Read the Gospels in 40 Days
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.'
6 Jesus left that place and went back to his home town. His disciples went with him.
2 On the Sabbath day he began to teach in the meeting house again. Many people who heard him were very much surprised and said, `Where did he learn all this? Where did he get the power to do these big works?
3 Is he not the carpenter? Is not Mary his mother? Are not James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon his brothers? Are not his sisters here with us?' The people did not understand Jesus.
4 Jesus said to them, `Other people honour a man who is a prophet of God. But the people in his own country, his own home, and his family, do not honour him.'
5 Jesus could not do any big works in that place. But he put his hands on a few sick people and healed them.
6 He was surprised that the people did not believe him. He went out to the villages, teaching the people.
7 He called the twelve disciples to him and sent them out two by two. He gave them power to drive bad spirits out of people.
8 He said, `Take only a walking stick with you when you go. Do not take anything else. Do not take any food, or a bag, or money.
9 Wear shoes, but do not take extra clothing with you.
10 When you go into a certain house, live there until you leave the town.
11 In some places the people will not take you in. They will not listen to what you say. When you leave such a town, shake the dust off your feet. That will be a warning to them. I tell you the truth. On the day when people are judged, the people in that town will be punished harder than the people in the country of Sodom and Gomorrah.'
12 The disciples went out and told the people that they should stop doing wrong things.
13 They drove bad spirits out of many people. They also put oil on many sick people and healed them.
14 King Herod heard about these things. People were talking about Jesus everywhere. Herod said, `John the Baptizer is risen from death. That is why he is able to do such great works.'
15 Other people said, `It is Elijah.' Others said, `He is a prophet like the prophets of God who lived long ago.'
16 Herod heard what other people said, so he said, `I cut off John's head. He is alive again.'
17 Herod had sent his people to catch John. They tied him and put him in prison to please Herodias. Herod had married her, but she was his brother Philip's wife.
18 John had told Herod, `It is wrong for you to have your brother's wife.'
20 So Herodias hated John. She wanted to kill him. But she could not because Herod liked John. He knew that John did what was right and was a good man. So he kept John safe. When he heard John speak he was troubled in his heart, and yet he was glad to hear him.
21 rod made a feast on his birthday. He called all his rulers and the captains and the leaders of Galilee to come to the feast.
22 The daughter of Herodias came in and danced for them. This pleased Herod and the people at the feast. Then the king said to the girl, `Ask me for anything you want and I will give it to you.'
23 He made a promise which he would not break. He said, `Anything that you ask me for I will give you, even if you ask me for half of my kingdom.'
24 The girl went to her mother and said, `What shall I ask for?' Her mother said, `Ask for the head of John the Baptizer.'
25 The girl came quickly to the king and said, `I want you to give me the head of John the Baptizer on a plate. Give it to me right away.'
26 The king was very sorry. But he had made a promise and all the people at the feast had heard him promise. He wanted to do what he promised her.
27 Right away he sent one of the soldiers who was standing on guard. He told him to bring John's head. The soldier went to the prison and cut off John's head.
28 He brought the head on a plate and gave it to the girl. She gave it to her mother.
29 When John's disciples heard of it, they came and took his body and buried it.
30 The apostles came back to Jesus. They told him all they had done and taught.
31 Jesus said to them, `Come away with me. Let us go alone to a quiet place and rest for a while.' Many people were coming and going. They could not even eat.
32 So they went away in a boat to a lonely place by themselves.
33 The people saw them going. Many people knew them. The people ran from all the towns and got there ahead of them.
34 When the boat got there, Jesus saw the many people. He was very sorry for them because they were like sheep with no one to care for them. He began to teach them many things.
35 When it was late in the day, his disciples came to him. They said, `This is a lonely place and the time is late.
36 Send these people away to farms and villages to buy food for themselves. They have nothing to eat.'
37 Jesus said, `You give them food to eat.' They said, `Shall we go and buy a lot of bread and give them to eat?'
38 He said, `Go and see how much bread you have.' When they knew, they told him, `We have five loaves of bread and two fish.'
39 Jesus told the disciples to make all the people sit on the green grass in groups.
40 The people sat down in groups. Some groups were a hundred people and some were fifty people.
41 Jesus took the five loaves of bread and the two fish. He looked up to heaven and thanked God for them. Then he broke them in pieces. He gave them to the disciples to give to the people. Then he divided the two fish among them all.
42 They all ate and had enough.
43 Then they gathered twelve baskets full of pieces that were left.
44 The number of men who ate was about five thousand.
45 Then Jesus said to the disciples, `You get into the boat right away and go over to Bethsaida. I will send the people away.'
46 When he had sent the people away, he went up on the hill to talk with God.
47 In the evening the boat was far out on the water. Jesus was alone on the land.
48 He saw the disciples working hard rowing the boat. The wind was blowing the wrong way. When it was almost morning, Jesus came to the disciples. He was walking on the water. He was going to pass by them.
49 But when they saw him walking on the water, they thought it was a spirit. They shouted loudly.
50 They all saw him and were very much afraid. He spoke to them right away. He said, `Be glad! It is I. Do not fear.'
51 Then he got in the boat with them. The wind stopped. They were very much surprised and did not know what to say.
52 They did not understand the lesson about the bread because their minds were too slow.
53 They crossed over the sea and came to the land at Gennesaret. They came to shore.
54 As soon as he got out of the boat, the people knew him.
55 They went quickly to all the country around. They brought sick people in their beds to the place where they heard Jesus was.
56 They laid sick people by the road in villages, towns, and farms and every place he went. They begged him to let them touch his clothes. And all the people who touched him were healed.
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