Beginning

4 Jesus began to teach people by the sea again. Many people came to him. So he got in a boat on the sea and sat down. The people were by the sea on the land.

² He told the people stories and taught them many things.

³ He said, `Listen. A man went out to sow some seed.

⁴ As he sowed it, some of the seed fell on the road. Birds came and ate the seed.

⁵ Some seed fell on the stony ground. Not much ground covered the stones. The seed started to grow right away because it was not deep in the ground.

⁶ When the sun began to shine, it was too hot for the new plants. They died because they had no roots.

⁷ Some seed fell among the weeds. The weeds grew up and made the new plants die. So no seeds grew on them.

⁸ But some seed fell on good ground. That seed grew and the plants gave more seed. Some plants gave thirty seeds. Some gave sixty. And some gave a hundred.'

⁹ Jesus said to them, `Everyone who has ears to hear, listen!'

¹⁰ Later, Jesus was alone. Then the twelve disciples and the other people who were there asked him about the stories.

¹¹ He said to them, `You can learn the secret things about the kingdom of God. But we must use stories to tell the other people.

¹² `They may look and look, but they will not see. They may listen and listen, but they will not understand. If they did understand, they would turn back to God and he would forgive them for the wrong things they have done.'

¹³ Jesus said also, `Do you not understand this story? How then are you going to understand all the stories?

¹⁴ The man who sows the seed tells God's message.

¹⁵ Those beside the road are like people who hear the message. But as soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes it out of their hearts

¹⁶ The seed that fell on the stony ground is the same. It is like people who hear the message and as soon as they hear it they are very glad.

¹⁷ They believe it for a short time. When trouble or a hard time comes because of the message, they stop believing.

¹⁸ The seed that fell among the weeds is like people who hear the message.

¹⁹ But they think about the things of this world. They want to get money and other things to be happy. These things push the message out of their hearts. No good comes from it.

²⁰ But some seed fell on good ground. That is like people who hear the message and understand it. Much good comes from it. Some people are like the seed that made thirty seeds. Some people are like the seed that gave sixty. Some people are like the seed that gave a hundred.'

²¹ Then Jesus said to them, `People do not bring a light and put it under a basket or under a bed. But they put it on the place for a lamp.

²² Everything that is hidden will be seen. Everything that is secret will be known and come out to be seen.

²³ Everyone who has ears to hear, listen!'

²⁴ And Jesus said, `Take care how you listen. How much you give to others is how much will be given to you. You who obey God will get more than you give.

²⁵ Anyone who has some will get more. But he who does not have anything, even the little that he has will be taken away from him.'

²⁶ And Jesus said, `The kingdom of God is like this. A man sows some seed in the ground.

²⁷ Then he goes on just as he did before. He sleeps at night and wakes up in the morning. The seed begins to grow but he doesn't know what makes it grow.

²⁸ The ground itself makes the seed grow. First the plant comes up. Then it begins to have seed of its own. After a while the harvest is ready.

²⁹ When the harvest is really ready, he cuts it right away because the harvest time has come.'

³⁰ And Jesus said, `What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I say it is like?

³¹ It is like this. A mustard seed is the smallest seed that is ever planted in the earth.

³² But the plant that grows from that seed is bigger than any other plant. It puts out very big branches. The birds come and live in its branches.'

³³ Jesus told the people many stories like this. He told them as much of God's words as they were able to understand.

³⁴ He did not tell them anything without a story. When he was alone with his disciples, he told them the meaning of the stories.

³⁵ In the evening of that day, Jesus said to his disciples, `Let us cross over to the other side of the sea.'

³⁶ The disciples left the people and took Jesus away in the boat he was in. Other little boats were with him.

³⁷ A very strong wind began to blow. Water came in the boat. It began to fill up with water.

³⁸ Jesus was in the back end of the boat, sleeping with his head on a pillow. The disciples woke him up. `Master,' they shouted. `We will die! Do you not care?'

³⁹ Then Jesus got up. He said to the wind and the sea, `Stop!' The wind stopped. Then all was quiet.

⁴⁰ Then he said to the disciples, `Why do you fear? Do you not believe in God?'

⁴¹ The disciples were surprised. They said to each other, `What kind of man is this? Even the wind and the sea obey him.'

