The Holy Spirit: God Among Us

Sharing Your Faith in the Workplace

Never Alone

When You Feel Like Roommates: 4 Day Plan to Help You Love (And Like) Your Spouse for Life

Gospel-Based Conversations to Have With Your Preteen

Simon Peter's Journey: 'Grace in Failure' (Part 1)

Biblical Wisdom for Making Life’s Decisions

Two-Year Chronological Bible Reading Plan (First Year-January)

Everyday Prayers for Christmas

The Bible in a Month

The Listener’s Bible®: NIV Edition

New International Version™  (Anglicised), Audio Edition

Holy Bible, New International Version™ (Anglicised), South Asian Audio Edition

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkPRO">
 <div class="chapter ch16" data-usfm="PRO.16">
 <div class="label">16</div><div class="q1"> 1To humans belong the plans of the heart,</div><div class="q2">but from the Lord comes the proper answer of the tongue.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 2All a person&#8217;s ways seem pure to them,</div><div class="q2">but motives are weighed by the Lord.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 3Commit to the Lord whatever you do,</div><div class="q2">and he will establish your plans.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 4The Lord works out everything to its proper end&#8212;</div><div class="q2">even the wicked for a day of disaster.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 5The Lord detests all the proud of heart.</div><div class="q2">Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 6Through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for;</div><div class="q2">through the fear of the Lord evil is avoided.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 7When the Lord takes pleasure in anyone&#8217;s way,</div><div class="q2">he causes their enemies to make peace with them.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 8Better a little with righteousness</div><div class="q2">than much gain with injustice.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 9In their hearts humans plan their course,</div><div class="q2">but the Lord establishes their steps.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 10The lips of a king speak as an oracle,</div><div class="q2">and his mouth does not betray justice.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 11Honest scales and balances belong to the Lord;</div><div class="q2">all the weights in the bag are of his making.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 12Kings detest wrongdoing,</div><div class="q2">for a throne is established through righteousness.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 13Kings take pleasure in honest lips;</div><div class="q2">they value the one who speaks what is right.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 14A king&#8217;s wrath is a messenger of death,</div><div class="q2">but the wise will appease it.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 15When a king&#8217;s face brightens, it means life;</div><div class="q2">his favor is like a rain cloud in spring.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 16How much better to get wisdom than gold,</div><div class="q2">to get insight rather than silver!</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 17The highway of the upright avoids evil;</div><div class="q2">those who guard their ways preserve their lives.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 18Pride goes before destruction,</div><div class="q2">a haughty spirit before a fall.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 19Better to be lowly in spirit along with the oppressed</div><div class="q2">than to share plunder with the proud.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 20Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers,#16:20 Or whoever speaks prudently finds what is good</div><div class="q2">and blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 21The wise in heart are called discerning,</div><div class="q2">and gracious words promote instruction.#16:21 Or words make a person persuasive</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 22Prudence is a fountain of life to the prudent,</div><div class="q2">but folly brings punishment to fools.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 23The hearts of the wise make their mouths prudent,</div><div class="q2">and their lips promote instruction.#16:23 Or prudent / and make their lips persuasive</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 24Gracious words are a honeycomb,</div><div class="q2">sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 25There is a way that appears to be right,</div><div class="q2">but in the end it leads to death.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 26The appetite of laborers works for them;</div><div class="q2">their hunger drives them on.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 27A scoundrel plots evil,</div><div class="q2">and on their lips it is like a scorching fire.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 28A perverse person stirs up conflict,</div><div class="q2">and a gossip separates close friends.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 29A violent person entices their neighbor</div><div class="q2">and leads them down a path that is not good.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 30Whoever winks with their eye is plotting perversity;</div><div class="q2">whoever purses their lips is bent on evil.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 31Gray hair is a crown of splendor;</div><div class="q2">it is attained in the way of righteousness.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 32Better a patient person than a warrior,</div><div class="q2">one with self-control than one who takes a city.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 33The lot is cast into the lap,</div><div class="q2">but its every decision is from the Lord.</div><div class="b"></div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkEXO">
 <div class="chapter ch11" data-usfm="EXO.11">
 <div class="label">11</div><div class="s1">The Plague on the Firstborn</div><div class="p"> 1Now the Lord had said to Moses, &#8220;I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. After that, he will let you go from here, and when he does, he will drive you out completely. 2Tell the people that men and women alike are to ask their neighbors for articles of silver and gold.&#8221; 3(The Lord made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and Moses himself was highly regarded in Egypt by Pharaoh&#8217;s officials and by the people.)</div><div class="p"> 4So Moses said, &#8220;This is what the Lord says: &#8216;About midnight I will go throughout Egypt. 5Every firstborn son in Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sits on the throne, to the firstborn son of the female slave, who is at her hand mill, and all the firstborn of the cattle as well. 6There will be loud wailing throughout Egypt&#8212;worse than there has ever been or ever will be again. 7But among the Israelites not a dog will bark at any person or animal.&#8217; Then you will know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel. 8All these officials of yours will come to me, bowing down before me and saying, &#8216;Go, you and all the people who follow you!&#8217; After that I will leave.&#8221; Then Moses, hot with anger, left Pharaoh.</div><div class="p"> 9The Lord had said to Moses, &#8220;Pharaoh will refuse to listen to you&#8212;so that my wonders may be multiplied in Egypt.&#8221; 10Moses and Aaron performed all these wonders before Pharaoh, but the Lord hardened Pharaoh&#8217;s heart, and he would not let the Israelites go out of his country.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkEXO">
