Luke 8
21st Century King James Version
8 And it came to pass afterward that He went throughout every city and village, preaching and showing the glad tidings of the Kingdom of God. And the twelve were with Him,
2 and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils,
3 and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others who ministered unto Him from their substance.
4 And when many people had gathered together and had come to Him out of every city, He spoke by a parable:
5 “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside, and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it.
6 And some fell upon a rock, and as soon as it had sprung up, it withered away because it lacked moisture.
7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it.
8 And other fell on good ground, and sprang up and bore fruit a hundredfold.” And when He had said these things, He cried, “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear!”
9 And His disciples asked Him, saying, “What might this parable mean?”
10 And He said, “Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of God; but to others in parables, that ‘seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.’
11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the Word of God.
12 Those by the wayside are they that hear; then cometh the devil and taketh away the Word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.
13 The seed on the rock are they that, when they hear, receive the Word with joy, but they have no root: they for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.
14 And that which fell among thorns are they that, when they have heard, go forth and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.
15 But that on the good ground are they that, in an honest and good heart, having heard the Word, keep it and bring forth fruit with patience.
16 “No man, when he hath lighted a candle, covereth it with a vessel or putteth it under a bed, but setteth it on a candlestick, that they that enter in may see the light.
17 For nothing is secret that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid that shall not be known and come abroad.
18 Take heed therefore how ye hear, for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have.”
19 Then came to Him His mother and His brethren, and could not come near Him because of the crowd.
20 And it was told to Him by certain ones, who said, “Thy mother and thy brethren stand outside, desiring to see thee.”
21 And He answered and said unto them, “My mother and My brethren are these who hear the Word of God, and do it.”
22 Now it came to pass on a certain day, that He went into a boat with His disciples. And He said unto them, “Let us go over unto the other side of the lake.” And they launched forth.
23 But as they sailed, He fell asleep. And there came down a storm of wind on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in jeopardy.
24 And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Master, Master, we perish!” Then He arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water; and they ceased, and there was a calm.
25 And He said unto them, “Where is your faith?” And they being afraid wondered, saying one to another, “What manner of man is this? For He commandeth even the winds and the water, and they obey Him!”
26 And they arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, which is opposite Galilee.
27 And when He went forth to land, there met Him from the city a certain man who had had devils a long time, and wore no clothes, neither abode in any house, but in the tombs.
28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before Him, and with a loud voice said, “What have I to do with Thee, Jesus, Thou Son of God Most High? I beseech Thee, torment me not!”
29 (For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For oftentimes it had caught him, and he was kept bound with chains and in fetters; and he broke the bands and was driven by the devil into the wilderness.)
30 And Jesus asked him, saying, “What is thy name?” And he said, “Legion,” because many devils had entered into him.
31 And they besought Him that He would not command them to go out into the deep.
32 And there was there a herd of many swine feeding on the mountain. And they besought Him that He would suffer them to enter into them. And He suffered them.
33 Then went the devils out of the man and entered into the swine, and the herd ran violently down a steep slope into the lake and were choked.
34 When those who fed them saw what was done, they fled and went and told it in the city and in the country.
35 Then they went out to see what was done. And they came to Jesus, and found the man out of whom the devils had departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind. And they were afraid.
36 Those also who had seen it told them by what means he that had been possessed by the devils was healed.
37 Then the whole multitude of the country of the Gadarenes and round about besought Him to depart from them, for they were taken with great fear. And He went up into the boat, and returned back again.
38 Now the man out of whom the devils had departed besought Him that he might be with Him. But Jesus sent him away, saying,
39 “Return to thine own house, and show what great things God hath done unto thee.” And he went his way, and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done unto him.
40 And it came to pass that when Jesus had returned, the people gladly received Him, for they were all waiting for Him.
41 And behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue. And he fell down at Jesus’ feet and besought Him that He would come into his house,
42 for he had one daughter only, about twelve years of age, and she lay dying. But as He went, the people thronged Him.
43 And a woman having an issue of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her living upon physicians but could not be healed by any,
44 came behind Him and touched the border of His garment; and immediately her issue of blood was stanched.
45 And Jesus said, “Who touched Me?” When all denied it, Peter and those who were with him said, “Master, the multitudes throng Thee and press Thee, and sayest Thou, ‘Who touched Me?’”
