¹On that day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea.

And great crowds were gathered to Him, so that He stepped into a  ¹boat and sat, and all the crowd stood on the shore.

And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying,  ¹Behold, the  ²sower went out to sow.

And as he sowed, some  ¹seeds fell  ²beside the way, and the  ³birds came and devoured them.

And others fell on the  ¹rocky places, where they did not have much earth, and immediately they sprang up because they had no depth of earth.

But when the  ¹sun rose, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered.

And others fell on the  ¹thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them.

But others fell on the  ¹good earth and yielded fruit, one a hundredfold, and one sixtyfold, and one thirtyfold.

He who has  ¹ears to hear, let him hear.

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

And He answered and said to them, Because to you it has been given to know the  ¹mysteries of the kingdom of the heavens, but to them it has not been given.

For  ¹whoever has, it shall be given to him, and he will abound; but  ²whoever does not have, even that which he has shall be taken away from him.

For this reason I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.

And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, "In hearing you shall hear and by no means understand, and seeing you shall see and by no means perceive.

For the heart of this people has become fat, and with their ears they have heard heavily, and their eyes they have closed, lest they perceive with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart, and they turn around, and I will heal them.”

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

For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men have desired to perceive the things that you  ¹see, and have not perceived them, and to hear the things that you hear, and have not heard them.

You therefore hear the parable of the one who sowed.

When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand, the  ¹evil one comes and snatches away that which has been sown in his heart. This is the one sown beside the way.

And the one sown on the rocky places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy;

Yet he does not have root in himself but lasts only for a time, and when affliction or persecution occurs because of the word, immediately he is stumbled.

And the one sown in the thorns, this is he who hears the word, and the anxiety of the age and the deceitfulness of riches utterly choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

But the one sown on the good earth, this is he who hears the word and understands, who by all means bears fruit and produces, one a hundredfold, and one sixtyfold, and one thirtyfold.

Another parable He set before them, saying, The  ¹kingdom of the heavens has become like a man sowing good seed in his field.

But while the  ¹men slept, his enemy came and sowed  ²tares in the midst of the  ³wheat and went away.

And when the blade sprouted and produced fruit, then the tares appeared also.

And the slaves of the master of the house came and said to him, Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where then did the tares come from?

And he said to them, An enemy has done this. And the slaves said to him, Do you want us then to go and  ¹collect them?

But he said, No, lest while  ¹collecting the tares, you uproot the wheat along with them.

Let both  ¹grow together until the harvest, and at the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, Collect first the tares and bind them into bundles to burn them up, but the wheat gather into my barn.

Another parable He set before them, saying, The kingdom of the heavens is like a  ¹mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field,

And which is smaller than all the seeds; but when it has grown, it is greater than the herbs and becomes a  ¹tree, so that the  ²birds of heaven come and roost in its branches.

Another parable He spoke to them: The kingdom of the heavens is like  ¹leaven, which a  ²woman took and hid in three measures of  ³meal until the whole was leavened.

All these things Jesus spoke in parables to the crowds, and apart from a parable He spoke nothing to them,

So that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, “I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden  ¹from the foundation of the world.”

Then, leaving the crowds, He went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, Make the parable of the tares of the field clear to us.

And He answered and said, He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man;

And the field is the world; and the  ¹good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one;

And the enemy who sowed them is the devil; and the harvest is the consummation of the age; and the reapers are angels.

Therefore just as the tares are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the consummation of the age.

The Son of Man will send His angels, and they will collect out of  ¹His kingdom all the stumbling blocks and those who practice lawlessness,

And will cast them into the  ¹furnace of fire. In that place there will be the  ²weeping and the gnashing of teeth.

Then the  ¹righteous will shine forth like the sun in the  ²kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

The kingdom of the heavens is like a  ¹treasure hidden in the  ²field, which a  ³man found and hid, and in his joy goes and sells all that he has, and buys that field.

Again, the kingdom of the heavens is like a  ¹merchant seeking fine pearls;

And finding one  ¹pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.

Again, the kingdom of the heavens is like a  ¹net cast into the  ²sea and gathering from  ³every species,

Which, when it was filled, they brought onto the shore, and sat down and collected the  ¹good into vessels; but the foul they cast out.

So it will be at the consummation of the age: the angels will go forth and separate the evil from the midst of the righteous,

And will cast them into the  ¹furnace of fire. In that place there will be the  ²weeping and the gnashing of teeth.

Have you understood all these things? They said to Him, Yes.

And He said to them, For this reason every scribe discipled to the kingdom of the heavens is like a householder who brings forth out of his  ¹treasure things new and old.

And when Jesus had finished these parables, He departed from there.

And He came into His own country and taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astounded and said, Where did this man get this wisdom and these works of power?

Is not this the  ¹carpenter's son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?

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

And they were stumbled because of Him. But Jesus said to them, A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house.

And He did  ¹not do many works of power there because of their unbelief.

At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the report concerning Jesus,

And he said to his servants, This is John the Baptist; he has been raised from the dead, and because of this these works of power  ¹are operating through him.

For Herod had seized John and bound him and put him in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of Philip his brother.

For John had been saying to him, It is not lawful for you to have her.

And though he desired to kill him, he feared the crowd because they held him as a prophet.

But when Herod's birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced in their midst and pleased Herod;

Hence, he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked.

And she, being instigated by her mother, said, Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.

And the king was grieved, yet because of the oaths and those reclining at table with him, he commanded it to be given.