 <div class="chapter ch12" data-usfm="EXO.12">
 <div class="label">12</div><div class="s1">The Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread</div><div class="p"> 1The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, 2&#8220;This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. 3Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb#12:3 The Hebrew word can mean lamb or kid; also in verse 4. for his family, one for each household. 4If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat. 5The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. 6Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. 7Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. 8That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. 9Do not eat the meat raw or boiled in water, but roast it over a fire&#8212;with the head, legs and internal organs. 10Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it. 11This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord&#8217;s Passover.</div><div class="p"> 12&#8220;On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. 13The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.</div><div class="p"> 14&#8220;This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord&#8212;a lasting ordinance. 15For seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast. On the first day remove the yeast from your houses, for whoever eats anything with yeast in it from the first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel. 16On the first day hold a sacred assembly, and another one on the seventh day. Do no work at all on these days, except to prepare food for everyone to eat; that is all you may do.</div><div class="p"> 17&#8220;Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt. Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. 18In the first month you are to eat bread made without yeast, from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day. 19For seven days no yeast is to be found in your houses. And anyone, whether foreigner or native-born, who eats anything with yeast in it must be cut off from the community of Israel. 20Eat nothing made with yeast. Wherever you live, you must eat unleavened bread.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 21Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, &#8220;Go at once and select the animals for your families and slaughter the Passover lamb. 22Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the doorframe. None of you shall go out of the door of your house until morning. 23When the Lord goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.</div><div class="p"> 24&#8220;Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance for you and your descendants. 25When you enter the land that the Lord will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony. 26And when your children ask you, &#8216;What does this ceremony mean to you?&#8217; 27then tell them, &#8216;It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221; Then the people bowed down and worshiped. 28The Israelites did just what the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron.</div><div class="p"> 29At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well. 30Pharaoh and all his officials and all the Egyptians got up during the night, and there was loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead.</div><div class="s1">The Exodus</div><div class="p"> 31During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, &#8220;Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship the Lord as you have requested. 32Take your flocks and herds, as you have said, and go. And also bless me.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 33The Egyptians urged the people to hurry and leave the country. &#8220;For otherwise,&#8221; they said, &#8220;we will all die!&#8221; 34So the people took their dough before the yeast was added, and carried it on their shoulders in kneading troughs wrapped in clothing. 35The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and for clothing. 36The Lord had made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for; so they plundered the Egyptians.</div><div class="p"> 37The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Sukkoth. There were about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children. 38Many other people went up with them, and also large droves of livestock, both flocks and herds. 39With the dough the Israelites had brought from Egypt, they baked loaves of unleavened bread. The dough was without yeast because they had been driven out of Egypt and did not have time to prepare food for themselves.</div><div class="p"> 40Now the length of time the Israelite people lived in Egypt#12:40 Masoretic Text; Samaritan Pentateuch and Septuagint Egypt and Canaan was 430 years. 41At the end of the 430 years, to the very day, all the Lord&#8217;s divisions left Egypt. 42Because the Lord kept vigil that night to bring them out of Egypt, on this night all the Israelites are to keep vigil to honor the Lord for the generations to come.</div><div class="s1">Passover Restrictions</div><div class="p"> 43The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, &#8220;These are the regulations for the Passover meal:</div><div class="p">&#8220;No foreigner may eat it. 44Any slave you have bought may eat it after you have circumcised him, 45but a temporary resident or a hired worker may not eat it.</div><div class="p"> 46&#8220;It must be eaten inside the house; take none of the meat outside the house. Do not break any of the bones. 47The whole community of Israel must celebrate it.</div><div class="p"> 48&#8220;A foreigner residing among you who wants to celebrate the Lord&#8217;s Passover must have all the males in his household circumcised; then he may take part like one born in the land. No uncircumcised male may eat it. 49The same law applies both to the native-born and to the foreigner residing among you.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 50All the Israelites did just what the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron. 51And on that very day the Lord brought the Israelites out of Egypt by their divisions.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkEXO">
