Luke 8
1 And it came about, after a short time, that he went through town and country giving the good news of the kingdom of God, and with him were the twelve,
Soon after this Jesus went around the towns and villages announcing the good news of God's kingdom. The twelve disciples went with him,
2 And certain women who had been made free from evil spirits and diseases, Mary named Magdalene, from whom seven evil spirits had gone out,
along with a number of women who had been healed from evil spirits and sickness: Mary called Magdalene from whom he had cast out seven demons;
3 And Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod's chief house-servant, and Susanna and a number of others, who gave him of their wealth for his needs.
Joanna, the wife of Herod's manager Chuza; Susanna; and many more who provided support from their personal resources.
4 And when a great number of people came together, and men from every town went out to him, he gave them teaching in the form of a story:
Once when a large crowd of people gathered, coming from many towns to see him, Jesus spoke to them, using a story as an illustration.
5 A man went out to put in seed, and while he was doing it, some was dropped by the wayside and it was crushed under foot, and was taken by the birds of heaven.
“A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he scattered the seed, some fell on the road where people trampled on it and birds ate it up.
6 And some went on the rock, and when it came up it became dry and dead because it had no water.
Some fell on stony ground, and once the seeds had sprouted they withered for lack of moisture.
7 And some went among thorns, and the thorns came up with it and it had no room for growth.
Some seeds fell among thorns and as they both grew the thorns choked the plants.
8 And some falling on good earth, came up and gave fruit a hundred times as much. And with these words he said in a loud voice, He who has ears, let him give ear.
Some seeds fell on good earth and after they grew they produced a harvest one hundred times more than what had been sown.” After he told them this, he called out, “If you have ears, then listen!”
9 And his disciples put questions to him about the point of the story.
But his disciples asked him, “What does this illustration mean?”
10 And he said, To you is given knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God; but to the others, they are given in stories, so that seeing, they may not see, and though they give hearing, the sense will not be clear to them.
Jesus replied, “You've been given insights into the mysteries of God's kingdom, but the rest are given illustrations, so that, ‘Even though they see, they don't really see; and even though they hear, they don't really understand.’
11 Now this is the point of the story: The seed is the word of God.
This is the meaning of the illustration: The seed is God's word.
12 Those by the side of the road are those who have given hearing; then the Evil One comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not have faith and get salvation.
The seeds that fall on the road are those who hear the message, but then the devil comes and steals away the truth from their minds so they won't trust in God and be saved.
13 And those on the rock are those who with joy give hearing to the word; but having no root, they have faith for a time, and when the test comes they give up.
The seeds that fall on the stony ground are those who hear and welcome the message with joy but don't have any roots. They trust for a while but when difficult times come they give up.
14 And those which went among thorns are those who have given hearing, and go on their way, but they are overcome by cares and wealth and the pleasures of life, and they give no fruit.
The seeds that fall among thorns are those who hear the message but it's choked out by life's distractions—worries, wealth, pleasure—so they don't produce anything.
15 And those in the good earth are those who, having given ear to the word, keep it with a good and true heart, and in quiet strength give fruit.
The seeds sown on good earth are those who are honest and do what is right. They hear the message of truth, hold on to it, and through their perseverance produce a good harvest.
16 No man, when the light is lighted, puts a cover over it, or puts it under a bed, but he puts it on its table, so that those who come in may see the light.
You don't light a lamp and then cover it with a bucket, or hide it under a bed. No, you put it on a stand, so that anyone who comes in can see the light.
17 For nothing is put out of view which will not be made clear, and nothing is secret of which the knowledge will not come to light.
For there's nothing hidden that won't be revealed; there's nothing secret that won't become known and obvious.
18 So take care how you give hearing, for to him who has will be given, and from him who has not will be taken even what he seems to have.
So pay attention how you ‘hear.’ To those who have received, more will be given; from those who don't receive, even what they think they have will be taken away!”
19 And his mother and his brothers came to him, and they were not able to get near him because of the great number of people.
Then Jesus' mother and brothers arrived, but they couldn't get through the crowd to see him.