And he sent men and  ¹beheaded John in the prison.

And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother.

And his disciples came and took the corpse and buried it; and they came and reported the matter to Jesus.

And when Jesus heard this, He  ¹withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place privately. And when the crowds heard of it, they  ²followed Him on foot from the cities.

And going forth, He saw a great crowd, and He was moved with compassion for them and healed their sick.

Now when evening fell, the disciples came to Him, saying, This place is deserted and the hour is already  ¹late. Send the crowds away that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.

But Jesus said to them, They do not need to go away. You  ¹give them something to  ²eat.

And they said to Him, We do not have anything here except five  ¹loaves and two fish.

And He said,  ¹Bring them here to Me.

And after commanding the crowds to  ¹recline on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and  ²looking up to heaven, He blessed and  ³broke the loaves and  ⁴gave them to the disciples, and the disciples to the crowds.

And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up what was left over of the broken pieces,  ¹twelve handbaskets full.

And those who ate were about five thousand men, apart from women and children.

And immediately He  ¹compelled the disciples to step into the boat and to go before Him to the other side, while He sent the crowds away.

And after He sent the crowds away, He went up to the mountain privately to  ¹pray. And when  ²night fell, He was there alone.

Now the boat was already  ¹in the midst of the sea, being battered by the waves, for the wind was contrary.

And in the  ¹fourth watch of the night He came to them,  ²walking on the sea.

And the disciples, seeing Him walking on the sea, were startled, saying, It is a ghost! And they cried out for fear.

But immediately Jesus talked to them, saying, Take courage.  ¹It is I. Do not be afraid.

And Peter answered Him and said, Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.

And He said, Come. And Peter, coming down from the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.

But  ¹seeing the strong wind, he became frightened; and as he began to sink, he cried out, saying, Lord, save me!

And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him and said to him, You of little faith, why did you  ¹doubt?

And when they got up into the boat, the  ¹wind ceased.

And those who were in the boat worshipped Him, saying, Truly You are the  ¹Son of God.

And they crossed over and came to land at Gennesaret.

And when the men of that place recognized Him, they sent word into all that surrounding region and brought to Him all who were ill.

And they begged Him that they might only touch the  ¹fringe of His garment. And as many as touched were completely  ²healed.

Then some Pharisees and scribes  ¹came to Jesus from Jerusalem, saying,

Why do Your disciples  ¹transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.

And He answered and said to them, Why do you also  ¹transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?

For God said,  ¹“Honor your father and your mother,” and, “He who  ²speaks evil of father or mother, let him  ³be put to death.”

But you say, Whoever says to his father or his mother, Whatever you would have been profited by me is now a  ¹gift to God,

Shall by no means honor his father or his mother; and you have deprived the word of God of its authority because of your tradition.

 ¹Hypocrites! Well has Isaiah prophesied concerning you, saying,

"This people honors Me with their lips, but their  ¹heart stays far away from Me;

But in  ¹vain do they worship Me, teaching as teachings the commandments of men.”

And He called the crowd to Him and said to them, Hear and understand:

It is not that which enters into the mouth that defiles the man; but that which proceeds out of the mouth, this  ¹defiles the man.

Then the disciples came and said to Him, Do You know that the Pharisees were stumbled when they heard this word?

And He answered and said, Every plant which My heavenly Father has  ¹not planted shall be rooted up.

Let them be. They are  ¹blind guides of the blind; and if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.

And Peter answered and said to Him, Explain this parable to us.

And He said, Are you also still without understanding?

Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled into the drain?

But the things which proceed out of the mouth come out of the heart, and those defile the man.

For out of the heart come  ¹evil reasonings, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witnessings, blasphemies.

These are the things which defile the man, but eating with unwashed hands does not defile the man.

And Jesus went from there and withdrew into the parts of  ¹Tyre and Sidon.

And behold, a  ¹Canaanite woman came out from those borders and cried out, saying, Have mercy on me,  ²Lord, Son of David! My daughter suffers terribly from demon possession.

But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and implored Him, saying, Send her away, for she is crying out after us.

But He answered and said, I was not  ¹sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

But she came and  ¹worshipped Him, saying,  ²Lord, help me!

But He answered and said, It is not good to take the children's  ¹bread and throw it to the  ²little dogs.

And she said, Yes, Lord, for even the little dogs eat of the  ¹crumbs which fall from their masters' table.

Then Jesus answered and said to her, O woman, great is your faith! Be it done to you as you wish. And her daughter was healed from that hour.

And Jesus departed from there and came beside the Sea of  ¹Galilee; and He went up to the mountain and sat there.

And great crowds came to Him, having with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, the dumb, and many other sick ones; and they  ¹laid them at His feet, and He healed them,

So that the crowd marveled, because they saw the dumb speaking, the crippled healthy and the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they glorified the God of Israel.

And Jesus called His disciples to Him and said, I am moved with compassion for the crowd, because for three days now they have remained with Me and they do not have anything to eat. And I am  ¹not willing to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.

And the disciples said to Him, Where can we get so many loaves in this  ¹desolate place to satisfy so great a crowd?

And Jesus said to them,  ¹How many loaves do you have? And they said, Seven, and a few small fish.

And after He commanded the crowd to recline on the ground,

He  ¹took the seven loaves and the fish, and giving thanks, He broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples to the crowds.

And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, seven baskets full.

And those who ate were four thousand men, apart from women and children.

And after He sent the crowds away, He stepped into the boat and came to the borders of Magadan.