007:049 Then the other guests began to say to themselves, "Who can
this man be who even forgives sins?"
007:050 But He said to the woman, "Your faith has cured you:
go, and be at peace."
008:001 Shortly after this He visited town after town, and village
after village, proclaiming His Message and telling the Good News
of the Kingdom of God. The Twelve were with Him,
008:002 and certain women whom He had delivered from evil spirits
and various diseases--Mary of Magdala, out of whom seven
demons had come,
008:003 and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, and Susanna,
and many other women, all of whom contributed to the support
of Jesus and His Apostles.
008:004 And when a great crowd was assembling, and was receiving additions
from one town after another, He spoke a parable to them.
008:005 "The sower," He said, "goes out to sow his seed; and as he sows,
some of the seed falls by the way-side, and is trodden upon,
or the birds of the air come and peck it up.
008:006 Another part drops upon the rock, and after growing up it
withers away for want of moisture.
008:007 Another part falls among the thorns, and the thorns grow up
with it and stifle it.
008:008 But some of the seed falls into good ground, and grows up and
yields a return of a hundred for one." While thus speaking,
He cried aloud and said, "Listen, every one who has ears
to listen with!"
008:009 The disciples proceeded to ask Him what this parable meant.
008:010 "To you," He replied, "it is granted to know the secrets
of the Kingdom of God; but all others are taught by parables,
in order that they may see and yet not see, and may hear
and yet not understand.
008:011 The meaning of the parable is as follows. The seed
is God's Message.
008:012 Those by the way-side are those who have heard, and then
the Devil comes and carries away the Message from their hearts,
lest they should believe and be saved.
008:013 Those on the rock are the people who on hearing the Message receive
it joyfully; but they have no root: for a time they believe,
but when trial comes they fall away.
008:014 That which fell among the thorns means those who have heard,
but as they go on their way, the Message is stifled by
the anxieties, wealth and gaieties of time, and they yield
nothing in perfection.
008:015 But as for that in the good ground, it means those who,
having listened to the Message with open minds and in a
right spirit, hold it fast, and patiently yield a return.
008:016 "When any one lights a lamp, he does not cover it with a
vessel or hide it under a couch; he puts it on a lampstand,
that people who enter the room may see the light.
008:017 There is nothing hidden, which shall not be openly seen;
nor anything secret, which shall not be known and come into
the light of day.
008:018 Be careful, therefore, how you hear; for whoever has anything,
to him more shall be given, and whoever has nothing,
even that which he thinks he has shall be taken away from him."
008:019 Then came to Him His mother and His brothers, but could not get
near Him for the crowd.
008:020 But He was told, "Your mother and brothers are standing on
the edge of the crowd, and want to see you."
008:021 "My mother and my brothers," He replied, "are these who hear
God's Message and obey it."
008:022 One day He went on board a boat--both He and his disciples; and He
said to them, "Let us cross over to the other side of the Lake."
So they set sail.
002:023 During the passage He fell asleep, and there came down a squall
of wind on the Lake, so that the boat began to fill and they
were in deadly peril.
008:024 So they came and woke Him, crying, "Rabbi, Rabbi, we are drowning."
Then He roused Himself and rebuked the wind and the surging
of the water, and they ceased and there was a calm.
008:025 "Where is your faith?" He asked them. But they were filled
with terror and amazement, and said to one another,
"Who then is this? for He gives orders both to wind and waves,
and they obey Him."
008:026 Then they put in to shore in the country of the Gerasenes,
which lies opposite to Galilee.
008:027 Here, on landing, He was met by one of the townsmen who was
possessed by demons--for a long time he had not put on any garment,
nor did he live in a house, but in the tombs.
008:028 When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before Him,
and said in a loud voice, "What have you to do with me,
Jesus, Son of God Most High? Do not torture me, I beseech you."
008:029 For already He had been commanding the foul spirit to come
out of the man. For many a time it had seized and held him,
and they had repeatedly put him in chains and fetters and kept
guard over him, but he used to break the chains to pieces,
and, impelled by the demon, to escape into the Desert.
008:030 "What is your name?" Jesus asked him. "Legion," he replied--
because a great number of demons had entered into him;
008:031 and they besought Him not to command them to be gone into
the Bottomless Pit.
008:032 Now there was a great herd of swine there feeding on the hill-side;
and the demons begged Him to give them leave to go into them,
and He gave them leave.
008:033 The demons came out of the man and left him, and entered
into the swine; and the herd rushed violently over the cliff
into the Lake and were drowned.
008:034 The swineherds, seeing what had happened, fled and reported
it both in town and country;
008:035 whereupon the people came out to see what had happened.
They came to Jesus, and they found the man from whom the demons
had gone out sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his
right mind; and they were terrified.
008:036 And those who had seen it told them how the demoniac was cured.
008:037 Then the whole population of the Gerasenes and of the adjacent
districts begged Him to depart from them; for their terror
was great. So He went on board and returned.
008:038 But the man from whom the demons had gone out earnestly asked
permission to go with Him; but He sent him away.
008:039 "Return home," He said, "and tell there all that God has done
for you." So he went and published through the whole town
all that Jesus had done for him.
008:040 Now when Jesus was returning, the people gave Him a warm welcome;
for they had all been looking out for Him.
008:041 Just then there came a man named Jair, a Warden of the Synagogue,
who threw himself at the feet of Jesus, and entreated Him
to come to his house;
008:042 for he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, and she
was dying. And as He went, the dense throng crowded on Him.
008:043 And a woman who for twelve years had been afflicted with haemorrhage--
and had spent on doctors all she had, but none of them had
been able to cure her--
008:044 came close behind Him and touched the tassel of His robe;
and instantly her flow of blood stopped.
008:045 "Who is it touched me?" Jesus asked. And when all denied
having done so, Peter and the rest said, "Rabbi, the crowds
are hemming you in and pressing on you."
008:046 "Some one has touched me," Jesus replied, "for I feel that power
has gone out from me."
008:047 Then the woman, perceiving that she had not escaped notice,
came trembling, and throwing herself down at His feet she
stated before all the people the reason why she had touched
Him and how she was instantly cured.