Women Accompanying Jesus

8 Soon afterward he went on ^(A)through cities and villages, proclaiming and ^(B)bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him, ² and also ^(C)some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: ^(D)Mary, called Magdalene, ^(E)from whom seven demons had gone out, ³ and ^(F)Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod's household manager, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them^[a] out of their means.

The Parable of the Sower

^4 (G)And when a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable, ^5 (H)“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, ^(I)it withered away, because it had no moisture. ⁷ And some fell among ^(J)thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. ⁸ And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded ^(K)a hundredfold.” As he said these things, he called out, ^(L)“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, ^(M)“To you it has been given to know ^(N)the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so ^(O)that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’ ^11 (P)Now the parable is this: The seed is ^(Q)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 ^(R)believe and be saved. ¹³ And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it ^(S)with joy. But these have no root; they ^(T)believe for a while, and in time of testing ^(U)fall away. ¹⁴ And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but ^(V)as they go on their way they are choked by the ^(W)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 ^(X)bear fruit ^(Y)with patience.

A Lamp Under a Jar

^16 (Z)(AA)“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 (AB)For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light. ^18 (AC)Take care then how you hear, ^(AD)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 (AE)Then his mother and ^(AF)his brothers^[b] 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 ^(AG)who hear the word of God and do it.”

Jesus Calms a Storm

^22 (AH)One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side of ^(AI)the lake.” So they set out, ²³ and as they sailed he fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on ^(AJ)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 ^(AK)rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, ^(AL)and there was a calm. ²⁵ He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they ^(AM)were afraid, and they ^(AN)marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that ^(AO)he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”

Jesus Heals a Man with a Demon

^26 (AP)Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes,^[c] which is opposite Galilee. ²⁷ When Jesus^[d] 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 ^(AQ)but among the tombs. ²⁸ When he saw Jesus, he ^(AR)cried out and fell down before him and said ^(AS)with a loud voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, ^(AT)Son of ^(AU)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 ^(AV)into the desert.) ³⁰ Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, ^(AW)“Legion,” for many demons had entered him. ³¹ And they begged him not to command them to depart into ^(AX)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 ^(AY)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 ^(AZ)at the feet of Jesus, ^(BA)clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. ³⁶ And those who had seen it told them how the demon-possessed^[e] man had been healed. ³⁷ Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes ^(BB)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 ^(BC)declare how much God has done for you.” And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him.

Jesus Heals a Woman and Jairus's Daughter

⁴⁰ Now when Jesus returned, the crowd ^(BD)welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him. ^41 (BE)And there came a man named Jairus, who was ^(BF)a ruler of the synagogue. And falling at Jesus' feet, he implored him to come to his house, ⁴² for he had ^(BG)an only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she was dying.

As Jesus went, the people ^(BH)pressed around him. ⁴³ And there was a woman ^(BI)who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and though she had spent all her ^(BJ)living on physicians,^[f] she could not be healed by anyone. ⁴⁴ She came up behind him and touched ^(BK)the fringe of his garment, and ^(BL)immediately her discharge of blood ceased. ⁴⁵ And Jesus said, “Who was it that touched me?” When all denied it, Peter^[g] said, “Master, the crowds surround you and are pressing in on you!” ⁴⁶ But Jesus said, “Someone touched me, for I perceive that ^(BM)power has gone out from me.” ⁴⁷ And when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before him declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed. ⁴⁸ And he said to her, “Daughter, ^(BN)your faith has made you well; ^(BO)go in peace.”

⁴⁹ While he was still speaking, someone from ^(BP)the ruler's house came and said, “Your daughter is dead; ^(BQ)do not trouble ^(BR)the Teacher any more.” ⁵⁰ But Jesus on hearing this answered him, “Do not fear; only believe, and she will be well.” ⁵¹ And when he came to the house, he allowed no one to enter with him, except ^(BS)Peter and ^(BT)John and James, and the father and mother of the child. ⁵² And all were weeping and ^(BU)mourning for her, but he ^(BV)said, “Do not weep, for ^(BW)she is not dead but ^(BX)sleeping.” ⁵³ And they laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. ⁵⁴ But ^(BY)taking her by the hand he called, saying, “Child, ^(BZ)arise.” ⁵⁵ And ^(CA)her spirit returned, and she got up at once. And he directed that something should be given her to eat. ⁵⁶ And her parents were amazed, but ^(CB)he charged them to tell no one what had happened.

Clean and Unclean Food

14 “You are ^(A)the sons of the Lord your God. ^(B)You shall not cut yourselves or make any ^(C)baldness on your foreheads for the dead. ² For ^(D)you are a people holy to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.

^3 (E)“You shall not eat any abomination. ^4 (F)These are the animals you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, ⁵ the deer, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex,^[a] the antelope, and the mountain sheep. ⁶ Every animal that parts the hoof and has the hoof cloven in two and chews the cud, among the animals, you may eat. ⁷ Yet of those that chew the cud or have the hoof cloven you shall not eat these: the camel, the hare, and the ^(G)rock badger, because they chew the cud but do not part the hoof, are unclean for you. ⁸ And the pig, because it parts the hoof but does not chew the cud, is unclean for you. Their flesh you shall not eat, and ^(H)their carcasses you shall not touch.

