Women Minister to Jesus 3 UDB Joanna the wife of Chuza, who was one of King Herod Antipas's managers; Susanna; and many others. They were providing some of their own funds to support Jesus and his disciples. BSB BSB: Joanna the wife of Herod’s household manager Chuza, Susanna, and many others. These women were ministering to them out of their own means.
The Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:1–23; Mark 4:1–20)
4 UDB One day a very large crowd was gathering because people were traveling to see Jesus from many different towns. Then he told them this story: BSB BSB: While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, He told them this parable:
5 UDB "A man went out to his field to plant some grain seeds. As he was scattering them over the soil, some of the seeds fell on the hard pathway. Then people walked on those seeds, and birds ate them. BSB BSB: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. And as he was sowing, some seed fell along the path, where it was trampled, and the birds of the air devoured it.
6 UDB Some of the seeds fell on rocky ground that had very little soil. Therefore, as soon as the seeds grew, the plants dried up because there was no moisture. BSB BSB: Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the seedlings withered because they had no moisture.
7 UDB Some of the seeds fell on ground that contained seeds of thorn plants. The thorn plants grew up together with the young grain plants and crowded them out so that they could not grow. BSB BSB: Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the seedlings.
8 UDB But some of the grain seeds fell on fertile soil, and grew so well that they produced a crop that had a hundred times as many seeds." After saying these things, Jesus called out to them, "Every one of you should think carefully about what you just heard me say!" BSB BSB: Still other seed fell on good soil, where it sprang up and produced a crop—a hundredfold.” As Jesus said this, He called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
9 UDB Then Jesus's disciples asked him to tell them the meaning of the story. BSB BSB: Then His disciples asked Him what this parable meant.
10 UDB And he said, "To you has been granted the privilege of knowing the hidden things about how God will rule as king. But I speak to everyone else only in parables, so that, 'Although they see, they may not perceive, and although they hear, they may not understand.' BSB BSB: He replied, “The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that, ‘though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.’
11 UDB "Now, this is what the story means: The seeds represent God's word. BSB BSB: Now this is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God.
12 UDB The seeds that fell on the pathway show what happens when people hear God's word, but afterwards the devil comes and takes that word away from their minds and hearts. As a result, they do not believe it and are not saved. BSB BSB: The seeds along the path are those who hear, but the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.
13 UDB The seeds that fell on the rocky ground show what happens when people hear God's word and receive it joyfully, but they do not have deep roots. As a result, they only believe for a short time. As soon as difficult things happen to them, they stop believing God's word. BSB BSB: The seeds on rocky ground are those who hear the word and receive it with joy, but they have no root. They believe for a season, but in the time of testing, they fall away.
14 UDB The seeds that fell among the thorny plants show what happens when people hear God's word, but then as they go on in life they allow such things as the worries, riches, and pleasures of this life to crowd out God's word from their life. As a result, they do not become spiritually mature. BSB BSB: The seeds that fell among the thorns are those who hear, but as they go on their way, they are choked by the worries, riches, and pleasures of this life, and their fruit does not mature.
15 UDB But the seeds that fell on the fertile ground show what happens when people hear God's word and receive it with an honorable and upright heart. They persevere in believing and obeying the word, and so they produce good spiritual fruit. BSB BSB: But the seeds on good soil are those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, cling to it, and by persevering produce a crop.
The Lesson of the Lamp (Mark 4:21–25)
16 UDB "After lighting a lamp, people do not cover it with a basket or put it under a bed. Instead, they put it on a lampstand, so that everyone who enters the room can see by its light. BSB BSB: No one lights a lamp and covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, he sets it on a stand, so those who enter can see the light.
17 UDB This illustrates that everything that is hidden now will someday be made visible. And everything that is secret now will someday be brought out into the open. BSB BSB: For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be made known and brought to light.
18 UDB So make sure that you are listening carefully to what I tell you, because God will enable those who believe his truth to understand even more. But God will cause those who do not believe his truth to not understand even the little that they think they have understood." BSB BSB: Pay attention, therefore, to how you listen. Whoever has will be given more, but whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken away from him.”
Jesus’ Mother and Brothers (Matthew 12:46–50; Mark 3:31–35)
19 UDB One day Jesus's mother and brothers came to see him, but they could not get near to him because there was such a large crowd around him in the house where he was. BSB BSB: Then Jesus’ mother and brothers came to see Him, but they were unable to reach Him because of the crowd.
20 UDB Then someone told him, "Your mother and your brothers have been standing outside, wanting to see you." BSB BSB: He was told, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to see You.”
