Luke 8:1-35 ▼

1 AND it came to pass after these things, Jesus was traveling in cities and villages, preaching and giving good news of the kingdom of God. And his twelve were with him,

2 And the women who were healed of diseases and unclean spirits, Mary who is called of Magdala, from whom seven demons went out,

3 And Joanna, the wife of Chuza the steward of Herod, and Susanna, and many others, who ministered to them of their wealth.

4 And when many people had gathered, and were coming to him from all the cities, he spoke by parables.

5 The sower went out to sow his seed. And when he sowed, some fell on the roadside; and it was trodden under foot, and the birds ate it.

6 Other fell upon the rock; and sprung up earlier, and because it had no moisture, it dried up.

7 And other fell among thistles; and the thistles sprung up with it and choked it.

8 And other fell in good and fertile ground; and sprung up and bore fruit a hundredfold. And when he said this, he cried out, He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

9 And his disciples asked him, What is this parable?

10 He said to them, To you it is granted to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to the rest it has to be said in figures; for while they see, they do not perceive; and while they hear, they do not understand.

11 This is the parable. The seed is the word of God.

12 Those on the roadside are those who hear the word; and the enemy comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they may not believe and be saved.

13 Those on the rock are those who when they have heard, receive the word with joy; and yet they have no root, but their belief is for a while, and in time of trial they stumble.

14 That which fell among the thistles are those who hear the word, and then choke themselves with worries and riches and worldly covetousness, and bear no fruit.

15 But that in good soil, these are those who hear the word with pure and good heart, and keep it, and bear fruit with patience.

16 No man lights a lamp and covers it with a vessel, or puts it under the bed; but he puts it on the lamp holder, that whoever enters sees its light.

17 For there is nothing covered which will not be uncovered; and nothing hidden which will not be known, and come to light.

18 Take heed how you hear; for he who has, to him shall be given; and he who has not, even that which he thinks he has shall be taken away from him.

19 And there came to him his mother and his brothers, and they were not able to speak to him because of the crowd.

20 And they said to him, Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, and they want to see you.

21 He answered and said to them, These are my mother and my brothers, those who hear the word of God and do it.

22 It came to pass on one of the days, Jesus went up and sat in a boat with his disciples; and he said to them, Let us cross to the other side of the lake.

23 And while they were rowing Jesus fell asleep; and there rose a storm of wind on the lake; and the boat was near sinking.

24 And they came up and awoke him and said to him, Our teacher, our teacher, we are perishing. He got up and rebuked the winds and the waves of water, and they quieted down, and there was a calm.

25 And he said to them, Where is your faith? But as they were frightened, they wondered, saying one to another, O who is this man, who even commands the winds, and the waves and the sea obey him?

26 And they rowed and came to the country of the Gadarenes, which is on the coast opposite Galilee.

27 And when he landed, he was met by a man from the city, who had the demon in him for a long time, and he did not wear clothes, and did not live in a house, but in the cemetery.

28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell before him, and said in a loud voice, What have we in common, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you not to torment me.

29 For Jesus commanded the unclean spirit to go out of the man. For it was a long time since he was possessed, and bound with chains, and kept in fetters; but he would often break off his bonds and was driven into the desert by the demon.

30 Jesus asked him, What is your name? He said, Legion, because many demons had entered into him.

31 And they besought him not to command them to go down into the abyss.

32 Now there was there a herd of many swine feeding on the mountain; and they besought him to permit them to attack the swine. And he permitted them.

33 Then the demons went out of the man, and they attacked the swine; and that whole herd went straight to the cliff, and fell down into the lake and were drowned.

34 When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the cities and in the villages.

35 And some men went out to see what had happened; and they came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had gone out, dressed, and well behaved, and sitting at the feet of Jesus; and they were afraid.