¹ THE vision of Isaias the son of Amos I which he saw concerning Juda and Jerusalem in the days of Ozias, Joathan, Achaz, and Ezechias, kings of Juda

² Hear, O ye heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord hath spoken. I have brought up children, and exalted them: but they have despised me.

³ The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel hath not known me, and my people hath not understood.

⁴ Woe to the sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a wicked seed, ungracious children: they have forsaken the Lord, they have blasphemed the Holy One of Israel, they are gone away backwards.

⁵ For what shall I strike you any more, you that increase transgression? the whole head is sick, and the whole heart is sad.

⁶ From the sole of the foot unto the top of the head, there is no soundness therein: wounds and bruises and swelling sores: they are not bound up, nor dressed, nor fomented with oil.

⁷ Your land is desolate, your cities are burnt with fire: your country strangers devour before your face, and it shall be desolate as when wasted by enemies.

⁸ And the daughter of Sion shall be left as a covert in a vineyard, and as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, and as a city that is laid waste.

⁹ Except the Lord of hosts had left us seed, we had been as Sodom, and we should have been like to Gomorrha.

¹⁰ Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom, give ear to the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrha.

¹¹ To what purpose do you offer me the multitude of your victims, saith the Lord? I am full, I desire not holocausts of rams, and fat of fatlings, and blood of calves, and lambs, and buck goats.

¹² When you came to appear before me, who required these things at your hands, that you should walk in my courts?

¹³ Offer sacrifice no more in vain: incense is an abomination tome. The new moons, and the sabbaths, and other festivals I will not abide, your assemblies are wicked.

¹⁴ My soul hateth your new moons, and your solemnities: they are become troublesome to me, I am weary of bearing them.

¹⁵ And when you stretch forth your hands, I will turn away my eyes from you: and when you multiply prayer, I will not hear: for your hands are full of blood.

¹⁶ Wash yourselves, be clean, take away the evil of your devices from my eyes: cease to do perversely,

¹⁷ Learn to do well: seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge for the fatherless, defend the widow.

¹⁸ And then come, and accuse me, saith the Lord: if your sins be as scarlet, they shall be made as white as snow: and if they be red as crimson, they shall be white as wool.

¹⁹ if you be willing, and will hearken to me, you shall eat the good things of the land.

²⁰ But if you will not, and will provoke me to wrath: the sword shall devour you because the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

²¹ How is the faithful city, that was full of judgment, become a harlot? justice dwelt in it, but now murderers.

²² Thy silver is turned into dress: thy wine is mingled with water.

²³ Thy princes are faithless, companions of thieves: they all love bribes, the run after rewards. They judge not for the fatherless: and the widow's cometh not in to them.

²⁴ Therefore saith the Lord the God of hosts, the mighty one of Israel: Ah! I will comfort myself over my adversaries: and I will be revenged of my enemies.

²⁵ And I will turn my hand to thee, and I will clean purge away thy dress, and I will take away all thy tin.

²⁶ And I will restore thy judges se they were before, and thy counsellors as of old. After this thou shalt be called the city of the just, a faithful city.

²⁷ Sion shall be redeemed in judgment, and they shall bring her back in justice.

²⁸ And he shall destroy the wicked, and the sinners together: and they that have forsaken the Lord, shall be consumed.

²⁹ For they shall be confounded for the idols, to which they have sacrificed: and you shall be ashamed of the gardens which you have chosen.

³⁰ When you shall be as an oak with the leaves falling off, and as a garden without water.

³¹ And your strength shall be as the ashes of tow, and your work as a spark: and both shall burn together, and there shall be none to quench it.

¹ It happened soon afterwards, that he went about through cities and villages, preaching and bringing the good news of the Kingdom of God. With him were the twelve,

² and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out;

³ and Joanna, the wife of Chuzas, Herod's steward; Susanna; and many others; who served them from their possessions.

⁴ When a great multitude came together, and people from every city were coming to him, he spoke by a parable.

⁵ "The farmer went out to sow his seed. As he sowed, some fell along the road, and it was trampled under foot, and the birds of the sky devoured it.

⁶ Other seed fell on the rock, and as soon as it grew, it withered away, because it had no moisture.

⁷ Other fell amid the thorns, and the thorns grew with it, and choked it.

⁸ Other fell into the good ground, and grew, and brought forth fruit one hundred times." As he said these things, he called out, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"

⁹ Then his disciples asked him, "What does this parable mean?"

¹⁰ He said, "To you it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of God, but to the rest in parables; that 'seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.'

¹¹ Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.

