Chronological Plan

¹On that day Jesus had gone out of the house and was sitting by the sea.

²And large crowds gathered to Him, so He got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd was standing on the beach.

³And He told them many things in parables, saying, “Behold, the sower went out to sow;

⁴and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up.

⁵Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and they sprang up immediately, because they had no depth of soil.

⁶But after the sun rose, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

⁷Others fellamong the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out.

⁸But others fell on the good soil and yielded a crop, some a hundred, some sixty, and some thirty times as much.

⁹The one who has ears,let him hear.”

¹⁰And the disciples came up and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?”

¹¹And Jesus answered them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted.

¹²For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.

¹³Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.

¹⁴Andin their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, ‘ YOU SHALL KEEP ON LISTENING, BUT SHALL NOT UNDERSTAND; AND YOU SHALL KEEP ON LOOKING, BUT SHALL NOT PERCEIVE;

¹⁵FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL, WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR, AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES, OTHERWISE THEY MIGHT SEE WITH THEIR EYES, HEAR WITH THEIR EARS, UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART, AND RETURN, AND I WOULD HEAL THEM.’

¹⁶But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear.

¹⁷For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

¹⁸“Listen then to the parable of the sower.

¹⁹When anyone hears theword of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one sown with seed beside the road.

²⁰The one sown with seed on the rocky places, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy;

²¹yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution occurs because of theword, immediately hefalls away.

²²And the one sown with seed among the thorns, this is the one who hears the word, and the anxiety of theworld and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and itbecomes unfruitful.

²³But the one sown with seed on the good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces, some a hundred, some sixty, and some thirty times as much.”

²⁴Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heavenis like a man who sowed good seed in his field.

²⁵But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowedweeds among the wheat, and left.

²⁶And when thewheat sprouted and produced grain, then the weeds also became evident.

²⁷And the slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field?How then does it have weeds?’

²⁸And he said to them, ‘An enemy has done this!’ The slaves *said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’

²⁹But he *said, ‘No; while you are gathering up the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them.

³⁰Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and at the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the weeds and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’ ”

³¹He presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a person took and sowed in his field;

³²and this is smaller than all the other seeds, but when it is fully grown, it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that THE BIRDS OF THE SKY come and NEST IN ITS BRANCHES.”

³³He spoke another parable to them: “The kingdom of heaven is likeleaven, which a woman took and hid in threesata of flour until it was all leavened.”

³⁴All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, and He did not speak anything to them without a parable.

³⁵This was so that what was spoken through the prophet would be fulfilled: “I WILL OPEN MY MOUTH IN PARABLES; I WILL PROCLAIM THINGS HIDDEN SINCE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD.”

³⁶Then He left the crowds and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.”

³⁷And He said, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man,

³⁸and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the weeds are the sons of the evil one;

³⁹and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is theend of the age; and the reapers are angels.

⁴⁰So just as the weeds are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at theend of the age.

⁴¹The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdomall stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness,

⁴²and they will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

⁴³Then THE RIGHTEOUS WILL SHINE FORTH LIKE THE SUN in the kingdom of their Father. The one who has ears,let him hear.

⁴⁴“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells everything that he has, and buys that field.

⁴⁵“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls,

⁴⁶and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold everything that he had and bought it.

⁴⁷“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered fish of every kind;

⁴⁸and when it was filled, they pulled it up on the beach; and they sat down and gathered the good fish into containers, but the bad they threw away.

⁴⁹So it will be at theend of the age: the angels will come forth and remove the wicked from among the righteous,

⁵⁰and they will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

⁵¹“Have you understood all these things?” They *said to Him, “Yes.”

⁵²And Jesus said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household, who brings out of his treasure new things and old.”

⁵³When Jesus had finished these parables, He departed from there.

⁵⁴And He came to His hometown and began teaching them in their synagogue, with the result that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man acquire this wisdom and these miraculous powers?

⁵⁵Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is His mother not called Mary, and His brothers, James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas?

⁵⁶And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this man acquire all these things?”

⁵⁷And they took offense at Him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not dishonored except in hishometown and in his own household.”

⁵⁸And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.

¹Soon afterward, Jesus began going around from one city and village to another, proclaiming and preaching the kingdom of God. The twelve were with Him,

²and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and sicknesses: Mary who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out,

³and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others who were contributing to their support out of their private means.

⁴Now when a large crowd was coming together, and those from the various cities were journeying to Him, He spoke by way of a parable:

⁵“The sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell beside the road, and it was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the sky ate it up.

⁶Other seed fell on rocky soil, and when it came up, it withered away because it had no moisture.

⁷Other seed fell among the thorns; and the thorns grew up with it and choked it out.

⁸And yet other seed fell into the good soil, and grew up, and produced a crop a hundred times as much.” As He said these things, He would call out, “The one who has ears to hear,let him hear.”