21 UDB But he replied to them, "Those who hear God's word and obey it are as dear to me as my mother and my brothers." BSB BSB: But He replied, “My mother and brothers are those who hear the word of God and carry it out.”
Jesus Calms the Storm (Psalm 107:1–43; Matthew 8:23–27; Mark 4:35–41)
22 UDB On another day Jesus got into a boat with his disciples. He said to them, "I would like us to go across to the other side of the lake." So they started to sail across the lake. BSB BSB: One day Jesus said to His disciples, “Let us cross to the other side of the lake.” So He got into a boat with them and set out.
23 UDB But as they were sailing, Jesus fell asleep. Then a powerful windstorm came down on the lake. Soon the boat was filling with water, and they were in danger. BSB BSB: As they sailed, He fell asleep, and a windstorm came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger.
24 UDB So Jesus's disciples came to him and woke him up. They said to him, "Master! Master! We are going to die!" He then woke up and commanded the wind and the violent waves to be still, and they became still. Everything became calm. BSB BSB: The disciples went and woke Him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” Then Jesus got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters, and they subsided, and all was calm.
25 UDB Then he said to them, "Why is your faith so weak?" The disciples were alarmed and amazed because of what had just happened. They kept saying to one another, "Who is this, that he is able to command even the winds and the water, and they obey him?" BSB BSB: “Where is your faith?” He asked. Frightened and amazed, they asked one another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him!”
The Demons and the Pigs (Matthew 8:28–34; Mark 5:1–20)
26 UDB Jesus and his disciples continued sailing and came to the region where the Gerasene people lived, on the opposite side of the lake from the district of Galilee. BSB BSB: Then they sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, across the lake from Galilee.
27 UDB After Jesus stepped out of the boat onto the land, he was met by a certain man from the town in that area. This man had demons in him. For a long time this man had not worn clothes and did not live in a house. Instead, he lived in the burial caves. BSB BSB: When Jesus stepped ashore, He was met by a demon-possessed man from the town. For a long time this man had not worn clothing or lived in a house, but he stayed in the tombs.
28 UDB When he saw Jesus, the man cried out, lay facedown before him, and said with a loud voice, "What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me!" BSB BSB: When the man saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before Him, shouting in a loud voice, “What do You want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You not to torture me!”
29 UDB The man said this because Jesus had just commanded the evil spirit to come out of him. Although the man had been bound with chains on his wrists and ankles while people guarded him, many times the evil spirit would suddenly seize him by force. Then the man would break the chains and the demon would make him go out into deserted places. BSB BSB: For Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was bound with chains and shackles, he had broken the chains and been driven by the demon into solitary places.
30 UDB Then Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" He replied, "My name is Thousands." He said that because many demons had entered that man. BSB BSB: “What is your name?” Jesus asked. “Legion,” he replied, because many demons had gone into him.
31 UDB The demons kept begging Jesus not to command them to go into the deep pit where God punishes demons. BSB BSB: And the demons kept begging Jesus not to order them to go into the Abyss.
32 UDB There was a large herd of pigs grazing on the hillside nearby. The demons begged Jesus to allow them to enter the pigs, and he allowed them. BSB BSB: There on the hillside a large herd of pigs was feeding. So the demons begged Jesus to let them enter the pigs, and He gave them permission.
33 UDB So the demons left the man and entered the pigs, and the herd of pigs rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned. BSB BSB: Then the demons came out of the man and went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.
34 UDB When the men who were taking care of the pigs saw what happened, they ran away! They reported what they had seen to people in the town and in the countryside. BSB BSB: When those tending the pigs saw what had happened, they ran off and reported this in the town and countryside.
35 UDB Then the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to where Jesus was, they saw that the man from whom the demons had gone out was sitting at the feet of Jesus, listening to him. They saw that he had clothes on and that his mind was normal again, and they became afraid. BSB BSB: So the people went out to see what had happened. They came to Jesus and found the man whom the demons had left, sitting at Jesus’ feet, clothed and in his right mind; and they were afraid.
36 UDB The men who had seen what had happened told the people who had just arrived how Jesus had healed the man who had been controlled by demons. BSB BSB: Meanwhile, those who had seen it reported how the demon-possessed man had been healed.
37 UDB Then many people from the surrounding region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave their area because they were very afraid. So Jesus and the disciples got into the boat to go back across the lake. BSB BSB: Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to depart from them, because great fear had taken hold of them. So He got into the boat and started back.