46 And Jesus said, “Somebody hath touched Me, for I perceive that virtue is gone out of Me.”
47 And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling, and falling down before Him, she declared unto Him before all the people for what cause she had touched Him, and how she was healed immediately.
48 And He said unto her, “Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. Go in peace.”
49 While He yet spoke, there came one from the ruler of the synagogue’s house, saying to him, “Thy daughter is dead. Trouble not the Master.”
50 But when Jesus heard it, He answered him, saying, “Fear not; believe only, and she shall be made whole.”
51 And when He came into the house, He suffered no man to go in save Peter and James and John, and the father and the mother of the maiden.
52 And all wept and bewailed her, but He said, “Weep not; she is not dead, but sleepeth.”
53 And they laughed Him to scorn, knowing that she was dead.
54 And He put them all out, and took her by the hand and called, saying, “Maid, arise.”
55 And her spirit came again, and she arose straightway, and He commanded to give her meat.
56 And her parents were astonished, but He charged them that they should tell no man what was done.
Luke 8
Contemporary English Version
Women Who Helped Jesus
8 Soon after this, Jesus was going through towns and villages, telling the good news about God's kingdom. His twelve apostles were with him, 2 (A) and so were some women who had been healed of evil spirits and all sorts of diseases. One of the women was Mary Magdalene,[a] who once had seven demons in her. 3 Joanna, Susanna, and many others had also used what they owned to help Jesus[b] and his disciples. Joanna's husband Chuza was one of Herod's officials.[c]
A Story about a Farmer
(Matthew 13.1-9; Mark 4.1-9)
4 When a large crowd from several towns had gathered around Jesus, he told them this story:
5 A farmer went out to scatter seed in a field. While the farmer was doing this, some of the seeds fell along the road and were stepped on or eaten by birds. 6 Other seeds fell on rocky ground and started growing. But the plants did not have enough water and soon dried up. 7 Some other seeds fell where thornbushes grew up and choked the plants. 8 The rest of the seeds fell on good ground where they grew and produced a hundred times as many seeds.
When Jesus had finished speaking, he said, “If you have ears, pay attention!”
Why Jesus Used Stories
(Matthew 13.10-17; Mark 4.10-12)
9 Jesus' disciples asked him what the story meant. 10 (B) So he answered:
I have explained the secrets about God's kingdom to you. But for others I use stories, so they will look, but not see, and they will hear, but not understand.
Jesus Explains the Story about a Farmer
(Matthew 13.18-23; Mark 4.13-20)
11 This is what the story means: The seed is God's message, 12 and the seeds that fell along the road are the people who hear the message. But the devil comes and snatches the message out of their hearts, so they will not believe and be saved. 13 The seeds that fell on rocky ground are the people who gladly hear the message and accept it. But they don't have deep roots, and they believe only for a little while. As soon as life gets hard, they give up.
14 The seeds that fell among the thornbushes are also people who hear the message. But they are so eager for riches and pleasures that they never produce anything. 15 Those seeds that fell on good ground are the people who listen to the message and keep it in good and honest hearts. They last and produce a harvest.
Light
(Mark 4.21-25)
16 (C) No one lights a lamp and puts it under a bowl or under a bed. A lamp is always put on a lampstand, so people who come into a house will see the light. 17 (D) There is nothing hidden that will not be found. There is no secret that will not be well known. 18 (E) Pay attention to how you listen! Everyone who has something will be given more, but people who have nothing will lose what little they think they have.
Jesus' Mother and Brothers
(Matthew 12.46-50; Mark 3.31-35)
19 Jesus' mother and brothers went to see him, but because of the crowd they could not get near him. 20 Someone told Jesus, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside and want to see you.”
21 Jesus answered, “My mother and my brothers are those people who hear and obey God's message.”
A Storm
(Matthew 8.23-27; Mark 4.35-41)
22 One day, Jesus and his disciples got into a boat, and he said, “Let's cross the lake.”[d] They started out, 23 and while they were sailing across, he went to sleep.
Suddenly a storm struck the lake, and the boat started sinking. They were in danger. 24 So they went to Jesus and woke him up, “Master, Master! We are about to drown!”
Jesus got up and ordered the wind and waves to stop. They obeyed, and everything was calm. 25 Then Jesus asked the disciples, “Don't you have any faith?”
But they were frightened and amazed. They said to each other, “Who is this? He can give orders to the wind and the waves, and they obey him!”
