Chapter 8

1Soon afterward, Jesus traveled through one town and village after another. He announced the good news that God was beginning to rule, and the twelve apostles traveled with him.

2So did some women who had been healed of evil spirits and illnesses. Among them was Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out;

3Joanna, the wife of Chuza, who managed Herod’s household; Susanna; and many others. These women used their own resources to provide for Jesus and his followers.

4A large crowd gathered, with people coming to Jesus from town after town. He told them this story:

5“A farmer went out to scatter his seed. As he scattered it, some fell beside the path. It was trampled, and birds ate it.

6Some fell on rock. When it sprouted, it dried up because it had no moisture.

7Some fell among thorn plants. The thorns grew up with it and choked it.

8But some fell on good soil. It grew and produced a hundred times as much as was planted.” After saying this, Jesus called out, “If you have ears to hear, then listen!”

9Jesus’ disciples asked him what this story meant.

10He said, “You have been given the ability to understand the secrets of God’s rule. But the rest receive them through stories, so that although they look, they do not truly see, and although they hear, they do not understand.

11“This is what the story means: The seed is God’s message.

12The people beside the path are those who hear. Then the devil comes and takes the message from their hearts so that they will not trust it and be saved.

13The people on the rock are those who hear the message and welcome it with joy. But they have no root. They trust it for a while, then abandon it when they face a time of testing.

14The seed that fell among the thorns represents those who hear, but as they go through life, its worries, wealth, and pleasures choke them. Their lives never produce mature fruit.

15But the seed in the good soil represents those who hear the message with honest and good hearts, hold on to it, and patiently produce fruit.

16“No one lights an oil lamp and covers it with a container or puts it under a bed. Instead, it is placed on a stand so that those who enter can see the light.

17Nothing is hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing is kept secret that will not become known and brought into the open.

18So pay attention to how you listen. Whoever has will be given more. But whoever does not have will lose even what they think they have.”

19Jesus’ mother and brothers came to see him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd.

20Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.”

21Jesus replied, “My mother and brothers are the people who hear God’s message and act on it.”

22One day Jesus got into a boat with his disciples and said, “Let us cross to the other side of the lake.” So they set out.

23As they sailed, Jesus fell asleep. A fierce windstorm swept down onto the lake. The boat began filling with water, and they were in danger.

24The disciples went to Jesus and woke him, shouting, “Master! Master! We’re going to die!” Jesus got up and commanded the wind and the surging waves to stop. They stopped, and everything became calm.

25Then Jesus asked them, “Where is your trust?” Frightened and amazed, they said to one another, “Who is this man? He gives orders even to the winds and the water, and they obey him!”

26They sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, across the lake from Galilee.

27When Jesus stepped onto the shore, a man from the nearby town met him. Demons controlled the man. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he lived among the tombs instead of in a house.

28When he saw Jesus, he screamed, fell down before him, and shouted, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torture me!”

29He said this because Jesus was commanding the evil spirit to come out of the man. The spirit had seized him many times. People had guarded him by binding him with chains and iron restraints, but he broke the restraints and was driven by the demon into deserted places.

30Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He answered, “Legion,” a name suggesting a vast army, because many demons had entered him.

31The demons begged Jesus not to order them into the Abyss, the deep place of imprisonment.

32A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them enter the pigs, and he allowed them.

33The demons came out of the man and entered the pigs. The herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned.

34When the herders saw what had happened, they ran away and reported it in the town and throughout the countryside.

35People came out to see what had happened. When they reached Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out sitting at Jesus’ feet. He was dressed and thinking clearly, and they became afraid.

36Those who had seen it explained how the man who had been controlled by demons had been restored.

37Then all the people from the surrounding Gerasene region asked Jesus to leave them because they were gripped by great fear. So Jesus got into the boat and returned across the lake.

38The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with Jesus. But Jesus sent him away, saying,

39“Return home and tell people everything God has done for you.” The man went throughout the whole town, announcing everything Jesus had done for him.

40When Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him because everyone had been waiting for him.

41Then a man named Jairus came. He was a leader of the synagogue, the local Jewish place of worship. He fell at Jesus’ feet and begged him to come to his house,

42because his only daughter, who was about twelve years old, was dying. As Jesus went, the crowds pressed tightly around him.

43In the crowd was a woman who had suffered constant bleeding for twelve years. She had spent everything she had on doctors, but no one had been able to heal her.

44She came up behind Jesus and touched the edge of his robe. Her bleeding stopped immediately.

45Jesus asked, “Who touched me?” Everyone denied it, and Peter said, “Master, the crowds are surrounding you and pressing against you!”

46But Jesus said, “Someone touched me. I know that healing power went out from me.”

47When the woman realized she had not escaped notice, she came trembling and fell down before Jesus. In front of everyone, she explained why she had touched him and how she had been healed immediately.

48Jesus said to her, “Daughter, your trust has made you well. Go in peace.”

49While Jesus was still speaking, someone came from the synagogue leader’s house and said, “Your daughter has died. Do not trouble the Teacher any longer.”

50When Jesus heard this, he told Jairus, “Do not be afraid. Only trust, and she will be saved.”

51When Jesus reached the house, he allowed no one to enter with him except Peter, John, James, and the girl’s father and mother.

52Everyone was crying and mourning for her. But Jesus said, “Stop crying. She has not died; she is sleeping.”

53They laughed at him because they knew she had died.

54But Jesus took her by the hand and called out, “Child, get up!”

55Her spirit returned, and she stood up immediately. Then Jesus told them to give her something to eat.

56Her parents were overwhelmed with amazement, but Jesus ordered them not to tell anyone what had happened.