3

     1 And he came again into the synagogue; There was a man who had a withered hand.  2 And they watched him to see if he would heal him on the sabbath, to accuse him.  3 And he saith unto the man that hath a withered hand, Stand in the midst.  4 And he saith unto them, Is it proper to do good on the sabbath, or to do evil? To save the soul, or to destroy it? But they were silent.  5 And when he looked upon them with anger, grieving for the hardness of their hearts, he said to the man, 'Stretch out thy hand.' He stretched it out, and his hand became as healthy as the other.

     6 And the Pharisees went out, and immediately took counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.  7 But Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea; and a multitude of people followed Him from Galilee, Judea, 8 Jerusalem, Idumea, and from beyond the Jordan. And those who dwelt in the region of Tyre and Sidon, when they heard what he was doing, came to him in great multitudes.  9 And he said unto his disciples, that a boat should be ready for him, because of the multitude, that they might not oppress him.  10 For he healed many, so that those who had plagues rushed to him to touch him.  11 And the unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried out, 'You are the Son of God.'  12 But he strictly rebuked them, lest they should make him known.

     13 Then he went up into the mountain, and called to him whom he himself willed; and come to Him.  14 And he appointed twelve of them, that they might be with him, and that they might send them out to preach, 15 and that they might have power to heal diseases and cast out demons.  16 And he appointed Simon, calling his name Peter, 17 James of Zebedee, and John the brother of James, and calling them the names of Boanerges, that is, "sons of thunder," 18 Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James of Alpheus, Thaddeus, Simon the Canaanite, 19 and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.

     20 They come to the house; and again the people came together, so that it was impossible for them to eat bread.  21 And when his neighbors heard him, they went to take him, for they said that he had lost his temper.  22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said that he had Beelzebub in him, and that he cast out demons by the power of the prince of demons.  23 And having called them, he said to them in parables, 'How can Satan cast out Satan?'  24 If the kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand;  25 And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand;  26 And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but his end has come.  27 No one who enters into the house of a strong man can plunder his goods, except he first bind the strong man, and then he will plunder his house.  28 Verily I say unto you, All sins and blasphemies shall be forgiven the sons of men, no matter how they blaspheme;  29 but whosoever blasphemeth the Holy Ghost shall never be forgiven, but shall be liable to everlasting condemnation.  30 This he said, because they said, 'In him is an unclean spirit.'

     31 And his mother and his brethren came, and standing outside the house, they sent to him to call him.  32 And the people sat around him. And they said unto him, Behold, thy mother, and thy brethren, and thy sisters, outside the house, are asking thee.  33 And he answered them, 'Who are my mother and my brethren?'  34 And when he had looked upon them that sat round about him, he said, 'Behold my mother and my brethren;  35 For whoever does the will of God is my brother, and sister, and mother. 

4

     1 And again he began to teach by the sea; and a great multitude gathered to him, so that he went into the boat and sat on the sea, and all the people were on the land by the sea.  2 And he taught them many parables, and in his teaching he said unto them, 3 Hear, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;  4 And it came to pass, as he sowed, that another thing fell by the wayside, and the birds flew in, and pecked at it.  5 And some fell on a stony place, where there was little earth, and came up quickly, because the earth was not deep;  6 And when the sun rose, it withered, and as it had no root, it withered.  7 Some fell into thorns, and the thorns grew, and choked the seed, and it bore no fruit.  8 And some fell on good ground, and yielded fruit, which sprang up and grew, and brought forth some thirty, and some sixty, and some a hundred.  9 And he said unto them, Whosoever hath ears to hear, let him hear.  10 And when he was left without the multitude, those who were round about him, together with the twelve, asked him about the parable.  11 And he said unto them, 'It has been given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to those who are on the outside all things are in parables;  12 so that they look with their own eyes, and do not see; they hear with their own ears, and do not understand, lest they be converted, and their sins be forgiven.  13 And he said to them, 'Do you not understand this parable?' How then can you understand all the parables?  14 The sower sows the word.  15 That which is sown by the wayside signifies those in whom the word is sown, but to whom, when they hear, Satan immediately comes, and snatches away the word that is sown in their hearts.  16 In like manner also that which is sown in a stony place signifies those who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy, 17 but have no root in themselves, and are fickle. then, when tribulation or persecution for the word comes, they are immediately offended.  18 That which is sown in thorns signifies those who hear the word, 19 but in whom the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and other desires, entering into them, choke the word, and it is without fruit.  20 And that which is sown in good ground signifies those who hear the word, and receive, and bear fruit, some thirty, some sixty, and some a hundredfold.

