Using Your Light
21 He also said to them, "Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket or under a bed? Isn't it to be put on a lampstand?
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For nothing is concealed except to be revealed, and nothing hidden except to come to light.
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If anyone has ears to hear, he should listen!"
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Then He said to them, "Pay attention to what you hear. By the measure you use, it will be measured and added to you.
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For to the one who has, it will be given, and from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away."
The Parable of the Growing Seed
26 "The kingdom of God is like this," He said. "A man scatters seed on the ground;
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he sleeps and rises-night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows-he doesn't know how.
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The soil produces a crop by itself-first the blade, then the head, and then the ripe grain on the head.
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But as soon as the crop is ready, he sends for the sickle, because harvest has come."
The Parable of the Mustard Seed
30 And He said: "How can we illustrate the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use to describe it?
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It's like a mustard seed that, when sown in the soil, is smaller than all the seeds on the ground.
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And when sown, it comes up and grows taller than all the vegetables, and produces large branches, so that the birds of the sky can nest in its shade."
Using Parables
33 He would speak the word to them with many parables like these, as they were able to understand.
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And He did not speak to them without a parable. Privately, however, He would explain everything to His own disciples.
Wind and Wave Obey the Master
35 On that day, when evening had come, He told them, "Let's cross over to the other side [of the lake]."
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So they left the crowd and took Him along since He was [already] in the boat. And other boats were with Him.
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A fierce windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking over the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped.
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But He was in the stern, sleeping on the cushion. So they woke Him up and said to Him, "Teacher! Don't you care that we're going to die?"
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He got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Silence! Be still!" The wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
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Then He said to them, "Why are you fearful? Do you still have no faith?"
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And they were terrified and asked one another, "Who then is this? Even the wind and the sea obey Him!"