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Many parables
1 Once again He began to teach beside the sea. And a large crowd was gathered to Him, so that He got into the boat and sat down, out on the water, while the whole crowd was on the land, at the water's edge.
2 Then He began teaching them many things by parables and said to them in His teaching:
Parable of the soils
3 “Listen! Yes, a sower went out to sow.
4 And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it.
5 Some fell on the rocky area where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up quickly because it had no depth of soil.
6 But upon the sun's rising it was scorched, and because it had no root it was withered up.
7 And some fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up and smothered it, and it yielded no fruit.
8 And some fell into the good ground, and coming up and growing it started to produce fruit—yielding thirty times as much, sixty times as much, even a hundred times as much.”
9 Then He said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
The why of parables
10 But when He was alone, those who were around Him, with the twelve, asked Him about the parable.
11 So He said to them: “To you it has been given to know the mystery of the Kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, everything is being given in parables,
12 so that:
‘Seeing they may see, and not perceive;
and hearing they may hear, and not understand;
so that they should not return
and their sins be forgiven them.’ ”
‘The soils’ explained
13 Then He said to them: “Don't you understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?
14 The sower sows the Word.
15 These are the ones where the Word is sown along the path: as soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the Word that was sown in their hearts.
16 Similarly, these are the ones sown on the rocky area: as soon as they hear the Word they receive it with joy,
17 but since they have no root in themselves they are temporary—when oppression or persecution comes because of the Word, they quickly fall away.
18 And these are the ones sown among the thorns: they hear the Word,
19 but the worries of this age, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the undue desires for other things come in and smother the Word, and it becomes unfruitful.
20 And these are the ones sown on the good ground: such people hear the Word, welcome it and produce fruit—thirty times as much, sixty times as much, even a hundred times as much.”
The candlestick
21 Also He said to them: “The lamp is not brought to be put under a box or under a bed, is it? Is it not to be placed on its stand?
22 For there is no ‘hidden’ that may not be exposed, nor has anything been concealed but that it should come to light.
23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!”
24 Then He said to them: “Pay attention to what you hear. With the same measure you use it will be measured to you in return; and to you who hear, more will be added.
25 Because whoever has, to him more will be given; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”
Spontaneous growth
26 He also said: “The Kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter the seed on the ground
27 and should sleep and get up night and day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how.
28 All by itself the earth produces fruit: first a shoot, then a head of grain, then full grain in the head.
29 But as soon as the grain is ready, he sends in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
The mustard seed
30 Again He said: “To what shall we compare the Kingdom of God, or with what sort of parable should we illustrate it?
31 It is like a mustard seed, that when it is sown on the ground is the smallest of all such seeds,
32 yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden herbs and produces big branches, so that the birds of the air are able to rest in its shade.”
33 It was with many such parables that He was speaking the word to them, as they were able to hear it.
34 But apart from a parable He did not speak to them; privately, however, He would explain everything to His disciples.
A supernatural tempest
35 On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.”
36 Since He was already in the boat, they took off with Him, leaving the crowd behind (other little boats were also with Him).
37 Well a strong cyclonic wind came up, such that the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling up.
38 But He was on the poop deck, sleeping on the cushion; so they awakened Him and said to Him, “Teacher, don't you care that we are perishing?”
39 Then, having been awakened, He rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Shut up; be muzzled!” So the wind stopped and there was a complete calm.
40 And He said to them: “Why are you so afraid? How is it that you have no faith?”
41 They were terrified and started saying to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!?”