1Jesus went down to the lake and started to teach again. A big mob of people came to listen to him. There were too many people, so Jesus got into a boat, pushed it out a little bit away from the dry ground, and sat down there. All the people stayed on the dry ground and listened to his words.
2He told them picture stories to help them understand what he was teaching. Jesus told them this story. He said,
3“You mob listen to me now. A man wanted to grow some seed food in a garden.
4He threw the seeds all over the garden. Some went too far and fell on the road. Some birds saw that seed lying there, so they ate it and finished it up.
5The man kept on throwing seeds and some of those seeds went another way again and fell down on ground that had too much rock in it. Those seeds grew up really fast, but they had too much rock and only a little bit of ground, so when the sun got hot they dried up and died.
7He kept on throwing seeds and some of those seeds went into the rubbish grass growing right next to the garden. Those new seeds tried to grow but the rubbish grass blocked them, so they couldn’t grow properly. They didn’t get any new seeds on top.
8But some of those seeds fell into really good ground and those seeds grew properly. When the seed food plants were ready they had a really big mob of new seeds on top.”
9Then Jesus said, “You’ve got ears, so you have to listen to me properly, and take notice of my words.”
10Some time later Jesus came away from that big mob of people. Then just his 12 close followers and a few other people sat around him. They said to him, “You tell us these picture stories but we can’t understand them. What are your stories all about?”
11Jesus said, “You mob follow me, so God wants you to know what my stories are all about, and I will tell you their meaning. These stories are about the way God gets people into his family. But other people don’t follow me, so they only get the picture stories. I will not tell them what they mean.
12I do it this way so that these words in God’s book will come true, ‘People will look with their eyes at what I do, but they will not try to understand what it means. They will hear my words with their ears, but they will not try to understand them properly. If they do understand me properly then they will turn around and come back to God, and then God will not blame them for the bad things they did. But they don’t want to know about that.’”
13Jesus kept on talking. He said, “Why can’t you understand this picture story? If you can’t understand this easy story you will not understand the other stories I’m going to tell you.
14Listen to me again. In my story, a man threw out the seeds to grow some food. This is like somebody that tells God’s word to people.
15I said that some seeds fell on the road, and the road was too hard, so the seeds stayed on top of it. They couldn’t grow to make new plants. Those seeds are a picture for God’s word. Some people are too hard and don’t listen to God’s word. They are like that road. The birds are a picture of the devil called Satan. He makes them forget God’s word, so they take no notice of its message.
16In my story there was ground with too much rock in it. That is a picture of people that are happy to listen to God’s word and they start to take notice of him.
17But other people see them believing that word and those other people make trouble for them, so they stop listening. They soon turn their back and walk away from God’s word.
18In my story the man threw seeds into some rubbish grass and that grass blocked them. This is a picture of people that hear God’s word,
19but after that they let other things block them. They worry too much about the things they want in this life. They start to think too much about money and they trick themselves. They want a lot of different things all the time and they worry too much about all these things. They just think about what they want for themselves and this blocks God’s word too much, so these people can’t live properly for God.
20In my story, the seeds that fell into the good ground grew properly, and when those plants were big they made lots of new seeds. This is a picture of people that are ready to hear God’s word and do what he says. When they believe God’s word they grow stronger and stronger for God. They learn more and more of God’s message and they share it with other people. Some people in God’s family tell out his stories more than other people.”
21Then Jesus said, “When somebody lights a candle they don’t put it under a bowl, do they? And they don’t put that candle under their bed, do they? No way. People hang lights up high, so everyone can see clearly.
22It’s like this. There are some things you don’t know about yet, but some time later God will tell about them. And there are some things that are secret now, but some time later God will let you know what they are all about.
23You’ve all got ears, so you have to listen to me properly, and take notice of my words.”
24Then Jesus said, “Make sure you listen to me properly and think about what I say. When you really take notice of my message, God will help you understand it, and he will help you to know more and more of his word. But if you don’t want to listen to my message, God will stop you from understanding anything you do hear.”
26Jesus kept on teaching, and said, “I want you to know the way God’s family grows. This is another picture story. A man wanted to grow some seed food, so he threw some seeds on the ground. The seeds fell on the ground and after that the man walked away and left the seeds there. Those seeds grew all by themselves and that man didn’t know what made those seeds grow. He just left them there for many days and they grew. God made those seeds grow in the ground. At first the long stick part grew, and after that the head part grew with all the seeds inside it. At the right time God made the seeds get hard, ready for people to cut down those plants and pick up the seed food. God is boss for everyone and his family will grow just like the seeds in that story.”
30Jesus talked some more. He said, “Do you know what God’s family is like? I will tell you another picture story to help you understand it.
31God’s family is like a really little seed. You know that gum tree? Its seeds are very small.
32When one of those small seeds falls into the ground it grows and grows. Later it gets really big with lots of branches, and birds can sit down in the shade on those branches, and they can make their nests there. Well, God’s family will grow like that.”
33Jesus taught the people this way whenever they were ready to listen.
34He only used picture stories when he talked to all the people. But later, when Jesus was sitting down with only his followers, he told them what the stories really mean.
35On that same day, while Jesus was teaching, the sun started to go down. He was still sitting in the boat, so he stopped teaching and told his followers to take him across the lake.
36So they left all the other people behind and his followers started to take him across the lake in their boat. Some other people got into their boats and followed them.
37A little bit later a really strong storm came up. The wind was very strong, and the waves started to fill the boat with water. It was ready to sink.
38Jesus was asleep in the back of the boat with his head on a pillow. His followers were frightened, so they woke him up and they shouted at him, “Hey, Teacher, we will all drown. And you don’t care. Why don’t you do something?”
39Jesus opened his eyes, stood up and growled at the wind and told that water, “Stop. Be quiet.” Straight away the wind stopped and the water lay down flat. Everything was quiet and still.
40Jesus then said to his followers, “Why are you so frightened?”
41His followers in the boat were really frightened and said to each other, “Hey. Look. The wind and the water listen to this man and do what he says. He is properly powerful.”
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