1 And again he was teaching by the seaside. And a very great number of people had come to him, so that he got into a boat on the sea and took his seat; and all the people were on the land by the seaside.
2 And he gave them teaching about a number of things in the form of stories, and said to them in his teaching, Give ear:
3 A man went out to put seed in the earth:
4 And while he was doing it, some was dropped by the wayside, and the birds came and took it for food.
5 And some went on the stones, where it had not much earth; and it came up straight away, because the earth was not deep:
6 And when the sun was high, it was burned; and because it had no root, it became dry and dead.
7 And some went among the thorns, and the thorns came up, and it had no room for growth and gave no fruit.
8 And some, falling on good earth, gave fruit, coming up and increasing, and giving thirty, sixty, and a hundred times as much.
9 And he said to them, Whoever has ears, let him give ear.
10 And when he was by himself, those who were round him with the twelve put questions to him about the purpose of the stories.
11 And he said to them, To you is given the secret of the kingdom of God, but to those who are outside, all things are given in the form of stories;
12 So that seeing they may see, and it will not be clear to them; and hearing it, they will not get the sense; for fear that they may be turned again to me and have forgiveness.
13 And he said to them, If you are not clear about this story, how will you be clear about the others?
14 The seed is the word.
15 And these are they by the wayside, where the word is planted; and when they have given ear, the Evil One comes straight away and takes away the word which has been planted in them.
16 And in the same way, these are they who are planted on the stones, who, when the word has come to their ears, straight away take it with joy;
17 And they have no root in themselves, but go on for a time; then, when trouble comes or pain, because of the word, they quickly become full of doubts.
18 And others are those planted among the thorns; these are they who have given ear to the word,
19 And the cares of this life, and the deceits of wealth, and the desire for other things coming in, put a stop to the growth of the word, and it gives no fruit.
20 And these are they who were planted on the good earth; such as give ear to the word, and take it into their hearts, and give fruit, thirty and sixty and a hundred times as much.
21 And he said to them, When the light comes in, do people put it under a vessel, or under the bed, and not on its table?
22 There is nothing covered which will not be seen openly, and nothing has been made secret which will not come to light.
23 If any man has ears, let him give ear.
24 And he said to them, Take care what you give ear to: in the same measure as you give you will get, and more will be given to you.
25 He who has, to him will be given: and he who has not, from him will be taken even that which he has.
26 And he said, Such is the kingdom of God, as if a man put seed in the earth,
27 And went to sleep and got up, night and day, and the seed came to growth, though he had no idea how.
28 The earth gives fruit by herself; first the leaf, then the head, then the full grain.
29 But when the grain is ready, he quickly sends men to get it cut, because the time for cutting has come.
30 And he said, What picture may we give of the kingdom of God, or with what story may we make it clear?
31 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is put in the earth, is smaller than all the seeds on the earth,
32 But when it is planted, it comes up, and becomes taller than all the plants, and puts out great branches, so that the birds of heaven are able to take rest in its shade.
33 And with a number of such stories he gave them his teaching, as they were able to take it:
34 And without a story he said nothing to them: but privately to his disciples he made all things clear.
35 And on that day, when the evening had come, he said to them, Let us go over to the other side.
36 And going away from the people, they took him with them, as he was, in the boat. And other boats were with him.
37 And a great storm of wind came up, and the waves came into the boat, so that the boat was now becoming full.
38 And he himself was in the back of the boat, sleeping on the cushion: and they, awaking him, said, Master, is it nothing to you that we are in danger of destruction?
39 And he came out of his sleep, and gave strong orders to the wind, and said to the sea, Peace, be at rest. And the wind went down, and there was a great calm.
40 And he said to them, Why are you full of fear? have you still no faith?
41 And their fear was great, and they said one to another, Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea do his orders?
1 Again he began to teach by the seaside. A great multitude was gathered to him, so that he entered into a boat in the sea and sat down. All the multitude were on the land by the sea. 2 He taught them many things in parables, and told them in his teaching, 3 "Listen! Behold, the farmer went out to sow. 4 As he sowed, some seed fell by the road, and the birds came and devoured it. 5 Others fell on the rocky ground, where it had little soil, and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of soil. 6 When the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. 7 Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. 8 Others fell into the good ground and yielded fruit, growing up and increasing. Some produced thirty times, some sixty times, and some one hundred times as much." 9 He said, "Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear."
10 When he was alone, those who were around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. 11 He said to them, "To you is given the mystery of God’s Kingdom, but to those who are outside, all things are done in parables, 12 that ‘seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand, lest perhaps they should turn again, and their sins should be forgiven them.’"
13 He said to them, "Don’t you understand this parable? How will you understand all of the parables? 14 The farmer sows the word. 15 The ones by the road are the ones where the word is sown; and when they have heard, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them. 16 These in the same way are those who are sown on the rocky places, who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with joy. 17 They have no root in themselves, but are short-lived. When oppression or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they stumble. 18 Others are those who are sown among the thorns. These are those who have heard the word, 19 and the cares of this age, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 20 Those which were sown on the good ground are those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit, some thirty times, some sixty times, and some one hundred times."
21 He said to them, "Is a lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed? Isn’t it put on a stand? 22 For there is nothing hidden except that it should be made known, neither was anything made secret but that it should come to light. 23 If any man has ears to hear, let him hear."
24 He said to them, "Take heed what you hear. With whatever measure you measure, it will be measured to you; and more will be given to you who hear. 25 For whoever has, to him more will be given; and he who doesn’t have, even that which he has will be taken away from him."
26 He said, "God’s Kingdom is as if a man should cast seed on the earth, 27 and should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should spring up and grow, though he doesn’t know how. 28 For the earth bears fruit by itself: first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. 29 But when the fruit is ripe, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come."
30 He said, "How will we liken God’s Kingdom? Or with what parable will we illustrate it? 31 It’s like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, though it is less than all the seeds that are on the earth, 32 yet when it is sown, grows up and becomes greater than all the herbs, and puts out great branches, so that the birds of the sky can lodge under its shadow."
33 With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it. 34 Without a parable he didn’t speak to them; but privately to his own disciples he explained everything.
35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, "Let’s go over to the other side." 36 Leaving the multitude, they took him with them, even as he was, in the boat. Other small boats were also with him. 37 A big wind storm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so much that the boat was already filled. 38 He himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and asked him, "Teacher, don’t you care that we are dying?"
39 He awoke and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" The wind ceased and there was a great calm. 40 He said to them, "Why are you so afraid? How is it that you have no faith?"
41 They were greatly afraid and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"