20 And someone said to him, Your mother and your brothers are outside desiring to see you.
Jesus was told, “Your mother and your brothers are outside. They want to see you.”
21 But he said to them in answer, My mother and my brothers are those who have knowledge of the word of God and do it.
“My mother and my brothers are those who hear God's word, and do what it says,” Jesus replied.
22 Now it came about on one of those days that he got into a boat with his disciples; and he said to them, Let us go over to the other side of the water: and they put out the boat.
One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let's cross over to the other side of the lake.” So they got into a boat and set off.
23 But while they were sailing he went to sleep: and a storm of wind came down on the sea, and the boat became full of water and they were in danger.
As they were sailing, Jesus fell asleep, and a storm came down on the lake. The boat began filling with water and they were in danger of sinking.
24 Then they came to him and, awaking him out of his sleep, said, Master, Master, destruction is near. And he, when he was awake, gave orders to the wind and the rolling waves, and the storm came to an end, and all was calm.
They went over to Jesus and woke him up. “Master, master, we're going to drown!” they said. Jesus woke up and commanded the wind and the rough waves to stop. They stopped, and all was calm.
25 And he said to them, Where is your faith? And fear and wonder overcame them, and they said to one another, Who then is this, who gives orders even to the winds and the water and they do what he says?
“Where is your trust?” he asked them. Terrified and amazed, they said to each other, “So who is this? He gives commands to the winds and the water, and they obey him!”
26 And they came to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee.
They sailed across to the Gerasene region that lies opposite Galilee.
27 And when he had come to the land, there came to him a certain man from the town who had evil spirits; and for a long time he had had no clothing on, and was not living in a house but in the place of the dead.
When Jesus stepped out of the boat onto the shore, a demon-possessed man from the town came to meet him. For a long time he hadn't worn any clothes or lived in a house. He lived in the tombs.
28 And when he saw Jesus, he gave a loud cry and went down on the earth before him and in a loud voice said, What have I to do with you, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Do not be cruel to me.
When he saw Jesus he screamed, fell down at Jesus' feet, and asked in a loud voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Please don't torture me, I beg you!”
29 For he gave an order to the evil spirit to come out of the man. For frequently it would take a grip of him: and he was kept under control, and prisoned with chains; but parting the chains in two, he would be sent by the driving of the evil spirit into waste places.
For Jesus had already commanded the evil spirit to leave the man. It had often seized him, and despite being tied down with chains and shackles, and placed under guard, he would break the chains apart and would be driven by the demon into the desert areas.
30 And Jesus said to him, What is your name? And he said, Legion; for a number of spirits had gone into him.
“What is your name?” Jesus asked him. “Legion,” he replied, for many demons had entered him.
31 And they made a request to him that he would not give them an order to go away into the deep. (Abyssos g12)
They begged Jesus not to order them to go into the Abyss. (Abyssos g12)
32 Now there was a great herd of pigs in that place, getting food on the mountain: and the evil spirits made a request to him that he would let them go into the pigs, and he let them.
There was a large herd of pigs feeding on the nearby hillside, and the demons begged him to be allowed to go into the pigs. Jesus gave them permission,
33 And the evil spirits came out of the man and went into the pigs: and the herd went rushing down a sharp slope into the water and came to destruction.
so the demons left the man and entered the pigs. The herd rushed down the steep slope into the lake and drowned.
34 And when the men who took care of them saw what had come about, they went quickly and gave news of it in the town and the country.
When the pig-keepers saw what had happened they ran off and spread the news through the town and the countryside.
35 And they went out to see what had taken place, and they came to Jesus and saw the man out of whom the evil spirits had gone, seated, clothed and with full use of his senses, at the feet of Jesus; and fear came on them.
The people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus they found the man freed from the demons. He was sitting there at Jesus' feet, wearing clothes and in his right mind; and they became scared.
36 And those who had seen it gave them an account of how the man who had the evil spirits was made well.
Those who had seen what happened explained how the demon-possessed man had been healed.
