The Women Who Traveled with Him
1Soon afterward he traveled on from town to town and village to village, proclaiming and announcing the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve went with him, 2and so did some women who had been freed from evil spirits and diseases: Mary, the one called Magdalene, out of whom seven demons had gone; 3Joanna, the wife of Chuza, an official of Herod; Susanna; and many others, who supported them out of what they owned.
The Sower and the Soils
4A large crowd was gathering, and people from town after town kept coming to him, so he spoke to them in a parable: 5“A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he scattered it, some fell along the path, where it was trampled and the birds of the sky ate it up. 6Other seed dropped on rock, and when it came up it dried out, because it had no moisture. 7Other seed fell in among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and smothered it. 8And other seed fell into good soil; it came up and yielded a hundred times over.” As he said this, he called out, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.” 9His disciples began asking him what this parable meant. 10He said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God; to the rest it comes in parables, so that seeing they may not see and hearing they may not understand. 11This is what the parable means. The seed is the word of God. 12Those along the path are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and carries the word away from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. 13Those on the rock are the ones who welcome the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root; they believe for a while, and in the hour of testing they fall away. 14What fell among the thorns stands for those who hear and then go on their way, and are smothered by the worries and wealth and pleasures of this life, and never ripen. 15But what fell in the good soil stands for those who hear the word with a fine and generous heart, hold on to it, and bear fruit through endurance. 16No one lights a lamp and then hides it under a jar or puts it beneath a bed; he sets it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light. 17Nothing is hidden that will not be brought to light, and nothing is concealed that will not be known and come out into the open. 18So pay attention to how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; and whoever has not will lose even what he thinks he has.”
The Family That Listens
19His mother and his brothers came to him, and they could not reach him because of the crowd. 20Word was passed to him: “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.” 21He answered them, “My mother and my brothers are these: the ones who listen to the word of God and act on it.”
The Squall on the Lake
22One day he got into a boat with his disciples and said to them, “Let us cross to the far side of the lake.” So they put out, 23and as they sailed he fell asleep. A squall swept down on the lake; the boat was filling with water and they were in danger. 24They went to him and woke him, shouting, “Master, Master, we are going down!” He got up, rebuked the wind and the surging water, and they died away, and there was a calm. 25He said to them, “Where is your faith?” Frightened and astonished, they said to one another, “Who is this man, that he gives orders even to the winds and the water, and they obey him?”
The Man Whose Name Was Legion
26They sailed down to the region of the Gerasenes, which lies across the lake from Galilee. 27As he stepped ashore, a man from the town met him, a man with demons. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he lived not in a house but among the tombs. 28When he saw Jesus he shrieked, fell down before him and cried at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torture me!” 29For Jesus had ordered the unclean spirit to come out of the man. Many a time it had seized him; he was kept under guard, bound with chains and shackles, but he would snap what held him and be driven by the demon into deserted places. 30Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” “Legion,” he said — for many demons had gone into him. 31And they kept begging him not to order them off into the abyss. 32A sizable herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and the demons begged him to let them go into the pigs. He gave them leave, 33and out they came from the man and into the pigs; and the herd stampeded down the bank into the lake and drowned. 34When the herdsmen saw what had happened they ran off and spread the news in the town and in the countryside. 35People came out to see it. They reached Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone out sitting at Jesus’ feet, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. 36Those who had seen it told them how the man possessed by demons had been rescued. 37Then the whole population of the Gerasene region asked him to leave them, for they were gripped by a great fear. So he got into the boat and turned back. 38The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to stay with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39“Go home and tell everything God has done for you.” So he went off, proclaiming through the whole town all that Jesus had done for him.
A Dying Girl and a Touch in the Crowd
40On his return Jesus was welcomed by the crowd, for they were all expecting him. 41And a man named Jairus arrived, a leader of the synagogue. He fell at Jesus’ feet, pleading with him to come to his house, 42because his only daughter, about twelve years old, was dying. As Jesus went, the crowds pressed in on him from every side. 43A woman who had suffered a flow of blood for twelve years, and whom no one had been able to heal, 44came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and at once her bleeding stopped. 45Jesus said, “Who touched me?” When everyone denied it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds are hemming you in and pressing against you.” 46But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.” 47Seeing that she had not gone unnoticed, the woman came trembling, fell down before him, and told in front of all the people why she had touched him and how she had been healed instantly. 48He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace.” 49While he was still speaking, someone arrived from the house of the synagogue leader and said, “Your daughter has died. Do not trouble the Teacher any further.” 50Jesus heard and answered him, “Do not be afraid. Only believe, and she will be saved.” 51When he reached the house he let no one go in with him except Peter, John and James, and the child’s father and mother. 52Everyone was weeping and beating their breasts for her. He said, “Stop weeping. She is not dead; she is asleep.” 53And they laughed at him, because they knew she had died. 54But he took her by the hand and called out, “Child, get up!” 55Her spirit returned, and she stood up at once, and he directed that she be given something to eat. 56Her parents were beside themselves; but he instructed them to tell no one what had happened.
