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¹ And again He began to teach by the sea. And a large crowd was gathered to Him, so that He entered into the boat in order to sit in the sea. And all the crowd were on the land toward the sea.² And He taught them many things in parables, and said to them in His teaching:³ Listen! Behold, the sower went out to sow.⁴ And as he sowed, it happened that one indeed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the heaven came and devoured it.⁵ And another fell on the stony place where it did not have much earth. And it sprang up at once, due to not having deepness of earth.⁶ And the sun rising, it was scorched. And through not having root, it was dried out.⁷ And another fell into the thorn-bushes, and the thorn-bushes grew up and choked it; and it did not yield fruit.⁸ And another fell into the good ground, and yielded fruit, going up and increasing; and one bore thirty, and one sixty, and one a hundredfold.⁹ And He said to them, The one having ears to hear, let him hear.¹⁰ And when He was alone, those around Him, with the Twelve, asked Him as to the parable.¹¹ And He said to them, To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God. But to these, those outside, all things are being given in parables,¹² that seeing they may see and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand, lest they should convert, and the sins be forgiven to them. Isa. 6:9, 10 ¹³ And He said to them, Do you not know this parable? And how will you know all parables?¹⁴ The sower sows the Word.¹⁵ And these are those by the wayside where the Word is sown. And when they hear, Satan comes at once and takes away the Word having been sown in their hearts.¹⁶ And likewise, these are the ones having been sown on the rocky places, who, when they hear the Word, they immediately receive it with joy,¹⁷ yet they have no root in themselves, but are temporary. Then trouble or persecution having occurred through the Word, immediately they are offended.¹⁸ These are those being sown into the thorn bushes, those hearing the Word,¹⁹ and the cares of this age, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts about other things entering in, they choke the Word, and it becomes unfruitful.²⁰ And these are those being sown on the good ground, who hear and welcome the Word and bring forth fruit, one thirty, and one sixty, and one a hundredfold.

²¹ And He said to them, Does the lamp come that it may be put under the grain measure, or under the bed? Is it not also that it may be put on the lampstand?²² For not anything is hidden but that it will be revealed, nor anything become covered but that it will come to light.²³ If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.²⁴ And He said to them, Be careful what you hear. With what measure you measure, it will be measured to you; and more will be given to you, the ones hearing.²⁵ For whoever may have, more will be given to him; and the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.²⁶ And He said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed on the earth,²⁷ and should sleep, and rise night and day; and the seed should sprout and lengthen of itself, as he does not know.²⁸ For of itself the earth bears fruit: first greenery, then an ear, then full grain in the ear.²⁹ And when the fruit yields, immediately he "sends forth the sickle, for the harvest has come." Joel 3:13 ³⁰ And He said, To what shall we compare the kingdom of God? Or with what parable shall we compare it?³¹ It is like a grain of mustard, which, when it is sown on the earth, it is lesser than all the seeds of those on the earth.³² And when it is sown, it comes up and becomes greater than all the plants, and produces great branches, so as to enable the birds of the heaven to roost under its shade.³³ And with many such parables He spoke the Word to them, even as they were able to hear.³⁴ But He did not speak to them without a parable. And He explained all things to His disciples privately.

³⁵ And evening having come, He said to them on that day, Let us pass over to the other side.³⁶ And dismissing the crowd they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other small boats also were with Him.³⁷ And a great windstorm occurred, and the waves beat into the boat so that it was filled already.³⁸ And He was on the stern, sleeping on the headrest. And they awakened Him, and said to Him, Teacher, does it not matter to You that we are perishing?³⁹ And being awakened, He rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, Silence! Be still! And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.⁴⁰ And He said to them, Why are you so fearful? How do you not have faith?⁴¹ And they feared a great fear and said to one another, Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?