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\c 4
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\v 1 Again he began to teach beside the sea. And a large crowd gathered around him, so he stepped into a boat in the sea, and sat down. The whole crowd was beside the sea on the shore.
\v 2 And he taught them many things in parables, and he said to them in his teaching,

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\v 3 "Listen, the farmer went out to sow his seed.
\v 4 As he sowed, some seeds fell on the road, and the birds came and devoured them.
\v 5 Other seeds fell on the rocky ground, where it did not have much soil. Immediately they sprang up, because they did not have deep soil.

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\v 6 But when the sun rose, they were scorched, and because they had no root, they dried up.
\v 7 Other seeds fell among the thorn plants. The thorn plants grew up and choked them, and they did not produce any grain.
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\v 8 Other seed fell into good soil and it produced grain while growing up and increasing, and some brought forth thirty times as much, and some sixty, and some a hundred."
\v 9 And he said, "Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear!"

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\v 10 When Jesus was alone, those who were close to him and with the twelve asked him about the parables.
\v 11 He said to them, "To you is given the mystery of the kingdom of God. But to those outside everything is in parables,
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\v 12 so that when they look, yes they look, but do not see,
\q and so that when they hear, yes they hear, but do not understand,
\q or else they would turn and God would forgive them."
\m

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\v 13 And he said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the other parables?
\v 14 The farmer who sows his seed is the one who sows the word.
\v 15 Some are the ones that fall beside the road, where the word was sown. And when they hear it, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.

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\v 16 And some are the ones that are sown on rocky ground, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy.
\v 17 And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a short time. Then tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, and immediately they stumble.

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\v 18 And others are the ones sown among the thorns. They hear the word,
\v 19 but the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires of other things, enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
\v 20 Then there are those who are the ones sown in the good soil. They hear the word and receive it and produce fruit: some thirty, and some sixty, and some a hundred."

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\v 21 Jesus said to them, "Do you bring a lamp inside the house to put it under a basket, or under the bed? You bring it in and you put it on a lampstand.
\v 22 For nothing is hidden that will not be known, and nothing is secret that will not come out into the open.
\v 23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!"

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\v 24 He said to them, "Pay attention to what you hear, for with the measure with which you measure, you will be measured, and it will be added to you.
\v 25 Because whoever has, to him will be given more, and whoever has not, from him will be taken away even what he has."

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\v 26 And he said, "The kingdom of God is like a man who sows his seed on the ground.
\v 27 He sleeps at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how.
\v 28 The earth bears grain by itself: first the blade, then the ear, then the mature grain in the ear.
\v 29 And when the grain is ripe he immediately sends out the sickle, because the harvest has come."

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\v 30 And he said, "To what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use to explain it?
\v 31 It is like a mustard seed which, when it is sown, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth.
\v 32 Yet, when it is sown, it grows and becomes greater than all the garden plants, and it forms large branches, so that the birds of heaven can make their nests in its shade."

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\v 33 With many parables like this he spoke the word to them, as much as they were able to understand,
\v 34 and he did not speak to them without a parable. But when he was alone, he explained everything to his own disciples.

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\v 35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, "Let us go over to the other side."
\v 36 So they left the crowd, taking Jesus with them, since he was already in the boat. Other boats were also with him.
\v 37 And a violent windstorm arose and the waves were breaking into the boat so that the boat was already full.

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\v 38 But Jesus himself was in the stern, asleep on a cushion. They woke him up, saying, "Teacher, do you not care that we are about to die?"
\v 39 And, woken up, he rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Peace, be still." And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

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\v 40 And he said to them, "Why are you afraid? Do you still not have faith?"
\v 41 They were filled with great fear and said to one another, "Who then is this, because even the wind and the sea obey him?"
