Mark 4:26-41

26Then Jesus said, ‘I will tell you a story about the kingdom of God. It is like this: A man throws seeds in his field.

27Then he sleeps each night and he wakes up each day. The seeds start to grow into plants. They continue to grow. The man does not know how this happens.

28The soil causes the plants to grow. The leaves of the plant grow first. Then the flowers appear. Then the plant makes new seeds.

29When the new seeds have completely grown, the man will cut down the plants. It is time for him to take the seeds to use for food.’

30Jesus said, ‘I will tell you another story about the kingdom of God. This story shows what the kingdom of God is like.

31It is like this: A man takes a seed of the plant called mustard. He plants it in the soil. It is smaller than any other seed that people plant in the soil.

32But when it starts to grow, it becomes bigger than the largest bush. It will have big branches. Then the birds will come and they will live there. They will build their nests in the shade of the branches.’

33Jesus taught God's message to the people. He used many stories like these. He told the people as much as they could understand.

34He always used stories to teach the people. Then he explained everything to his own disciples when he was alone with them.

35On that same day, in the evening, Jesus said to his disciples, ‘We should go across the lake to the other side.’

36So they went and left the crowd behind. Jesus was already in the boat. So the disciples took him across the lake. Some other boats also went with them.

37Then a strong wind began to blow across the lake. Water began to go into the boat and fill it. Soon the boat was almost going under the water.

38Jesus was in a comfortable place at the back of the boat. He was sleeping. The disciples woke him. They said to him, ‘Teacher, we will die here in the water! Please do something!’

39Jesus woke up and he spoke strongly to the wind and to the water. ‘Be quiet!’ he said. ‘Stop!’ Then the wind stopped and the water became quiet again.

40Jesus said to his disciples, ‘You should not be afraid like that. You should trust me.’

41But the disciples became very afraid. They said to each other, ‘Who is this man? Even the wind and the water obey him.’