Nothing more, nothing less by Gary Rose

Jesus died and rose from the dead, fact, not fiction. Those who desire to follow him follow the same pattern: Death, Burial, and Resurrection.The graphic simply explains the truth and the Scriptures quoted are presented below...

Romans 6:3-17 (WEB)

  ³ Or don’t you know that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  ⁴ We were buried therefore with him through baptism to death, that just like Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life.  ⁵ For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we will also be part of his resurrection;  ⁶ knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be in bondage to sin.  ⁷ For he who has died has been freed from sin.  ⁸ But if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him;  ⁹ knowing that Christ, being raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no more has dominion over him!  ¹⁰ For the death that he died, he died to sin one time; but the life that he lives, he lives to God.  ¹¹ Thus consider yourselves also to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

  ¹²  Therefore don’t let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.  ¹³ Neither present your members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God, as alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.  ¹⁴ For sin will not have dominion over you. For you are not under law, but under grace. ¹⁵ What then? Shall we sin, because we are not under law, but under grace? May it never be!  ¹⁶ Don’t you know that to whom you present yourselves as servants to obedience, his servants you are whom you obey; whether of sin to death, or of obedience to righteousness?  ¹⁷ But thanks be to God, that, whereas you were bondservants of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were delivered. 

 And

 Colossians, Chapter 2:11-13 (WEB)

 ¹¹ in whom you were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ;  ¹² having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.  ¹³ You were dead through your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh. He made you alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,  

Plus

1 Corinthians, Chapter 15 (WEB)
  ¹ Now I declare to you, brothers, the Good News which I preached to you, which also you received, in which you also stand,  ² by which also you are saved, if you hold firmly the word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.  ³ For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,  ⁴ that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

Now, I know that some of you may not believe the Scriptures quoted above, as the world of "Christendom" has a widely held belief in the doctrine of "faith only". But, consider this for a moment- one good example is worth a thousand words..

A good example to follow...

Acts, Chapter 2 (WEB)
  ²²  “Men of Israel, hear these words! Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved by God to you by mighty works and wonders and signs which God did by him in your midst, even as you yourselves know,  ²³ him, being delivered up by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by the hand of lawless men, crucified and killed;  ²⁴ whom God raised up, having freed him from the agony of death, because it was not possible that he should be held by it.  ²⁵ For David says concerning him, 
‘I saw the Lord always before my face,
For he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved.
  ²⁶ Therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced.
Moreover my flesh also will dwell in hope;
  ²⁷ because you will not leave my soul in Hades,
neither will you allow your Holy One to see decay.
  ²⁸ You made known to me the ways of life.
You will make me full of gladness with your presence.’

  ²⁹  “Brothers, I may tell you freely of the patriarch David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.  ³⁰ Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, he would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne,  ³¹ he foreseeing this spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that neither was his soul left in Hades, or did his flesh see decay.  ³² This Jesus God raised up, to which we all are witnesses.  ³³ Being therefore exalted by the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this, which you now see and hear.  ³⁴ For David didn’t ascend into the heavens, but he says himself, 
‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit by my right hand,
  ³⁵ until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”’

  ³⁶  “Let all the house of Israel therefore know certainly that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” 

  ³⁷  Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 

  ³⁸  Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  (emphasis added  vs. 38) ³⁹ For the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all who are far off, even as many as the Lord our God will call to himself.”  ⁴⁰ With many other words he testified, and exhorted them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation!” 

  ⁴¹  Then those who gladly received his word were baptized. (emphasis added vs. 41) There were added that day about three thousand souls. 

All the above Scriptures agree, so I say to you: Do what they did in the first century, nothing more, nothing less.

Bible Reading March 2-4 by Gary Rose

Bible Reading March 2-4

(World English Bible)

Mar. 2

Exodus 12

Exo 12:1 Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,

Exo 12:2 "This month shall be to you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year to you.

Exo 12:3 Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, 'On the tenth day of this month, they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to their fathers' houses, a lamb for a household;

Exo 12:4 and if the household is too little for a lamb, then he and his neighbor next to his house shall take one according to the number of the souls; according to what everyone can eat you shall make your count for the lamb.

Exo 12:5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You shall take it from the sheep, or from the goats:

Exo 12:6 and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month; and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at evening.