38 UDB Before they left, the man from whom the demons had gone out begged Jesus saying, "Please, let me go with you!" But instead, Jesus sent him away by saying to him, BSB BSB: The man whom the demons had left begged to go with Jesus. But He sent him away, saying,
39 UDB "No, go back to your house and tell people how much God has done for you!" So the man went away and told people throughout the town how much Jesus had done for him. BSB BSB: “Return home and describe how much God has done for you.” So the man went away and proclaimed all over the town how much Jesus had done for him.
The Healing Touch of Jesus (Matthew 9:18–26; Mark 5:21–43)
40 UDB Then Jesus and the disciples went back across the lake to Capernaum. A crowd of people was waiting for him there, and they welcomed him. BSB BSB: When Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed Him, for they had all been waiting for Him.
41 UDB Just then a man named Jairus, who was one of the leaders of the synagogue there, came near to Jesus and he lay facedown before him. He pleaded with Jesus to come to his house BSB BSB: Just then a synagogue leader named Jairus came and fell at Jesus’ feet. He begged Him to come to his house,
42 UDB because his only daughter, who was about twelve years old, was dying and he wanted Jesus to heal her. But as Jesus went, many people were crowding around him. BSB BSB: because his only daughter, who was about twelve, was dying. As Jesus went with him, the crowds pressed around Him,
43 UDB Now in the crowd there was a woman who had been suffering for twelve years from a disease that caused continual bleeding. She had spent all her money to pay doctors to help her, but none of them was able to heal her. BSB BSB: including a woman who had suffered from bleeding for twelve years. She had spent all her money on physicians, but no one was able to heal her.
44 UDB She came behind Jesus and touched the edge of his robe. At once her bleeding stopped. BSB BSB: She came up behind Jesus and touched the fringe of His cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.
45 UDB Jesus said, "Who touched me?" As everyone around Jesus was saying they had not touched him, Peter said, "Master, there are many people crowding around you and pressing up against you, so any one of them might have touched you!" BSB BSB: “Who touched Me?” Jesus asked. But they all denied it. “Master,” said Peter, “the people are crowding and pressing against You.”
46 UDB But Jesus said, "I know that someone deliberately touched me because power has gone out of me to heal that person." BSB BSB: But Jesus declared, “Someone touched Me, for I know that power has gone out from Me.”
47 UDB And when the woman realized that she could not hide, she came trembling to him and she lay facedown on the ground before him. As the other people were listening, she told Jesus why she had touched him and that she had been healed immediately. BSB BSB: Then the woman, seeing that she could not escape notice, came trembling and fell down before Him. In the presence of all the people, she explained why she had touched Him and how she had immediately been healed.
48 UDB And Jesus said to her, "My dear woman, because you believed that I could heal you, you are now well. Now go on your way, and may God's peace be with you." BSB BSB: “Daughter,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”
49 UDB While he was still speaking to her, a man from Jairus's house came and said to Jairus, "Your daughter has died. So do not bother the teacher anymore!" BSB BSB: While He was still speaking, someone arrived from the house of the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” he told Jairus. “Do not bother the Teacher anymore.”
50 UDB But when Jesus heard that, he said to Jairus, "Do not be afraid. Just believe in me and she will live again." BSB BSB: But Jesus overheard them and said to Jairus, “Do not be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed.”
51 UDB When he arrived outside the house, Jesus did not allow anyone to go in the house with him, except for Peter, John and James, and the girl's mother and father. BSB BSB: When He entered the house, He did not allow anyone to go in with Him except Peter, John, James, and the child’s father and mother.
52 UDB And all the people there were crying loudly to show that they were very sad because the girl had died. But Jesus said to them, "Stop crying! She is not dead! She is just sleeping!" BSB BSB: Meanwhile, everyone was weeping and mourning for her. But Jesus said, “Stop weeping; she is not dead but asleep.”
53 UDB And the people laughed at him because they knew that the girl was dead. BSB BSB: And they laughed at Him, knowing that she was dead.
54 UDB But Jesus took hold of her hand and called to her, saying, "Child, get up!" BSB BSB: But Jesus took her by the hand and called out, “Child, get up!”
55 UDB And immediately her spirit returned to her body and she got up. Jesus told them to give her something to eat. BSB BSB: Her spirit returned, and at once she got up. And He directed that she be given something to eat.
56 UDB And her parents were amazed, but Jesus told them not to tell anyone else yet what had happened. BSB BSB: Her parents were astounded, but Jesus ordered them not to tell anyone what had happened.