5 They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gadarene people.

² There were graves in that place. As soon as Jesus came out of the boat, a man came from among the graves to meet him. The man had a bad spirit in him.

³ The man lived among the graves. No person could tie him, not even with chains.

⁴ Many times people had tied him with strong ropes and chains. But he broke the chains and tore the ropes into many pieces. No person was strong enough to hold the man.

⁵ All the time he stayed in the hills where the graves were. He screamed day and night and cut himself with sharp stones.

⁶ Jesus was still far from him, but when he saw Jesus he ran to him. He kneeled down in front of Jesus and worshipped him.

⁷ He called out loud, `Jesus, Son of the High God, what are you going to do to me? I beg you not to hurt me.'

⁸ He said this because Jesus had said to him, `You bad spirit, come out of the man.'

⁹ Jesus asked, `What is your name?' He answered, `My name is An Army, for we are many.'

¹⁰ He begged Jesus saying, `Do not send us out of the country.'

¹¹ Many pigs were feeding on the hill there.

¹² The bad spirits begged Jesus saying, `Send us to the pigs so that we can go into them.'

¹³ Jesus let them go right away. The bad spirits came out of the man and went into the pigs. The pigs ran fast down the steep hill into the sea. They died in the water. The number of pigs was about two thousand.

¹⁴ Then the men who cared for the pigs ran away. They told the people in the city and all around the country about it. The people went out to see what had happened.

¹⁵ They came to Jesus. They saw the man who had the many bad spirits in him. He was sitting with clothes on and was not crazy any more. The people were afraid.

¹⁶ Those who had seen it told them what had happened to the man who used to have many bad spirits. And they told about the pigs.

¹⁷ Then the people began to beg Jesus to go away out of their country.

¹⁸ So Jesus got into the boat again. The man who used to have the bad spirits in him begged to go with him.

¹⁹ But Jesus did not let him. He said, `Go home. Tell your friends what the Lord has done for you. Tell them that he has helped you.'

²⁰ So the man went away and told people in the Ten Towns what Jesus had done for him. All the people were surprised.

²¹ Jesus crossed over the sea again to the other side. Many people came to him while he was near the water.

²² One of the rulers of the meeting house came to him. His name was Jairus. When he saw Jesus, he kneeled down before him.

²³ He said, `My little daughter is dying. I beg you, come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.'

²⁴ So Jesus went with Jairus. Many people went with Jesus and pushed against him.

²⁵ A woman among them had a sickness for twelve years. She was bleeding all the time.

²⁶ Many doctors tried to heal her. She spent all the money she had to pay them. She was not better, but was getting worse.

²⁷ When she heard of Jesus, she came among the people behind him. Then she reached out and touched his clothes.

²⁸ She said to herself, `If only I touch his clothes, I will be well.'

²⁹ The bleeding stopped right away. She could feel that she was healed of her trouble.

³⁰ Jesus knew right away that power to heal went out from him. He turned around among the people and said, `Who touched my clothes?'

³¹ But his disciples said to him, `You see all these people pushing around you. Why do you ask, "Who touched me?" '

³² He looked around to see who had done it.

³³ The woman was afraid and trembled. She knew what had happened to her. She kneeled down in front of Jesus and told him the truth about herself.

³⁴ He said to her, `Daughter, you were healed because you believed. Go and do not be troubled. You are healed.'

³⁵ While Jesus was still talking, some people came from the ruler's house. They said, `Your daughter has died. Why trouble the Teacher any more?'

³⁶ Jesus heard it. He said to the ruler, `Do not fear. Only believe.'

³⁷ Jesus did not let anyone go with him only Peter, James, and his brother John.

³⁸ They came to the ruler's house. Jesus saw that there was trouble. People were crying and making much noise because the ruler's daughter had died.

³⁹ When he came into the house, he said to them, `Why do you make so much noise and cry? The girl is not dead, but is sleeping.'

⁴⁰ They laughed at him. So he sent them all outside. Then he took the girl's father and mother and the three disciples into the room where the girl was lying.

⁴¹ He took her hand and said, `Talitha cumi!' That means, `Little girl, I tell you, get up!'

⁴² The girl got up right away and walked around. She was twelve years old. The people were very much surprised.

⁴³ Jesus said, `Do not tell anyone about this. Give the girl something to eat.'