Luke 8:4-39

English Standard Version

The Parable of the Sower

^4 (A)And when a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable, ^5 (B)“A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. ⁶ And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, ^(C)it withered away, because it had no moisture. ⁷ And some fell among ^(D)thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. ⁸ And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded ^(E)a hundredfold.” As he said these things, he called out, ^(F)“He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

The Purpose of the Parables

⁹ And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, ¹⁰ he said, ^(G)“To you it has been given to know ^(H)the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so ^(I)that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’ ^11 (J)Now the parable is this: The seed is ^(K)the word of God. ¹² The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not ^(L)believe and be saved. ¹³ And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it ^(M)with joy. But these have no root; they ^(N)believe for a while, and in time of testing ^(O)fall away. ¹⁴ And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but ^(P)as they go on their way they are choked by the ^(Q)cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. ¹⁵ As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and ^(R)bear fruit ^(S)with patience.

A Lamp Under a Jar

^16 (T)(U)“No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. ^17 (V)For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light. ^18 (W)Take care then how you hear, ^(X)for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away.”

Jesus' Mother and Brothers

^19 (Y)Then his mother and ^(Z)his brothers^[a] came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd. ²⁰ And he was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see you.” ²¹ But he answered them, “My mother and my brothers are those ^(AA)who hear the word of God and do it.”

Jesus Calms a Storm

^22 (AB)One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side of ^(AC)the lake.” So they set out, ²³ and as they sailed he fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on ^(AD)the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger. ²⁴ And they went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he awoke and ^(AE)rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, ^(AF)and there was a calm. ²⁵ He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they ^(AG)were afraid, and they ^(AH)marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that ^(AI)he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”

Jesus Heals a Man with a Demon

^26 (AJ)Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes,^[b] which is opposite Galilee. ²⁷ When Jesus^[c] had stepped out on land, there met him a man from the city who had demons. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he had not lived in a house ^(AK)but among the tombs. ²⁸ When he saw Jesus, he ^(AL)cried out and fell down before him and said ^(AM)with a loud voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, ^(AN)Son of ^(AO)the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me.” ²⁹ For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many a time it had seized him. He was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon ^(AP)into the desert.) ³⁰ Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, ^(AQ)“Legion,” for many demons had entered him. ³¹ And they begged him not to command them to depart into ^(AR)the abyss. ³² Now a large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. ³³ Then the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into ^(AS)the lake and drowned.

³⁴ When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. ³⁵ Then people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting ^(AT)at the feet of Jesus, ^(AU)clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. ³⁶ And those who had seen it told them how the demon-possessed^[d] man had been healed. ³⁷ Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes ^(AV)asked him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. ³⁸ The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, ³⁹ “Return to your home, and ^(AW)declare how much God has done for you.” And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him.