International Standard Version

New American Standard Bible 1995

1Then Jesus began to teach again beside the sea. Such a large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while the entire crowd remained beside the sea on the shore.

1He began to teach again by the sea. And such a very large crowd gathered to Him that He got into a boat in the sea and sat down; and the whole crowd was by the sea on the land.

2He began teaching them many things in parables. While he was teaching them he said,

2And He was teaching them many things in parables, and was saying to them in His teaching,

3"Listen! A farmer went out to sow.

3"Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow;

4As he was sowing, some seeds fell along the path, and birds came and ate them up.

4as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up.

5Others fell on stony ground, where they didn't have a lot of soil. They sprouted at once, because the soil wasn't deep.

5"Other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil.

6But when the sun came up, they were scorched. Since they didn't have any roots, they dried up.

6"And after the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.

7Others fell among thorn bushes, and the thorn bushes came up and choked them out, and they didn't produce anything.

7"Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.

8But others fell on good soil and produced a crop. They grew up, increased in size, and produced 30, 60, or 100 times what was sown."

8"Other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold."

9He added, "Let the person who has ears to hear, listen!"

9And He was saying, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

10When he was alone with the Twelve and those around him, they began to ask him about the parables.

10As soon as He was alone, His followers, along with the twelve, began asking Him about the parables.

11He told them, "The secret about the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside, everything comes in parables

11And He was saying to them, "To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but those who are outside get everything in parables,

12so that 'they may see clearly but not perceive, and they may hear clearly but not understand, otherwise they might turn around and be forgiven.'"

12so that WHILE SEEING, THEY MAY SEE AND NOT PERCEIVE, AND WHILE HEARING, THEY MAY HEAR AND NOT UNDERSTAND, OTHERWISE THEY MIGHT RETURN AND BE FORGIVEN."

13Then he told them, "You don't understand this parable, so how can you understand any of the parables?

13And He said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand all the parables?

14The farmer sows the word.

14"The sower sows the word.

15Some people are like the seeds along the path, where the word is sown. When they hear it, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.

15"These are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown; and when they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them.

16Others are like the seeds sown on the stony ground. When they hear the word, at once they joyfully accept it,

16"In a similar way these are the ones on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy;

17but since they don't have any roots, they last for only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes along because of the word, they immediately fall away.

17and they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away.

18Still others are like the seeds sown among the thorn bushes. These are the people who hear the word,

18"And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word,

19but the worries of life, the deceitful pleasures of wealth, and the desires for other things come in and choke the word so that it can't produce a crop.

19but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

20Others are like the seeds sown on good soil. They hear the word, accept it, and produce crops—30, 60, or 100 times what was sown."

20"And those are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold."

21Then Jesus told them, "A lamp isn't brought indoors to be put under a basket or under a bed, is it? It's to be put on a lamp stand, isn't it?

21And He was saying to them, "A lamp is not brought to be put under a basket, is it, or under a bed? Is it not brought to be put on the lampstand?

22Nothing is hidden except for the purpose of having it revealed, and nothing is secret except for the purpose of having it come to light.

22"For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light.

23If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen!

23"If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear."

24He went on to say to them, "Pay attention to what you're hearing! You will be evaluated by the same standard with which you do your evaluating, and still more will be given to you,

24And He was saying to them, "Take care what you listen to. By your standard of measure it will be measured to you; and more will be given you besides.

25because whoever has something, will have more given to him. But whoever has nothing, even what he has will be taken away."

25"For whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him."

26He was also saying, "The kingdom of God is like a man who scatters seeds on the ground.

26And He was saying, "The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil;

27He sleeps and gets up night and day while the seeds sprout and grow, although he doesn't know how

27and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows-- how, he himself does not know.

28the ground produces grain by itself—first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head.

28"The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head.

29But when the grain is ripe, he immediately starts cutting with his sickle because the harvest time has come."

29"But when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come."

30He was also saying, "How can we show what the kingdom of God is like, or what parable can we use to describe it?

30And He said, "How shall we picture the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it?

31It's like a mustard seed planted in the ground. Although it's the smallest of all the seeds on earth,

31"It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is smaller than all the seeds that are upon the soil,

32when it's planted it comes up and becomes larger than all the garden plants. It grows such large branches that the birds in the sky can nest in its shade."

32yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and forms large branches; so that THE BIRDS OF THE AIR can NEST UNDER ITS SHADE."

33With many other parables like these, Jesus kept speaking his message to them according to their ability to understand.

33With many such parables He was speaking the word to them, so far as they were able to hear it;

34He did not tell them anything without using a parable, though he explained everything to his disciples in private.

34and He did not speak to them without a parable; but He was explaining everything privately to His own disciples.

35That day, when evening had come, he told them, "Let's cross to the other side."

35On that day, when evening came, He said to them, "Let us go over to the other side."

36So they left the crowd and took him away in a boat without making any special preparations. Other boats were with him.

36Leaving the crowd, they took Him along with them in the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him.

37A violent windstorm came up, and the waves began breaking into the boat, so that the boat was rapidly becoming swamped.

37And there arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up.

38But Jesus was in the back of the boat, asleep on a cushion. So they woke him up and asked him, "Teacher, don't you care that we're going to die?"

38Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke Him and said to Him, "Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?"

39Then he got up, rebuked the wind, and told the sea, "Calm down! Be still!" Then the wind stopped blowing, and there was a great calm.

39And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Hush, be still." And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm.

40He asked them, "Why are you such cowards? Don't you have any faith yet?"

40And He said to them, "Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?"

41Overcome with fear, they kept saying to one another, "Who is this man? Even the wind and the sea obey him!"

41They became very much afraid and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?"

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