Day 415 of 730

¹Again he began to teach by the seaside. A great multitude was gathered to him, so that he entered into a boat in the sea, and sat down. All the multitude were on the land by the sea.

²Then he taught them many things in parables, and told them in his teaching,

³"Listen! Behold, the farmer went out to sow,

⁴and it happened, as he sowed, some seed fell by the road, and the birds came and devoured it.

⁵Others fell on the rocky ground, where it had little soil, and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of soil.

⁶But when the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.

⁷Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.

⁸Others fell into the good ground, and yielded fruit, growing up and increasing. Some brought forth thirty times, some sixty times, and some one hundred times as much."

⁹He said, "Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear."

¹⁰When he was alone, those who were around him with the twelve asked him about the parables.

¹¹And he said to them, "To you has been given the mystery of the Kingdom of God, but to those who are outside, all things are done in parables,

¹²that 'seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest perhaps they should return and be forgiven.'"

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

¹⁴The farmer sows the word.

¹⁵The ones by the road are the ones where the word is sown; and when they have heard, immediately Satan comes, and takes away the word which has been sown in them.

¹⁶These are those who are sown on the rocky places, who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with joy.

¹⁷They have no root in themselves, but are short-lived. When oppression or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they stumble.

¹⁸And others are those who are sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word,

¹⁹but the cares of the age, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

²⁰But those which were sown on the good ground are those who hear the word, and accept it, and bear fruit, some thirty times, some sixty times, and some one hundred times."

²¹And he said to them, "Is the lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed? Is not it put on a stand?

²²For there is nothing hidden, except that it should be made known; neither was anything made secret, but that it should come to light.

²³If any man has ears to hear, let him hear."

²⁴And he said to them, "Take heed what you hear. With whatever measure you measure, it will be measured to you, and more will be given to you.

²⁵For whoever has, more will be given, and he who does not have, even that which he has will be taken away from him."

²⁶And he said, "The Kingdom of God is as if a man should cast seed on the earth,

²⁷and should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should spring up and grow, he does not know how.

²⁸For the earth bears fruit: first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.

²⁹But when the fruit is ripe, immediately he puts forth the sickle, because the harvest has come."

³⁰And he said, "To what will we liken the Kingdom of God? Or with what parable will we use for it?

³¹It's like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, though it is less than all the seeds that are on the earth,

³²yet when it is sown, grows up, and becomes greater than all the herbs, and puts out great branches, so that the birds of the sky can lodge under its shadow."

³³With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it.

³⁴Without a parable he did not speak to them; but privately to his own disciples he explained everything.

³⁵On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, "Let us go over to the other side."

³⁶Leaving the multitude, they took him with them, even as he was, in the boat. Other boats were also with him.

³⁷A big wind storm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so much that the boat was already filled.

³⁸He himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion, and they woke him up, and told him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are dying?"

³⁹And he awoke, and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" The wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

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

⁴¹And they were greatly afraid, and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"

¹Not to us, Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for your loving kindness, and for your truth's sake.

²Why should the nations say, "Where is their God, now?"

³But our God is in the heavens. He does whatever he pleases.

⁴Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands.

⁵They have mouths, but they do not speak. They have eyes, but they do not see.

⁶They have ears, but they do not hear. They have noses, but they do not smell.

⁷They have hands, but they do not feel. They have feet, but they do not walk, neither do they speak through their throat.

⁸Those who make them will be like them; yes, everyone who trusts in them.

⁹Israel, trust in the Lord! He is their help and their shield.

¹⁰House of Aaron, trust in the Lord! He is their help and their shield.

¹¹You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord! He is their help and their shield.

¹²The Lord remembers us. He will bless us. He will bless the house of Israel. He will bless the house of Aaron.

¹³He will bless those who fear the Lord, both small and great.

¹⁴May the Lord increase you more and more, you and your children.

¹⁵Blessed are you by the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

¹⁶The heavens are the heavens of the Lord; but the earth has he given to the children of men.

¹⁷The dead do not praise Yah, neither any who go down into silence;

¹⁸But we will bless Yah, from this time forth and forevermore. Praise the Lord!

¹Whoever loves correction loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.

²A good man shall obtain favor from the Lord, but he will condemn a man of wicked devices.

³A man shall not be established by wickedness, but the root of the righteous shall not be moved.

⁴A worthy woman is the crown of her husband, but a disgraceful wife is as rottenness in his bones.

⁵The thoughts of the righteous are just, but the advice of the wicked is deceitful.

⁶The words of the wicked are about lying in wait for blood, but the speech of the upright rescues them.

⁷The wicked are overthrown, and are no more, but the house of the righteous shall stand.

⁸A man shall be commended according to his wisdom, but he who has a warped mind shall be despised.

⁹Better is he who is lightly esteemed, and has a servant, than he who honors himself, and lacks bread.

¹⁰A righteous man regards the life of his animal, but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.

¹¹He who tills his land shall have plenty of bread, but he who chases fantasies is void of understanding.

¹²The wicked desires the plunder of evil men, but the root of the righteous flourishes.

¹³An evil man is trapped by sinfulness of lips, but the righteous shall come out of trouble.

¹⁴A man shall be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth. The work of a man's hands shall be rewarded to him.

¹⁵The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who is wise listens to counsel.

¹⁶A fool shows his annoyance the same day, but one who overlooks an insult is prudent.

¹⁷He who is truthful testifies honestly, but a false witness lies.

¹⁸There is one who speaks rashly like the piercing of a sword, but the tongue of the wise heals.

¹⁹Truth's lips will be established forever, but a lying tongue is only momentary.

²⁰Deceit is in the heart of those who plot evil, but joy comes to the promoters of peace.

²¹No mischief shall happen to the righteous, but the wicked shall be filled with evil.

²²Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who do the truth are his delight.

²³A prudent man keeps his knowledge, but the hearts of fools proclaim foolishness.

²⁴The hands of the diligent ones shall rule, but laziness ends in slave labor.

²⁵Anxiety in a man's heart weighs it down, but a kind word makes it glad.

²⁶A righteous person is cautious in friendship, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.

²⁷The slothful man doesn't roast his game, but the possessions of diligent men are prized.

²⁸In the way of righteousness is life; in its path there is no death.