Hi, friends. I am Annie F. Downs. Let's read the Gospels. In this month, the Let's Read

the Gospels podcast is sponsored by our friends at crew. The Gospels are the first four books

of the New Testament in the Bible, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. These are the stories of Jesus

Christ's life on earth, the friendships, the parables, the sacrifices, the meals, the miracles.

Each month, we read all four books. So go ahead and subscribe today and join us as we read

the Gospels together and invite your friends to join us as well. It is not too late to jump in

for the month of May. You know we say this around here a lot, but you don't have to be in the

Gospels every day to be changed, but every day you're in the Gospels will change you.

So here's how this works. I'll read three chapters to you. You can listen or read along

in your own Bible or online, and then I'll pray, and that's it. So today is May 5th, day five,

this month, and I'll be reading Matthew, chapters 13 through 15, and this month I'm reading from

the C.S.B. version. Matthew 13. On that day, Jesus went out of the house and was sitting by the C,

such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat down while the whole

crowd stood on the shore. Then he told them many things in parables saying, consider the sower

who went out to sow. As he sowed, some seed fell along the path and the birds came and devoured them.

Other seed fell on rocky ground where it didn't have much soil, and it grew up quickly since

the soil wasn't deep. But when the sun came up, it was scorched, and since it had no root,

it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it.

Still, other seed fell on good ground and produced fruit, some a hundred, some 60,

and some 30 times what was sown. Let anyone who has ears listen. Then the disciples came up and

asked him, why are you speaking to them in parables? He answered, because the secrets of the kingdom

of heaven have been given for you to know, but it has not been given to them. For whoever has,

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