     21 And he said to them, 'Is this why a candle is brought to put it under a bushel or under a bed?' Is it not to put it on a candlestick?  22 There is nothing hidden that will not be made manifest, and nothing is hidden that will not come out.  23 If any man have ears to hear, let him hear!  24 And he said to them, 'Take note of what you hear: with what measure you measure, it will be measured to you, and it will be added to you that hear.  25 For he who has shall be given, but he who does not have shall have even that which he has shall be taken away from him.

     26 And he said, "The kingdom of God is like this, as if a man cast seed into the ground, 27 and sleeps, and rises night and day; and how the seed sprouts and grows, he does not know, 28 for the earth of itself produces first greenery, then an ear, then a full grain in the ear.  29 And when the fruit is ripe, he immediately sends forth the sickle, because the harvest has come.

     30 And he said, 'To what shall we liken the kingdom of God?' or what parable shall we depict him?  31 It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown in the ground, is the least of all the seeds on the earth;  32 And when it is sown, it sprouts, and becomes greater than all the crops, and sends forth great branches, so that the birds of the air may take refuge under its shade.  33 And with such many parables he preached the word to them, as far as they could hear.  34 And he did not speak to them without a parable, but explained all things to the disciples in private.

     35 In the evening of that day he said to them, 'Let us cross over to the other side.'  36 And they sent the people away, and took him with them, as he was in the boat; There were other boats with Him.  37 And a great storm arose; the waves were hitting the boat, so that it was already filled with water.  E-38 And He slept in the stern at the head. They woke Him up and said to Him: "Teacher! Is there no need of Thee that we are perishing?  39 And when he arose, he rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, 'Be still, be still.' And the wind subsided, and there was a great silence.  40 And he said to them, 'Why are you so afraid?' How is it that you have no faith?  41 And they were afraid, with great fear, and said among themselves, Who then is this, that both the wind and the sea obey him?

5

     1 And they came to the other side of the sea, to the land of the Gadarenes.  2 And when he came out of the boat, straightway there met him a man who came out of the tombs, possessed of an unclean spirit, 3 and he had a dwelling place in the tombs, and no one was able to bind him even with chains, 4 because many times he was bound with fetters and chains, but he broke the chains and broke the fetters, and no one was able to tame him;  5 Always, night and day, in the mountains and in the tombs, he cried out, and beat himself against the stones;  6 And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshipped him, 7 and cried out with a loud voice, saying, 'What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?' I adjure Thee by God, do not torment me!  8 For Jesus said to him, 'Come out, you unclean spirit, out of this man.'  9 And he asked him, 'What is your name?' And he answered and said, "Legion is my name, because we are many."  10 And they besought him much, that he would not send them out of that country.  11 And there was grazing there by the mountain a great herd of swine.  12 And all the demons besought him, saying, 'Send us into swine, that we may enter into them.'  13 And Jesus immediately gave them permission, and the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine; and the herd rushed down the steep slope into the sea, and there were about two thousand of them; and drowned in the sea.  14 And those who tended the pigs ran and told the story in the city and in the villages. And the residents went out to see what happened.  15 And they come to Jesus, and see that the possessed man, in whom the legion was, is sitting and clothed, and of sound mind; and they were afraid.  16 Those who had seen told them how it had happened to the demoniac and about the swine.  17 And they began to ask him that he would depart from their borders.  18 And when he came into the boat, the demon-possessed man asked him to be with him.  19 But Jesus did not allow him, but said, 'Go home to your people and tell them what the Lord has done to you, and how he has had mercy on you.'  20 And he went and began to preach in the Decapolis what Jesus had done to him; and everyone was amazed.