Women Accompanying Jesus

¹Soon afterward he went on nthrough cities and villages, proclaiming and obringing the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him, ²and also psome women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: qMary, called Magdalene, rfrom whom seven demons had gone out, ³and sJoanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod's household manager, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them1 out of their means.

The Parable of the Sower

⁴tAnd when a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable, ⁵u“A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. ⁶And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, vit withered away, because it had no moisture. ⁷And some fell among wthorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. ⁸And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded xa hundredfold.” As he said these things, he called out, y“He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

The Purpose of the Parables

⁹And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, ¹⁰he said, z“To you it has been given to know athe secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so bthat ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’ ¹¹cNow the parable is this: The seed is dthe word of God. ¹²The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not ebelieve and be saved. ¹³And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it fwith joy. But these have no root; they gbelieve for a while, and in time of testing hfall away. ¹⁴And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but ias they go on their way they are choked by the jcares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. ¹⁵As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and kbear fruit lwith patience.

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