 <div class="chapter ch13" data-usfm="EXO.13">
 <div class="label">13</div><div class="s1">Consecration of the Firstborn</div><div class="p"> 1The Lord said to Moses, 2&#8220;Consecrate to me every firstborn male. The first offspring of every womb among the Israelites belongs to me, whether human or animal.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 3Then Moses said to the people, &#8220;Commemorate this day, the day you came out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery, because the Lord brought you out of it with a mighty hand. Eat nothing containing yeast. 4Today, in the month of Aviv, you are leaving. 5When the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites and Jebusites&#8212;the land he swore to your ancestors to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey&#8212;you are to observe this ceremony in this month: 6For seven days eat bread made without yeast and on the seventh day hold a festival to the Lord. 7Eat unleavened bread during those seven days; nothing with yeast in it is to be seen among you, nor shall any yeast be seen anywhere within your borders. 8On that day tell your son, &#8216;I do this because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.&#8217; 9This observance will be for you like a sign on your hand and a reminder on your forehead that this law of the Lord is to be on your lips. For the Lord brought you out of Egypt with his mighty hand. 10You must keep this ordinance at the appointed time year after year.</div><div class="p"> 11&#8220;After the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites and gives it to you, as he promised on oath to you and your ancestors, 12you are to give over to the Lord the first offspring of every womb. All the firstborn males of your livestock belong to the Lord. 13Redeem with a lamb every firstborn donkey, but if you do not redeem it, break its neck. Redeem every firstborn among your sons.</div><div class="p"> 14&#8220;In days to come, when your son asks you, &#8216;What does this mean?&#8217; say to him, &#8216;With a mighty hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 15When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord killed the firstborn of both people and animals in Egypt. This is why I sacrifice to the Lord the first male offspring of every womb and redeem each of my firstborn sons.&#8217; 16And it will be like a sign on your hand and a symbol on your forehead that the Lord brought us out of Egypt with his mighty hand.&#8221;</div><div class="s1">Crossing the Sea</div><div class="p"> 17When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, &#8220;If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.&#8221; 18So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea.#13:18 Or the Sea of Reeds The Israelites went up out of Egypt ready for battle.</div><div class="p"> 19Moses took the bones of Joseph with him because Joseph had made the Israelites swear an oath. He had said, &#8220;God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up with you from this place.&#8221;#13:19 See Gen. 50:25.</div><div class="p"> 20After leaving Sukkoth they camped at Etham on the edge of the desert. 21By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. 22Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.</div>
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 <div class="book bkEXO">
 <div class="chapter ch14" data-usfm="EXO.14">
 <div class="label">14</div><div class="p"> 1Then the Lord said to Moses, 2&#8220;Tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp near Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. They are to encamp by the sea, directly opposite Baal Zephon. 3Pharaoh will think, &#8216;The Israelites are wandering around the land in confusion, hemmed in by the desert.&#8217; 4And I will harden Pharaoh&#8217;s heart, and he will pursue them. But I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.&#8221; So the Israelites did this.</div><div class="p"> 5When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, &#8220;What have we done? We have let the Israelites go and have lost their services!&#8221; 6So he had his chariot made ready and took his army with him. 7He took six hundred of the best chariots, along with all the other chariots of Egypt, with officers over all of them. 8The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, so that he pursued the Israelites, who were marching out boldly. 9The Egyptians&#8212;all Pharaoh&#8217;s horses and chariots, horsemen#14:9 Or charioteers; also in verses 17, 18, 23, 26 and 28 and troops&#8212;pursued the Israelites and overtook them as they camped by the sea near Pi Hahiroth, opposite Baal Zephon.</div><div class="p"> 10As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord. 11They said to Moses, &#8220;Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? 12Didn&#8217;t we say to you in Egypt, &#8216;Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians&#8217;? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 13Moses answered the people, &#8220;Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. 14The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 15Then the Lord said to Moses, &#8220;Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. 16Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground. 17I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. And I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen. 18The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 19Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel&#8217;s army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, 20coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long.</div><div class="p"> 21Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, 22and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.</div><div class="p"> 23The Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh&#8217;s horses and chariots and horsemen followed them into the sea. 24During the last watch of the night the Lord looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion. 25He jammed#14:25 See Samaritan Pentateuch, Septuagint and Syriac; Masoretic Text removed the wheels of their chariots so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, &#8220;Let&#8217;s get away from the Israelites! The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 26Then the Lord said to Moses, &#8220;Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen.&#8221; 27Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea went back to its place. The Egyptians were fleeing toward#14:27 Or from it, and the Lord swept them into the sea. 28The water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen&#8212;the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived.</div><div class="p"> 29But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left. 30That day the Lord saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. 31And when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkMRK">