Exo 12:7 They shall take some of the blood, and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel, on the houses in which they shall eat it.

Exo 12:8 They shall eat the flesh in that night, roasted with fire, and unleavened bread. They shall eat it with bitter herbs.

Exo 12:9 Don't eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted with fire; with its head, its legs and its inner parts.

Exo 12:10 You shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; but that which remains of it until the morning you shall burn with fire.

Exo 12:11 This is how you shall eat it: with your waist girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste: it is Yahweh's Passover.

Exo 12:12 For I will go through the land of Egypt in that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and animal. Against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am Yahweh.

Exo 12:13 The blood shall be to you for a token on the houses where you are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and there shall no plague be on you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.

Exo 12:14 This day shall be to you for a memorial, and you shall keep it a feast to Yahweh: throughout your generations you shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever.

Exo 12:15 " 'Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread; even the first day you shall put away yeast out of your houses, for whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel.

Exo 12:16 In the first day there shall be to you a holy convocation, and in the seventh day a holy convocation; no manner of work shall be done in them, except that which every man must eat, that only may be done by you.

Exo 12:17 You shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this same day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations by an ordinance forever.

Exo 12:18 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty first day of the month at evening.

Exo 12:19 Seven days shall there be no yeast found in your houses, for whoever eats that which is leavened, that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a foreigner, or one who is born in the land.

Exo 12:20 You shall eat nothing leavened. In all your habitations you shall eat unleavened bread.' "

Exo 12:21 Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said to them, "Draw out, and take lambs according to your families, and kill the Passover.

Exo 12:22 You shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin; and none of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning.

Exo 12:23 For Yahweh will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when he sees the blood on the lintel, and on the two doorposts, Yahweh will pass over the door, and will not allow the destroyer to come in to your houses to strike you.

Exo 12:24 You shall observe this thing for an ordinance to you and to your sons forever.

Exo 12:25 It shall happen when you have come to the land which Yahweh will give you, according as he has promised, that you shall keep this service.

Exo 12:26 It will happen, when your children ask you, 'What do you mean by this service?'

Exo 12:27 that you shall say, 'It is the sacrifice of Yahweh's Passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians, and spared our houses.' " The people bowed their heads and worshiped.

Exo 12:28 The children of Israel went and did so; as Yahweh had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.

Exo 12:29 It happened at midnight, that Yahweh struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of livestock.

Exo 12:30 Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not one dead.

Exo 12:31 He called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, "Rise up, get out from among my people, both you and the children of Israel; and go, serve Yahweh, as you have said!

Exo 12:32 Take both your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone; and bless me also!"

Exo 12:33 The Egyptians were urgent with the people, to send them out of the land in haste, for they said, "We are all dead men."

Exo 12:34 The people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading troughs being bound up in their clothes on their shoulders.

Exo 12:35 The children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they asked of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and clothing.

Exo 12:36 Yahweh gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked. They despoiled the Egyptians.

Exo 12:37 The children of Israel traveled from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot who were men, besides children.

Exo 12:38 A mixed multitude went up also with them, with flocks, herds, and even very much livestock.

Exo 12:39 They baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they brought forth out of Egypt; for it wasn't leavened, because they were thrust out of Egypt, and couldn't wait, neither had they prepared for themselves any food.

Exo 12:40 Now the time that the children of Israel lived in Egypt was four hundred thirty years.

Exo 12:41 It happened at the end of four hundred thirty years, even the same day it happened, that all the armies of Yahweh went out from the land of Egypt.

Exo 12:42 It is a night to be much observed to Yahweh for bringing them out from the land of Egypt. This is that night of Yahweh, to be much observed of all the children of Israel throughout their generations.

Exo 12:43 Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, "This is the ordinance of the Passover. There shall no foreigner eat of it,

Exo 12:44 but every man's servant who is bought for money, when you have circumcised him, then shall he eat of it.

Exo 12:45 A foreigner and a hired servant shall not eat of it.

Exo 12:46 In one house shall it be eaten; you shall not carry forth anything of the flesh abroad out of the house; neither shall you break a bone of it.

Exo 12:47 All the congregation of Israel shall keep it.

