Many Women Minister to Jesus

8 Now it came to pass, afterward, that He went through every city and village, preaching and ^[a]bringing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with Him, ² and ^(A)certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and ^[b]infirmities—Mary called Magdalene, ^(B)out of whom had come seven demons, ³ and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others who provided for ^[c]Him from their ^[d]substance.

The Parable of the Sower^(C)

^4 (D)And when a great multitude had gathered, and they had come to Him from 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 trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it. ⁶ Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang 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 But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded ^[e]a crop a hundredfold.” When He had said these things He cried, ^(E)“He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

The Purpose of Parables^(F)

^9 (G)Then His disciples asked Him, saying, “What does this parable mean?”

¹⁰ And He said, “To you it has been given to know the ^[f]mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, that

The Parable of the Sower Explained^(I)

^11 (J)“Now the parable is this: The seed is the ^(K)word of God. ¹² Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. ¹³ But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of ^[g]temptation fall away. ¹⁴ Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, ^(L)riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. ¹⁵ But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with ^(M)patience.^[h]

The Parable of the Revealed Light^(N)

^16 (O)“No one, when he has lit a lamp, covers it with a vessel or puts it under a bed, but sets it on a lampstand, that those who enter may see the ^(P)light. ^17 (Q)For nothing is secret that will not be ^(R)revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light. ¹⁸ Therefore take heed how you hear. ^(S)For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he ^[i]seems to ^(T)have will be taken from him.”

Jesus’ Mother and Brothers Come to Him^(U)

^19 (V)Then His mother and brothers came to Him, and could not approach Him because of the crowd. ²⁰ And it was told Him by some, who said, “Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see You.”

²¹ But He answered and said to them, “My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.”

Wind and Wave Obey Jesus^(W)

^22 (X)Now it happened, on a certain day, that He got into a boat with His disciples. And He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side of the lake.” And they launched out. ²³ But as they sailed He fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water, and were in ^[j]jeopardy. ²⁴ And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!”

Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. And they ceased, and there was a calm. ²⁵ But He said to them, ^(Y)“Where is your faith?”

And they were afraid, and marveled, saying to one another, ^(Z)“Who can this be? For He commands even the winds and water, and they obey Him!”

Promises to Abram^(A)

12 Now the ^(B)Lord had said to Abram:

⁴ So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. ⁵ Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and ^(J)the ^[a]people whom they had acquired ^(K)in Haran, and they ^(L)departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan. ⁶ Abram ^(M)passed through the land to the place of Shechem, ^(N)as far as ^[b]the terebinth tree of Moreh. ^(O)And the Canaanites were then in the land.

^7 (P)Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, ^(Q)“To your ^[c]descendants I will give this land.” And there he built an ^(R)altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. ⁸ And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the Lord and ^(S)called on the name of the Lord. ⁹ So Abram journeyed, ^(T)going on still toward the ^[d]South.

Abram in Egypt

¹⁰ Now there was ^(U)a famine in the land, and Abram ^(V)went down to Egypt to dwell there, for the famine was ^(W)severe in the land. ¹¹ And it came to pass, when he was close to entering Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, “Indeed I know that you are ^(X)a woman of beautiful countenance. ¹² Therefore it will happen, when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, ‘This is his wife’; and they ^(Y)will kill me, but they will let you live. ^13 (Z)Please say you are my ^(AA)sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that ^[e]I may live because of you.”

¹⁴ So it was, when Abram came into Egypt, that the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was very beautiful. ¹⁵ The princes of Pharaoh also saw her and commended her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken to Pharaoh’s house. ¹⁶ He ^(AB)treated Abram well for her sake. He ^(AC)had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female servants, female donkeys, and camels.

¹⁷ But the Lord ^(AD)plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. ¹⁸ And Pharaoh called Abram and said, ^(AE)“What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? ¹⁹ Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’? I might have taken her as my wife. Now therefore, here is your wife; take her and go your way.” ^20 (AF)So Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they sent him away, with his wife and all that he had.

A Prayer of Faith in Time of Distress

To the Chief Musician. With stringed instruments. ^(A)On ^[a]an eight-stringed harp. A Psalm of David.