2} And when Jesus^[c] had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. ^3 (BA)He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, ⁴ for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. ⁵ Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. ⁶ And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and ^(BB)fell down before him. ⁷ And ^(BC)crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, ^(BD)Son of ^(BE)the Most High God? ^(BF)I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” ⁸ For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” ⁹ And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is ^(BG)Legion, for we are many.” ¹⁰ And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. ¹¹ Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, ¹² and they begged him, saying, “Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.” ¹³ So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea.

¹⁴ The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. ¹⁵ And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed^[d] man, the one who had had ^(BH)the legion, sitting there, ^(BI)clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. ¹⁶ And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. ¹⁷ And ^(BJ)they began to beg Jesus^[e] to depart from their region. ¹⁸ As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. ¹⁹ And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and ^(BK)tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” ²⁰ And he went away and began to proclaim in ^(BL)the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.

Jesus Heals a Woman and Jairus's Daughter

²¹ And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him, and he was beside the sea. ^22 (BM)Then came one of ^(BN)the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet ²³ and implored him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and ^(BO)lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.” ²⁴ And he went with him.

And a great crowd followed him and ^(BP)thronged about him. ²⁵ And there was a woman ^(BQ)who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, ²⁶ and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. ²⁷ She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. ²⁸ For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” ^29 (BR)And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her ^(BS)disease. ³⁰ And Jesus, perceiving in himself that ^(BT)power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments?” ³¹ And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’” ³² And he looked around to see who had done it. ³³ But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. ³⁴ And he said to her, “Daughter, ^(BU)your faith has made you well; ^(BV)go in peace, and be healed of your ^(BW)disease.”

³⁵ While he was still speaking, there came from ^(BX)the ruler's house some who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why ^(BY)trouble ^(BZ)the Teacher any further?” ³⁶ But overhearing^[f] what they said, Jesus said to ^(CA)the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” ³⁷ And he allowed no one to follow him except ^(CB)Peter and James and ^(CC)John the brother of James. ³⁸ They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus^[g] saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. ³⁹ And when he had entered, he said to them, ^(CD)“Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but ^(CE)sleeping.” ⁴⁰ And they laughed at him. But he ^(CF)put them all outside and took the child's father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. ^41 (CG)Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, ^(CH)arise.” ⁴² And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement. ⁴³ And ^(CI)he strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

6 ^(CJ)He went away from there and came to ^(CK)his hometown, and his disciples followed him. ² And ^(CL)on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and ^(CM)many who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands? ^3 (CN)Is not this ^(CO)the carpenter,^[h] the son of Mary and ^(CP)brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And ^(CQ)they took offense at him. ⁴ And Jesus said to them, ^(CR)“A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.” ⁵ And ^(CS)he could do no mighty work there, except that ^(CT)he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. ⁶ And ^(CU)he marveled because of their unbelief.

^(CV)And he went about among the villages teaching.

Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Apostles

^7 (CW)And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. ⁸ He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts— ⁹ but to ^(CX)wear sandals and not put on two tunics.^{[i] 10} And he said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. ¹¹ And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, ^(CY)shake off the dust that is on your feet ^(CZ)as a testimony against them.” ^12 (DA)So they went out and ^(DB)proclaimed ^(DC)that people should repent. ^13 (DD)And they cast out many demons and ^(DE)anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.

The Death of John the Baptist

^14 (DF)King Herod heard of it, for Jesus'^[j] name had become known. Some^[k] said, ^(DG)“John the Baptist^[l] has been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” ^15 (DH)But others said, “He is Elijah.” And others said, “He is ^(DI)a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” ¹⁶ But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.” ^17 (DJ)For it was Herod who had sent and seized John and ^(DK)bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, because he had married her. ^18 (DL)For John had been saying to Herod, ^(DM)“It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife.” ¹⁹ And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not, ²⁰ for Herod ^(DN)feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he ^(DO)heard him gladly.

²¹ But an opportunity came when Herod ^(DP)on his birthday ^(DQ)gave a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. ²² For when Herodias's daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. And the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it to you.” ²³ And he vowed to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, ^(DR)up to half of my kingdom.” ²⁴ And she went out and said to her mother, “For what should I ask?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.” ²⁵ And she came in immediately with haste to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” ²⁶ And the king was exceedingly sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her. ²⁷ And immediately the king sent an executioner with orders to bring John's^[m] head. He went and beheaded him in the prison ²⁸ and brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. ²⁹ When his ^(DS)disciples heard of it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

^30 (DT)(DU)The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. ³¹ And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and ^(DV)they had no leisure even to eat. ^32 (DW)And they went away in ^(DX)the boat to a desolate place by themselves. ³³ Now many saw them going and ^(DY)recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. ³⁴ When he went ashore he ^(DZ)saw a great crowd, and ^(EA)he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things. ³⁵ And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late. ^36 (EB)Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” ³⁷ But he answered them, ^(EC)“You give them something to eat.” And ^(ED)they said to him, ^(EE)“Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii^[n] worth of bread and give it to them to eat?” ³⁸ And he said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they had found out, they said, ^(EF)“Five, and two fish.” ³⁹ Then he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass. ⁴⁰ So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties. ⁴¹ And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he ^(EG)looked up to heaven and ^(EH)said a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. And he divided the two fish among them all. ⁴² And they all ate and were satisfied. ⁴³ And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. ⁴⁴ And those who ate the loaves were five thousand men.

Jesus Walks on the Water

^45 (EI)Immediately he ^(EJ)made his disciples get into ^(EK)the boat and go before him to the other side, ^(EL)to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. ⁴⁶ And after he had taken leave of them, ^(EM)he went up on the mountain to pray. ⁴⁷ And when ^(EN)evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land. ⁴⁸ And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about ^(EO)the fourth watch of the night^[o] he came to them, walking on the sea. ^(EP)He meant to pass by them, ⁴⁹ but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, ⁵⁰ for they all saw him and ^(EQ)were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, ^(ER)“Take heart; it is I. ^(ES)Do not be afraid.” ⁵¹ And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, ⁵² for ^(ET)they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts ^(EU)were hardened.

Jesus Heals the Sick in Gennesaret

^53 (EV)When they had crossed over, they came to land at ^(EW)Gennesaret and moored to the shore. ⁵⁴ And when they got out of the boat, the people immediately ^(EX)recognized him ⁵⁵ and ran about the whole region and began to bring ^(EY)the sick people ^(EZ)on their beds to wherever they heard he was. ⁵⁶ And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or countryside, ^(FA)they laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored him that they might touch even ^(FB)the fringe of his garment. And ^(FC)as many as touched it were made well.