Exo 12:48 When a stranger shall live as a foreigner with you, and will keep the Passover to Yahweh, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one who is born in the land: but no uncircumcised person shall eat of it.

Exo 12:49 One law shall be to him who is born at home, and to the stranger who lives as a foreigner among you."

Exo 12:50 All the children of Israel did so. As Yahweh commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.

Exo 12:51 It happened the same day, that Yahweh brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies.

Mar. 3

Exodus 13

Exo 13:1 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

Exo 13:2 "Sanctify to me all of the firstborn, whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of animal. It is mine."

Exo 13:3 Moses said to the people, "Remember this day, in which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand Yahweh brought you out from this place. No leavened bread shall be eaten.

Exo 13:4 This day you go forth in the month Abib.

Exo 13:5 It shall be, when Yahweh shall bring you into the land of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, which he swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, that you shall keep this service in this month.

Exo 13:6 Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to Yahweh.

Exo 13:7 Unleavened bread shall be eaten throughout the seven days; and no leavened bread shall be seen with you, neither shall there be yeast seen with you, in all your borders.

Exo 13:8 You shall tell your son in that day, saying, 'It is because of that which Yahweh did for me when I came forth out of Egypt.'

Exo 13:9 It shall be for a sign to you on your hand, and for a memorial between your eyes, that the law of Yahweh may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand Yahweh has brought you out of Egypt.

Exo 13:10 You shall therefore keep this ordinance in its season from year to year.

Exo 13:11 "It shall be, when Yahweh shall bring you into the land of the Canaanite, as he swore to you and to your fathers, and shall give it you,

Exo 13:12 that you shall set apart to Yahweh all that opens the womb, and every firstborn which you have that comes from an animal. The males shall be Yahweh's.

Exo 13:13 Every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb; and if you will not redeem it, then you shall break its neck; and you shall redeem all the firstborn of man among your sons.

Exo 13:14 It shall be, when your son asks you in time to come, saying, 'What is this?' that you shall tell him, 'By strength of hand Yahweh brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage;

Exo 13:15 and it happened, when Pharaoh would hardly let us go, that Yahweh killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man, and the firstborn of animal. Therefore I sacrifice to Yahweh all that opens the womb, being males; but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.'

Exo 13:16 It shall be for a sign on your hand, and for symbols between your eyes: for by strength of hand Yahweh brought us forth out of Egypt."

Exo 13:17 It happened, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God didn't lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, "Lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war, and they return to Egypt;"

Exo 13:18 but God led the people around by the way of the wilderness by the Red Sea; and the children of Israel went up armed out of the land of Egypt.

Exo 13:19 Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had made the children of Israel swear, saying, "God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones away from here with you."

Exo 13:20 They took their journey from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wilderness.

Exo 13:21 Yahweh went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them on their way, and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light, that they might go by day and by night:

Exo 13:22 the pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night, didn't depart from before the people.

Mar. 4

Exodus 14

Exo 14:1 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

Exo 14:2 "Speak to the children of Israel, that they turn back and encamp before Pihahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, before Baal Zephon. You shall encamp opposite it by the sea.

Exo 14:3 Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, 'They are entangled in the land. The wilderness has shut them in.'

Exo 14:4 I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will follow after them; and I will get honor over Pharaoh, and over all his armies; and the Egyptians shall know that I am Yahweh." They did so.

Exo 14:5 It was told the king of Egypt that the people had fled; and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was changed towards the people, and they said, "What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?"

Exo 14:6 He made ready his chariot, and took his army with him;

Exo 14:7 and he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over all of them.

Exo 14:8 Yahweh hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel; for the children of Israel went out with a high hand.

Exo 14:9 The Egyptians pursued after them: all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen, and his army; and overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pihahiroth, before Baal Zephon.

Exo 14:10 When Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them; and they were very afraid. The children of Israel cried out to Yahweh.

Exo 14:11 They said to Moses, "Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you treated us this way, to bring us forth out of Egypt?

Exo 14:12 Isn't this the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, 'Leave us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians?' For it were better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness."

Exo 14:13 Moses said to the people, "Don't be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of Yahweh, which he will work for you today: for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you shall never see them again.

Exo 14:14 Yahweh will fight for you, and you shall be still."

Exo 14:15 Yahweh said to Moses, "Why do you cry to me? Speak to the children of Israel, that they go forward.