37 And all the people of the country of the Gerasenes made a request to him to go away from them; for they were in great fear: and he got into a boat and went back.
Then all the people from the Gerasene region asked Jesus to leave because they were overwhelmed by fear. So he got into the boat and went back.
38 But the man from whom the evil spirits had gone out had a great desire to be with him, but he sent him away, saying,
The man who had been freed from the demons begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away.
39 Go back to your house and let them have news of all the great things which God has done for you. And he went away, giving word through all the town of the great things which Jesus had done for him.
“Go back home, and tell people all that God has done for you,” Jesus told him. So he went away, telling the whole town all that Jesus had done for him.
40 And when Jesus went back, the people were glad to see him, for they were all waiting for him.
A crowd of people was there to welcome Jesus when he returned, all eagerly expecting him.
41 Then there came a man named Jairus, who was a ruler in the Synagogue: and he went down at the feet of Jesus, desiring him to come to his house;
One was a man called Jairus, a synagogue leader, who came and fell at Jesus' feet. He pleaded with Jesus to come to his home
42 For he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, and she was near to death. But while he was on his way, the people were pushing to be near him.
because his only daughter was dying. She was about twelve years old. While Jesus was on his way there, people were crowding around him.
43 And a woman, who had had a flow of blood for twelve years, and had given all her money to medical men, and not one of them was able to make her well,
In the crowd was a woman who had suffered with bleeding for twelve years. She had spent all she had on doctors, but none of them had been able to help her.
44 Came after him and put her hand on the edge of his robe, and straight away the flowing of her blood was stopped.
She approached Jesus from behind and touched the hem of his cloak. Immediately the bleeding stopped.
45 And Jesus said, Who was touching me? And when they all said, It is not I, Peter and those who were with him said, Master, the people are pushing round you on every side.
“Who touched me?” Jesus asked. Everybody around denied doing so. “But Master,” said Peter, “there are people crowding around you, and they keep pushing up against you.”
46 But Jesus said, Someone was touching me, for I had the feeling that power had gone out from me.
“Someone touched me,” Jesus replied. “I know because power went out from me.”
47 And when the woman saw that she was not able to keep it secret, she came, shaking with fear, and falling down before him she made clear before all the people the reason for her touching him, and how she was made well straight away.
When the woman realized she couldn't go unnoticed, she came forward, trembling, and fell down before him. Right in front of everybody she explained the reason why she had touched Jesus, and that she'd been cured immediately.
48 And he said to her, Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.
Jesus said to her, “Daughter, your trust has healed you, go in peace.”
49 While he was still talking, someone came from the house of the ruler of the Synagogue, saying, Your daughter is dead; do not go on troubling the Master.
While he was still speaking, someone came from the home of the synagogue leader to tell him, “Your daughter's dead. You don't need to bother the Teacher any longer.”
50 But Jesus at these words said to him, Have no fear, only have faith, and she will be made well.
But when he heard this, Jesus told Jairus, “Don't be afraid. If you trust, she will be healed.”
51 And when he came to the house he did not let any man go in with him, but only Peter and John and James, and the father of the girl and her mother.
When Jesus arrived at the house he didn't allow anyone else to go in except Peter, John, and James, and the girl's father and mother.
52 And all the people were weeping and crying for her; but he said, Do not be sad, for she is not dead, but sleeping.
All the people there were crying and mourning for her. “Don't cry,” Jesus told them. “She's not dead, she's just sleeping.”
53 And they were laughing at him, being certain that she was dead.
They laughed at him, because they knew that she was dead.
54 But he, taking her hand, said to her, My child, get up.
But Jesus took her by the hand, and said in a loud voice, “My child, get up!”
55 And her spirit came back to her and she got up straight away: and he gave orders that food was to be given to her.
She came back to life, and she got up at once. Jesus told them to give her something to eat.
56 And her father and mother were full of wonder, but he gave orders to them to say nothing about it to anyone.
Her parents were astonished at what had happened, but Jesus instructed them not to tell anyone about it.