 <div class="chapter ch3" data-usfm="MRK.3">
 <div class="label">3</div><div class="s1">Jesus Heals on the Sabbath</div><div class="p"> 1Another time Jesus went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. 2Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. 3Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, &#8220;Stand up in front of everyone.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 4Then Jesus asked them, &#8220;Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?&#8221; But they remained silent.</div><div class="p"> 5He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, &#8220;Stretch out your hand.&#8221; He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. 6Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.</div><div class="s1">Crowds Follow Jesus</div><div class="p"> 7Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the lake, and a large crowd from Galilee followed. 8When they heard about all he was doing, many people came to him from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, and the regions across the Jordan and around Tyre and Sidon. 9Because of the crowd he told his disciples to have a small boat ready for him, to keep the people from crowding him. 10For he had healed many, so that those with diseases were pushing forward to touch him. 11Whenever the impure spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, &#8220;You are the Son of God.&#8221; 12But he gave them strict orders not to tell others about him.</div><div class="s1">Jesus Appoints the Twelve</div><div class="p"> 13Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. 14He appointed twelve#3:14 Some manuscripts twelve&#8212;designating them apostles&#8212; that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach 15and to have authority to drive out demons. 16These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter), 17James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means &#8220;sons of thunder&#8221;), 18Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot 19and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.</div><div class="s1">Jesus Accused by His Family and by Teachers of the Law</div><div class="p"> 20Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. 21When his family#3:21 Or his associates heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, &#8220;He is out of his mind.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 22And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, &#8220;He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 23So Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables: &#8220;How can Satan drive out Satan? 24If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. 27In fact, no one can enter a strong man&#8217;s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man&#8217;s house. 28Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, 29but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 30He said this because they were saying, &#8220;He has an impure spirit.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 31Then Jesus&#8217; mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. 32A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, &#8220;Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 33 &#8220;Who are my mother and my brothers?&#8221; he asked.</div><div class="p"> 34Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, &#8220;Here are my mother and my brothers! 35Whoever does God&#8217;s will is my brother and sister and mother.&#8221;</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkMRK">
 <div class="chapter ch4" data-usfm="MRK.4">
 <div class="label">4</div><div class="s1">The Parable of the Sower</div><div class="p"> 1Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water&#8217;s edge. 2He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said: 3&#8220;Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. 8Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 9Then Jesus said, &#8220;Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 10When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. 11He told them, &#8220;The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables 12so that,</div><div class="q1"> &#8220;&#8198;&#8216;they may be ever seeing but never perceiving,</div><div class="q2"> and ever hearing but never understanding;</div><div class="q1"> otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!&#8217; # 4:12 
 Isaiah 6:9,10 &#8221;</div><div class="p"> 13Then Jesus said to them, &#8220;Don&#8217;t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? 14The farmer sows the word. 15Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. 16Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 17But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 18Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. 20Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop&#8212;some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.&#8221;</div><div class="s1">A Lamp on a Stand</div><div class="p"> 21He said to them, &#8220;Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don&#8217;t you put it on its stand? 22For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open. 23If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 24 &#8220;Consider carefully what you hear,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;With the measure you use, it will be measured to you&#8212;and even more. 25Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.&#8221;</div><div class="s1">The Parable of the Growing Seed</div><div class="p"> 26He also said, &#8220;This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. 27Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. 28All by itself the soil produces grain&#8212;first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. 29As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.&#8221;</div><div class="s1">The Parable of the Mustard Seed</div><div class="p"> 30Again he said, &#8220;What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? 31It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. 32Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 33With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. 34He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.</div><div class="s1">Jesus Calms the Storm</div><div class="p"> 35That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, &#8220;Let us go over to the other side.&#8221; 36Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, &#8220;Teacher, don&#8217;t you care if we drown?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 39He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, &#8220;Quiet! Be still!&#8221; Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.</div><div class="p"> 40He said to his disciples, &#8220;Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 41They were terrified and asked each other, &#8220;Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!&#8221;</div>
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