Exo 14:16 Lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go into the midst of the sea on dry ground.

Exo 14:17 I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall go in after them: and I will get myself honor over Pharaoh, and over all his armies, over his chariots, and over his horsemen.

Exo 14:18 The Egyptians shall know that I am Yahweh, when I have gotten myself honor over Pharaoh, over his chariots, and over his horsemen."

Exo 14:19 The angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from before them, and stood behind them.

Exo 14:20 It came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel; and there was the cloud and the darkness, yet gave it light by night: and the one didn't come near the other all the night.

Exo 14:21 Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and Yahweh caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all the night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.

Exo 14:22 The children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand, and on their left.

Exo 14:23 The Egyptians pursued, and went in after them into the midst of the sea: all of Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.

Exo 14:24 It happened in the morning watch, that Yahweh looked out on the Egyptian army through the pillar of fire and of cloud, and confused the Egyptian army.

Exo 14:25 He took off their chariot wheels, and they drove them heavily; so that the Egyptians said, "Let's flee from the face of Israel, for Yahweh fights for them against the Egyptians!"

Exo 14:26 Yahweh said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the waters may come again on the Egyptians, on their chariots, and on their horsemen."

Exo 14:27 Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it. Yahweh overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.

Exo 14:28 The waters returned, and covered the chariots and the horsemen, even all Pharaoh's army that went in after them into the sea. There remained not so much as one of them.

Exo 14:29 But the children of Israel walked on dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand, and on their left.

Exo 14:30 Thus Yahweh saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore.

Exo 14:31 Israel saw the great work which Yahweh did to the Egyptians, and the people feared Yahweh; and they believed in Yahweh, and in his servant Moses.

Mar.2

Mark 3

Mar 3:1 He entered again into the synagogue, and there was a man there who had his hand withered.

Mar 3:2 They watched him, whether he would heal him on the Sabbath day, that they might accuse him.

Mar 3:3 He said to the man who had his hand withered, "Stand up."

Mar 3:4 He said to them, "Is it lawful on the Sabbath day to do good, or to do harm? To save a life, or to kill?" But they were silent.

Mar 3:5 When he had looked around at them with anger, being grieved at the hardening of their hearts, he said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out, and his hand was restored as healthy as the other.

Mar 3:6 The Pharisees went out, and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.

Mar 3:7 Jesus withdrew to the sea with his disciples, and a great multitude followed him from Galilee, from Judea,

Mar 3:8 from Jerusalem, from Idumaea, beyond the Jordan, and those from around Tyre and Sidon. A great multitude, hearing what great things he did, came to him.

Mar 3:9 He spoke to his disciples that a little boat should stay near him because of the crowd, so that they wouldn't press on him.

Mar 3:10 For he had healed many, so that as many as had diseases pressed on him that they might touch him.

Mar 3:11 The unclean spirits, whenever they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, "You are the Son of God!"

Mar 3:12 He sternly warned them that they should not make him known.

Mar 3:13 He went up into the mountain, and called to himself those whom he wanted, and they went to him.

Mar 3:14 He appointed twelve, that they might be with him, and that he might send them out to preach,

Mar 3:15 and to have authority to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons:

Mar 3:16 Simon, to whom he gave the name Peter;

Mar 3:17 James the son of Zebedee; John, the brother of James, and he surnamed them Boanerges, which means, Sons of Thunder;

Mar 3:18 Andrew; Philip; Bartholomew; Matthew; Thomas; James, the son of Alphaeus; Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot;

Mar 3:19 and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him. He came into a house.

Mar 3:20 The multitude came together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread.

Mar 3:21 When his friends heard it, they went out to seize him: for they said, "He is insane."

Mar 3:22 The scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, "He has Beelzebul," and, "By the prince of the demons he casts out the demons."

Mar 3:23 He summoned them, and said to them in parables, "How can Satan cast out Satan?

Mar 3:24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.

Mar 3:25 If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.

Mar 3:26 If Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he can't stand, but has an end.

Mar 3:27 But no one can enter into the house of the strong man to plunder, unless he first binds the strong man; and then he will plunder his house.

