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13 [a]Ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ ἐξελθὼν ὁ Ἰησοῦς [b]τῆς οἰκίας ἐκάθητο παρὰ τὴν θάλασσαν· καὶ συνήχθησαν πρὸς αὐτὸν ὄχλοι πολλοί, ὥστε αὐτὸν [c]εἰς πλοῖον ἐμβάντα καθῆσθαι, καὶ πᾶς ὁ ὄχλος ἐπὶ τὸν αἰγιαλὸν εἱστήκει. καὶ ἐλάλησεν αὐτοῖς πολλὰ ἐν παραβολαῖς λέγων· Ἰδοὺ ἐξῆλθεν ὁ σπείρων τοῦ σπείρειν.

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Footnotes

  1. ΚΑΤΑ ΜΑΤΘΑΙΟΝ 13:1 Ἐν WH Treg NIV ] + δὲ RP
  2. ΚΑΤΑ ΜΑΤΘΑΙΟΝ 13:1 τῆς WH Treg NIV ] ἀπὸ τῆς RP
  3. ΚΑΤΑ ΜΑΤΘΑΙΟΝ 13:2 εἰς WH Treg NIV ] + τὸ RP

The Parable of the Sower(A)(B)(C)

13 That same day Jesus went out of the house(D) and sat by the lake. Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat(E) and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed.

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The Parable of the Sower(A)

13 That same day Jesus left the house and went to the lakeside, where he sat down to teach. (B)The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it, while the crowd stood on the shore. He used parables to tell them many things.

“Once there was a man who went out to sow grain.

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Jesus tells the parable of the seed

13 1-9 It was on the same day that Jesus went out of the house and sat down by the lake-side. Such great crowds collected round him that he went aboard a small boat and sat down while all the people stood on the beach. He told them a great deal in parables, and began: “There was once a man who went out to sow. In his sowing some of the seeds fell by the road-side and the birds swooped down and gobbled them up. Some fell on stony patches where they had very little soil. They sprang up quickly in the shallow soil, but when the sun came up they were scorched by the heat and withered away because they had no roots. Some seeds fell among thorn-bushes and the thorns grew up and choked the life out of them. But some fell on good soil and produced a crop—some a hundred times what had been sown, some sixty and some thirty times. The man who has ears should use them!”

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13 That same day, Jesus left the house and went to sit by the sea. Large crowds gathered around Him, and He got into a boat on the sea and sat there. The crowd stood on the shore waiting for His teaching.

This next sermon series, the third of Jesus’ five Mosaic-like sermons, is filled with parables or stories with a deeper meaning about the kingdom of heaven.

And so Jesus began to teach. On this day, He spoke in parables. Here is His first parable:

Jesus: Once there was a sower who scattered seeds.

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ὁ ἔχων [a]ὦτα ἀκουέτω.

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Footnotes

  1. ΚΑΤΑ ΜΑΤΘΑΙΟΝ 13:9 ὦτα WH NIV ] + ἀκούειν Treg RP

Whoever has ears, let them hear.”(A)

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And Jesus concluded, “Listen, then, if you have ears!”

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Jesus tells the parable of the seed

13 1-9 It was on the same day that Jesus went out of the house and sat down by the lake-side. Such great crowds collected round him that he went aboard a small boat and sat down while all the people stood on the beach. He told them a great deal in parables, and began: “There was once a man who went out to sow. In his sowing some of the seeds fell by the road-side and the birds swooped down and gobbled them up. Some fell on stony patches where they had very little soil. They sprang up quickly in the shallow soil, but when the sun came up they were scorched by the heat and withered away because they had no roots. Some seeds fell among thorn-bushes and the thorns grew up and choked the life out of them. But some fell on good soil and produced a crop—some a hundred times what had been sown, some sixty and some thirty times. The man who has ears should use them!”

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He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

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10 Καὶ προσελθόντες οἱ μαθηταὶ εἶπαν αὐτῷ· Διὰ τί ἐν παραβολαῖς λαλεῖς αὐτοῖς; 11 ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν [a]αὐτοῖς· Ὅτι ὑμῖν δέδοται γνῶναι τὰ μυστήρια τῆς βασιλείας τῶν οὐρανῶν, ἐκείνοις δὲ οