“A sower went out to sow ¹  his seed. ²  And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled on, and the wild birds ³  devoured it.

He ¹  said, “You have been given ²  the opportunity to know ³  the secrets ⁴  of the kingdom of God, ⁵  but for others they are in parables, so that although they see they may not see, and although they hear they may not understand. ⁶ 

For Jesus ¹  had started commanding ²  the evil ³  spirit to come out of the man. (For it had seized him many times, so ⁴  he would be bound with chains and shackles ⁵  and kept under guard. But ⁶  he would break the restraints and be driven by the demon into deserted ⁷  places.) ⁸ 

So ¹  the people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus. They ²  found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus’ feet, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid.

Jesus said to him, “Foxes have dens and the birds in the sky ¹  have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” ² 

Jesus ¹  said to him, “No one who puts his ²  hand to the plow and looks back ³  is fit for the kingdom of God.” ⁴ 

Stay ¹  in that same house, eating and drinking what they give you, ²  for the worker deserves his pay. ³  Do not move around from house to house.

He ¹  went up to him ²  and bandaged his wounds, pouring oil ³  and wine on them. Then ⁴  he put him on ⁵  his own animal, ⁶  brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

Then ¹  he will reply ²  from inside, ‘Do not bother me. The door is already shut, and my children and I are in bed. ³  I cannot get up and give you anything.’ ⁴ 

Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and live there, so ¹  the last state of that person ²  is worse than the first.” ³ 

Consider how the flowers ¹  grow; they do not work ²  or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed like one of these!

Sell your possessions ¹  and give to the poor. ²  Provide yourselves purses that do not wear out – a treasure in heaven ³  that never decreases, ⁴  where no thief approaches and no moth ⁵  destroys.

It is like a mustard seed ¹  that a man took and sowed ²  in his garden. It ³  grew and became a tree, ⁴  and the wild birds ⁵  nested in its branches.” ⁶ 

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, ¹  you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! ²  How often I have longed ³  to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but ⁴  you would have none of it! ⁵ 

“Which one ¹  of you, if he has a hundred ²  sheep and loses one of them, would not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture ³  and go look for ⁴  the one that is lost until he finds it? ⁵ 

Jesus ¹  also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who was informed of accusations ²  that his manager ³  was wasting ⁴  his assets.

Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ The second man ¹  replied, ‘A hundred measures ²  of wheat.’ The manager ³  said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ ⁴ 

But Jesus called for the children, ¹  saying, “Let the little children come to me and do not try to stop them, for the kingdom of God ²  belongs to such as these. ³ 

Then ¹  Jesus ²  took the twelve aside and said to them, “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, ³  and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. ⁴ 

But Zacchaeus stopped and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, half of my possessions I now give ¹  to the poor, and if ²  I have cheated anyone of anything, I am paying back four times as much!”