Mar 3:28 Most certainly I tell you, all sins of the descendants of man will be forgiven, including their blasphemies with which they may blaspheme;

Mar 3:29 but whoever may blaspheme against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin"

Mar 3:30 -because they said, "He has an unclean spirit."

Mar 3:31 His mother and his brothers came, and standing outside, they sent to him, calling him.

Mar 3:32 A multitude was sitting around him, and they told him, "Behold, your mother, your brothers, and your sisters are outside looking for you."

Mar 3:33 He answered them, "Who are my mother and my brothers?"

Mar 3:34 Looking around at those who sat around him, he said, "Behold, my mother and my brothers!

Mar 3:35 For whoever does the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother."

Mar. 3, 4

Mark 4

Mar 4:1 Again he began to teach by the seaside. A great multitude was gathered to him, so that he entered into a boat in the sea, and sat down. All the multitude were on the land by the sea.

Mar 4:2 He taught them many things in parables, and told them in his teaching,

Mar 4:3 "Listen! Behold, the farmer went out to sow,

Mar 4:4 and it happened, as he sowed, some seed fell by the road, and the birds came and devoured it.

Mar 4:5 Others fell on the rocky ground, where it had little soil, and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of soil.

Mar 4:6 When the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.

Mar 4:7 Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.

Mar 4:8 Others fell into the good ground, and yielded fruit, growing up and increasing. Some brought forth thirty times, some sixty times, and some one hundred times as much."

Mar 4:9 He said, "Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear."

Mar 4:10 When he was alone, those who were around him with the twelve asked him about the parables.

Mar 4:11 He said to them, "To you is given the mystery of the Kingdom of God, but to those who are outside, all things are done in parables,

Mar 4:12 that 'seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest perhaps they should turn again, and their sins should be forgiven them.' "

Mar 4:13 He said to them, "Don't you understand this parable? How will you understand all of the parables?

Mar 4:14 The farmer sows the word.

Mar 4:15 The ones by the road are the ones where the word is sown; and when they have heard, immediately Satan comes, and takes away the word which has been sown in them.

Mar 4:16 These in like manner are those who are sown on the rocky places, who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with joy.

Mar 4:17 They have no root in themselves, but are short-lived. When oppression or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they stumble.

Mar 4:18 Others are those who are sown among the thorns. These are those who have heard the word,

Mar 4:19 and the cares of this age, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

Mar 4:20 Those which were sown on the good ground are those who hear the word, and accept it, and bear fruit, some thirty times, some sixty times, and some one hundred times."

Mar 4:21 He said to them, "Is the lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed? Isn't it put on a stand?

Mar 4:22 For there is nothing hidden, except that it should be made known; neither was anything made secret, but that it should come to light.

Mar 4:23 If any man has ears to hear, let him hear."

Mar 4:24 He said to them, "Take heed what you hear. With whatever measure you measure, it will be measured to you, and more will be given to you who hear.

Mar 4:25 For whoever has, to him will more be given, and he who doesn't have, even that which he has will be taken away from him."

Mar 4:26 He said, "The Kingdom of God is as if a man should cast seed on the earth,

Mar 4:27 and should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should spring up and grow, he doesn't know how.

Mar 4:28 For the earth bears fruit: first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.

Mar 4:29 But when the fruit is ripe, immediately he puts forth the sickle, because the harvest has come."

Mar 4:30 He said, "How will we liken the Kingdom of God? Or with what parable will we illustrate it?

Mar 4:31 It's like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, though it is less than all the seeds that are on the earth,

Mar 4:32 yet when it is sown, grows up, and becomes greater than all the herbs, and puts out great branches, so that the birds of the sky can lodge under its shadow."

Mar 4:33 With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it.

Mar 4:34 Without a parable he didn't speak to them; but privately to his own disciples he explained everything.

Mar 4:35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, "Let's go over to the other side."

Mar 4:36 Leaving the multitude, they took him with them, even as he was, in the boat. Other small boats were also with him.

Mar 4:37 A big wind storm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so much that the boat was already filled.

Mar 4:38 He himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion, and they woke him up, and told him, "Teacher, don't you care that we are dying?"

Mar 4:39 He awoke, and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" The wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

Mar 4:40 He said to them, "Why are you so afraid? How is it that you have no faith?"

Mar 4:41 They were greatly afraid, and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"