⁹ “Of all that are in the waters you may eat these: whatever has fins and scales you may eat. ¹⁰ And whatever does not have fins and scales you shall not eat; it is unclean for you.

¹¹ “You may eat all clean birds. ¹² But these are the ones that you shall not eat: the eagle,^[b] the bearded vulture, the black vulture, ¹³ the kite, the falcon of any kind; ¹⁴ every raven of any kind; ¹⁵ the ostrich, the nighthawk, the sea gull, the hawk of any kind; ¹⁶ the little owl and the short-eared owl, the barn owl ¹⁷ and the tawny owl, the carrion vulture and the cormorant, ¹⁸ the stork, the heron of any kind; the hoopoe and the bat. ¹⁹ And all winged insects are unclean for you; they shall not be eaten. ²⁰ All clean winged things you may eat.

^21 (I)“You shall not eat anything that has died naturally. You may give it to the sojourner who is within your towns, that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. For ^(J)you are a people holy to the Lord your God.

^(K)“You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk.

Tithes

^22 (L)“You shall tithe all the yield of your seed that comes from the field year by year. ²³ And before the Lord your God, in the place that he will choose, to make his name dwell there, ^(M)you shall eat the tithe of your grain, of your wine, and of your oil, ^(N)and the firstborn of your herd and flock, ^(O)that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always. ²⁴ And if the way is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry the tithe, when the Lord your God blesses you, because ^(P)the place is too far from you, which the Lord your God chooses, to set his name there, ²⁵ then you shall turn it into money and bind up the money in your hand and go to the place that the Lord your God chooses ²⁶ and spend the money for whatever you desire—oxen or sheep or wine or strong drink, whatever your appetite craves. And ^(Q)you shall eat there before the Lord your God and rejoice, you and your household. ²⁷ And you shall not neglect ^(R)the Levite who is within your towns, for ^(S)he has no portion or inheritance with you.

^28 (T)“At the end of every three years you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in the same year and lay it up within your towns. ²⁹ And the Levite, because ^(U)he has no portion or inheritance with you, and the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your towns, shall come and eat and be filled, that ^(V)the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands that you do.

The Sabbatical Year

15 “At the end of ^(W)every seven years you shall grant a release. ² And this is the manner of the release: every creditor shall release what he has lent to his neighbor. He shall not exact it of his neighbor, his brother, because the Lord's release has been proclaimed. ^3 (X)Of a foreigner you may exact it, but whatever of yours is with your brother your hand shall release. ^4 (Y)But there will be no poor among you; ^(Z)for the Lord will bless you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance to possess— ^5 (AA)if only you will strictly obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all this commandment that I command you today. ⁶ For the Lord your God will bless you, ^(AB)as he promised you, and ^(AC)you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow, and ^(AD)you shall rule over many nations, but they shall not rule over you.

⁷ “If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the Lord your God is giving you, ^(AE)you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, ⁸ but ^(AF)you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be. ⁹ Take care lest there be an unworthy thought in your heart and you say, ‘The seventh year, the year of release is near,’ and your ^(AG)eye look grudgingly^[c] on your poor brother, and you give him nothing, and he ^(AH)cry to the Lord against you, and ^(AI)you be guilty of sin. ¹⁰ You shall give to him freely, and ^(AJ)your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because ^(AK)for this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake. ¹¹ For ^(AL)there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ^(AM)‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’

^12 (AN)“If your brother, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, is sold^[d] to you, he shall serve you six years, and in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you. ¹³ And when you let him go free from you, you shall not let him go empty-handed. ¹⁴ You shall furnish him liberally out of your flock, out of your threshing floor, and out of your winepress. ^(AO)As the Lord your God has blessed you, you shall give to him. ^15 (AP)You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you; therefore I command you this today. ¹⁶ But ^(AQ)if he says to you, ‘I will not go out from you,’ because he loves you and your household, since he is well-off with you, ¹⁷ then you shall take an awl, and put it through his ear into the door, and he shall be your slave^[e] forever. And to your female slave^[f] you shall do the same. ¹⁸ It shall not seem hard to you when you let him go free from you, for at half the cost of a hired worker he has served you six years. So the Lord your God will bless you in all that you do.

^19 (AR)“All the firstborn males that are born of your herd and flock you shall dedicate to the Lord your God. You shall do no work with the firstborn of your herd, nor shear the firstborn of your flock. ^20 (AS)You shall eat it, you and your household, before the Lord your God year by year at the place that the Lord will choose. ^21 (AT)But if it has any blemish, if it is lame or blind or has any serious blemish whatever, you shall not sacrifice it to the Lord your God. ²² You shall eat it within your towns. ^(AU)The unclean and the clean alike may eat it, as though it were a gazelle or a deer. ^23 (AV)Only you shall not eat its blood; you shall pour it out on the ground like water.

Book Two

Why Are You Cast Down, O My Soul?

To the choirmaster. A Maskil^[a] of ^(A)the Sons of Korah.

Send Out Your Light and Your Truth