¹² Those along the road are those who hear, then the devil comes, and takes away the word from their heart, that they may not believe and be saved.

¹³ Those on the rock are they who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; but these have no root, who believe for a while, then fall away in time of temptation.

¹⁴ That which fell among the thorns, these are those who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity.

¹⁵ That in the good ground, these are such as in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, hold it tightly, and bring forth fruit with patience.

¹⁶ "No one, when he has lit a lamp, covers it with a container, or puts it under a bed; but puts it on a stand, that those who enter in may see the light.

¹⁷ For nothing is hidden, that will not be revealed; nor anything secret, that will not be known and come to light.

¹⁸ Be careful therefore how you hear. For whoever has, to him will be given; and whoever doesn't have, from him will be taken away even that which he thinks he has."

¹⁹ His mother and brothers came to him, and they could not come near him for the crowd.

²⁰ It was told him by some saying, "Your mother and your brothers stand outside, desiring to see you."

²¹ But he answered them, "My mother and my brothers are these who hear the word of God, and do it."

²² Now it happened on one of those days, that he entered into a boat, himself and his disciples, and he said to them, "Let's go over to the other side of the lake." So they launched out.

²³ But as they sailed, he fell asleep. A wind storm came down on the lake, and they were taking on dangerous amounts of water.

²⁴ They came to him, and awoke him, saying, "Master, master, we are dying!" He awoke, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water, and they ceased, and it was calm.

²⁵ He said to them, "Where is your faith?" Being afraid they marveled, saying one to another, "Who is this, then, that he commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him?"

²⁶ They arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, which is opposite Galilee.

²⁷ When Jesus stepped ashore, a certain man out of the city who had demons for a long time met him. He wore no clothes, and didn't live in a house, but in the tombs.

²⁸ When he saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, "What do I have to do with you, Jesus, you Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don't torment me!"

²⁹ For Jesus was commanding the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For the unclean spirit had often seized the man. He was kept under guard, and bound with chains and fetters. Breaking the bands apart, he was driven by the demon into the desert.

³⁰ Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" He said, "Legion," for many demons had entered into him.

³¹ They begged him that he would not command them to go into the abyss.

³² Now there was there a herd of many pigs feeding on the mountain, and they begged him that he would allow them to enter into those. He allowed them.

³³ The demons came out from the man, and entered into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake, and were drowned.

³⁴ When those who fed them saw what had happened, they fled, and told it in the city and in the country.

³⁵ People went out to see what had happened. They came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus' feet, clothed and in his right mind; and they were afraid.

³⁶ Those who saw it told them how he who had been possessed by demons was healed.

³⁷ All the people of the surrounding country of the Gadarenes asked him to depart from them, for they were very much afraid. He entered into the boat, and returned.

³⁸ But the man from whom the demons had gone out begged him that he might go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying,

³⁹ "Return to your house, and declare what great things God has done for you." He went his way, proclaiming throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.

⁴⁰ It happened, when Jesus returned, that the multitude welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him.

⁴¹ Behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue. He fell down at Jesus' feet, and begged him to come into his house,

⁴² for he had an only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she was dying. But as he went, the multitudes pressed against him.

⁴³ A woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her living on physicians, and could not be healed by any,

⁴⁴ came behind him, and touched the fringe of his cloak, and immediately the flow of her blood stopped.

⁴⁵ Jesus said, "Who touched me?" When all denied it, Peter and those with him said, "Master, the multitudes press and jostle you, and you say, 'Who touched me?'"

⁴⁶ But Jesus said, "Someone did touch me, for I perceived that power has gone out of me."

⁴⁷ When the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before him declared to him in the presence of all the people the reason why she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately.

⁴⁸ He said to her, "Daughter, cheer up. Your faith has made you well. Go in peace."

⁴⁹ While he still spoke, one from the ruler of the synagogue's house came, saying to him, "Your daughter is dead. Don't trouble the Teacher."

⁵⁰ But Jesus hearing it, answered him, "Don't be afraid. Only believe, and she will be healed."

⁵¹ When he came to the house, he didn't allow anyone to enter in, except Peter, John, James, the father of the child, and her mother.

⁵² All were weeping and mourning her, but he said, "Don't weep. She isn't dead, but sleeping."

⁵³ They were ridiculing him, knowing that she was dead.

⁵⁴ But he put them all outside, and taking her by the hand, he called, saying, "Child, arise!"

⁵⁵ Her spirit returned, and she rose up immediately. He commanded that something be given to her to eat.

⁵⁶ Her parents were amazed, but he commanded them to tell no one what had been done.