⁹Now His disciples began asking Him what this parable meant.

¹⁰And He said, “To you it has been granted to know themysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest they are told in parables, so thatwhile seeing they may not see, andwhile hearing they may not understand.

¹¹“Now this is the parable: the seed is the word of God.

¹²And those beside the road are the ones who have heard, then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they will not believe and be saved.

¹³Those on the rocky soil are the ones who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and yet these do not have a firm root;they believe for a while, and in a time of temptation theyfall away.

¹⁴And the seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked by worries, riches, and pleasures of this life, and they bring no fruit to maturity.

¹⁵But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the wordwith a good and virtuous heart, and hold it firmly, and produce fruit withperseverance.

¹⁶“Now no one lights a lamp and covers it over with a container, or puts it under a bed; but he puts it on a lampstand so that those who come in may see the light.

¹⁷For nothing is concealed that will not become evident, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light.

¹⁸So take care how you listen; for whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what hethinks he has will be taken away from him.”

¹⁹Now His mother and brothers came to Him, and they were unable to get to Him because of the crowd.

²⁰And it was reported to Him, “Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, wishing to see You.”

²¹But He answered and said to them, “My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.”

²²Now on one of those days Jesus and His disciples got into a boat, and He said to them, “Let’s cross over to the other side of the lake.” So they launched out.

²³But as they were sailing along He fell asleep; and a fierce gale of wind descended on the lake, and they began to be swamped and to be in danger.

²⁴They came up to Jesus and woke Him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And He got up and rebuked the wind and the surging waves, and they stopped, and it became calm.

²⁵And He said to them, “Where is your faith?” But they were fearful and amazed, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him?”

²⁶Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee.

²⁷And when He stepped out onto the land, a man from the city met Him who was possessed with demons; and he had not put on clothing for a long time and was not living in a house, but among the tombs.

²⁸And seeing Jesus, he cried out and fell down before Him, and said with a loud voice, “What business do You have with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me!”

²⁹For He had already commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For it had seized him many times; and he was bound with chains and shackles and kept under guard, and yet he would break the restraints and be driven by the demon into the desert.

³⁰And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion”; because many demons had entered him.

³¹And they were begging Him not to command them to go away into the abyss.

³²Now there was a herd of many pigs feeding there on the mountain; and the demons begged Him to permit them to enter the pigs. And He gave them permission.

³³And the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs; and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.

³⁴Now when the herdsmen saw what had happened, they ran away and reported everything in the city, and in the country.

³⁵And the people came out to see what had happened; and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting down at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind; and they became frightened.

³⁶Those who had seen everything reported to them how the man who had been demon-possessed had been made well.

³⁷And all the people of the territory of the Gerasenes and the surrounding region asked Him to leave them, because they were overwhelmed by great fear; and He got into a boat and returned.

³⁸But the man from whom the demons had gone out was begging Him that he might accompany Him; but Jesus sent him away, saying,

³⁹“Return to your home and describe what great things God has done for you.” So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city what great things Jesus had done for him.

⁴⁰And as Jesus was returning, the people welcomed Him, for they had all been waiting for Him.

⁴¹And a man named Jairus came, and he was an official of the synagogue; and he fell at Jesus’ feet, and began urging Him to come to his house;

⁴²for he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, and she was dying. But as He went, the crowds were pressing against Him.

⁴³And a woman who had suffered a chronic flow of blood for twelve years, and could not be healed by anyone,

⁴⁴came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.

⁴⁵And Jesus said, “Who is the one who touched Me?” And while they were all denying it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing in on You.”

⁴⁶But Jesus said, “Someone did touch Me, for I was aware that power had left Me.”

⁴⁷Now when the woman saw that she had not escaped notice, she came trembling and fell down before Him, and admitted in the presence of all the people the reason why she had touched Him, and how she had been immediately healed.

⁴⁸And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith hasmade you well; go in peace.”

⁴⁹While He was still speaking, someone *came from the house of the synagogue official, saying, “Your daughter has died; do not trouble the Teacher anymore.”

⁵⁰But when Jesus heard this, He responded to him, “Do not be afraid any longer; only believe, and she will bemade well.”

⁵¹When He came to the house, He did not allow anyone to enter with Him except Peter, John, and James, and the girl’s father and mother.

⁵²Now they were all weeping and mourning for her; but He said, “Stop weeping, for she has not died, but is asleep.”

⁵³And they began laughing at Him, knowing that she had died.

⁵⁴He, however, took her by the hand and spoke forcefully, saying, “Child, arise!”

⁵⁵And her spirit returned, and she got up immediately; and He ordered that something be given her to eat.

⁵⁶Her parents were amazed; but He instructed them to tell no one what had happened.