A Man with Demons in Him
(Matthew 8.28-34; Mark 5.1-20)
26 Jesus and his disciples sailed across Lake Galilee and came to shore near the town of Gerasa.[e] 27 As Jesus was getting out of the boat, he was met by a man from this town. The man had demons in him. He had gone naked for a long time and no longer lived in a house, but in the graveyard.[f]
28 The man saw Jesus and screamed. He knelt down in front of him and shouted, “Jesus, Son of God Most High, what do you want with me? I beg you not to torture me!” 29 He said this because Jesus had already told the evil spirit to go out of him.
The man had often been attacked by the demon. And even though he had been bound with chains and leg irons and kept under guard, he smashed whatever bound him. Then the demon would force him out into lonely places.
30 Jesus asked the man, “What is your name?”
He answered, “My name is Lots.” He said this because there were “lots” of demons in him. 31 They begged Jesus not to send them to the deep pit,[g] where they would be punished.
32 A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. So the demons begged Jesus to let them go into the pigs, and Jesus let them go. 33 Then the demons left the man and went into the pigs. The whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned.
34 When the men taking care of the pigs saw this, they ran to spread the news in the town and on the farms. 35 The people went out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they also found the man. The demons had gone out of him, and he was sitting there at the feet of Jesus. He had clothes on and was in his right mind. But the people were terrified.
36 Then all who had seen the man healed told about it. 37 Everyone from around Gerasa[h] begged Jesus to leave, because they were so frightened.
When Jesus got into the boat to start back, 38 the man who had been healed begged to go with him. But Jesus sent him off and said, 39 “Go back home and tell everyone how much God has done for you.” The man then went all over town, telling everything that Jesus had done for him.
A Dying Girl and a Sick Woman
(Matthew 9.18-26; Mark 5.21-43)
40 Everyone had been waiting for Jesus, and when he came back, a crowd was there to welcome him. 41 Just then the man in charge of the synagogue came and knelt down in front of Jesus. His name was Jairus, and he begged Jesus to come to his home 42 because his twelve-year-old child was dying. She was his only daughter.
While Jesus was on his way, people were crowding all around him. 43 In the crowd was a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years. She had spent everything she had on doctors,[i] but none of them could make her well.
44 As soon as she came up behind Jesus and barely touched his clothes, her bleeding stopped.
45 “Who touched me?” Jesus asked.
While everyone was denying it, Peter said, “Master, people are crowding all around and pushing you from every side.”[j]
46 But Jesus answered, “Someone touched me, because I felt power going out from me.” 47 The woman knew that she could not hide, so she came trembling and knelt down in front of Jesus. She told everyone why she had touched him and that she had been healed at once.
48 Jesus said to the woman, “You are now well because of your faith. May God give you peace!”
49 While Jesus was speaking, someone came from Jairus' home and said, “Your daughter has died! Why bother the teacher anymore?”
50 When Jesus heard this, he told Jairus, “Don't worry! Have faith, and your daughter will get well.”
51 Jesus went into the house, but he did not let anyone else go with him, except Peter, John, James, and the girl's father and mother. 52 Everyone was crying and weeping for the girl. But Jesus said, “The child isn't dead. She is just asleep.” 53 The people laughed at him because they knew she was dead.
54 Jesus took hold of the girl's hand and said, “Child, get up!” 55 She came back to life and got right up. Jesus told them to give her something to eat. 56 Her parents were surprised, but Jesus ordered them not to tell anyone what had happened.
Footnotes
- 8.2 Magdalene: Meaning “from Magdala,” a small town on the western shore of Lake Galilee. There is no hint that she is the sinful woman in 7.36-50.
- 8.3 used what they owned to help Jesus: Women often helped Jewish teachers by giving them money.
- 8.3 Herod's officials: Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the Great.
- 8.22 cross the lake: To the eastern shore of Lake Galilee, where most of the people were not Jewish.
- 8.26 Gerasa: Some manuscripts have “Gergesa.”
- 8.27 graveyard: It was thought that demons and evil spirits lived in graveyards.
- 8.31 deep pit: The place where evil spirits are kept and punished.
- 8.37 Gerasa: See the note at 8.26.
- 8.43 She had spent everything she had on doctors: Some manuscripts do not have these words.
- 8.45 from every side: Some manuscripts add “and you ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ”
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