Old/New Testament
The parable of the sower
8 Soon afterwards, Jesus went about in person, with the Twelve, through the towns and villages, announcing and proclaiming the good news of God’s kingdom. 2 They were accompanied by various women who had been healed from evil spirits and diseases: Mary who was called “Magdalene,” from whom seven demons had gone out, 3 Joanna the wife of Chouza (Herod’s steward), and Susanna, and many others. They looked after the needs of Jesus and his companions out of their own pockets.
4 A large crowd came together, and people came to him from town after town. He spoke to them in parables: 5 “A sower went out to sow his seed. As he was sowing, some fell by the road, and was trodden on, and the birds of the air ate it up. 6 Other seed fell on stony ground, and when it came up it withered, because it didn’t have any moisture. 7 Other seed fell in among thorns, and when the thorns grew up they choked it. 8 Other seed again fell into good soil, and came up, and gave a yield of a hundredfold.”
As he said this, he called out: “If you’ve got ears to hear, then hear!”
9 His disciples asked him what this parable was about.
10 “You are being let in on the secrets of God’s kingdom,” he said, “but to the rest it happens in parables, so that ‘they may see but not perceive, and hear but not understand.’
11 “This is the parable: the seed is the word of God. 12 Those by the roadside are people who hear, but then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they won’t believe it and be saved. 13 Those on the stony ground are those who hear the word and receive it with delight—but they don’t have any root, and so they believe only for a time, and then, when a time of testing comes, they draw back. 14 The seed that falls in among thorns represents people who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and they don’t bear proper, ripening fruit. 15 But those in the good soil are the ones who hear the word and hold on to it with an upright and good heart, and who patiently produce fruit.”
Jesus calms the storm
16 “Nobody lights a lamp,” continued Jesus, “and then hides it under a pot or a bed. They put it on a lampstand, so that people who come in can see the light. 17 You see, nothing is hidden which won’t become visible. Nothing is concealed that won’t come to light.
18 “So be careful how you listen. If you’ve got something, more will be given to you; if you haven’t, even what you imagine you have will be taken away from you.”
19 His mother and brothers came to him, and couldn’t get near him because of the crowd. 20 So they sent a message to him: “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.”
21 “Mother and brothers, indeed?” replied Jesus. “Here are my mother and brothers—people who hear God’s word and do it!”
22 One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and suggested that they cross to the other shore. So they set off. 23 As they were sailing, he fell asleep. A violent wind swept down on the lake, and the boat began to fill dangerously with water.
24 “Master, Master!” shouted the disciples, coming and waking him up. “Master, we’re lost!”
He got up and scolded the wind and the waves. They stopped, and there was a flat calm.
25 “Where’s your faith?” he asked them.
They were afraid and astonished. “Who is this, then,” they asked one another, “if he can give orders to wind and water, and they do what he says?”
Scripture quotations from The New Testament for Everyone are copyright © Nicholas Thomas Wright 2011, 2018, 2019.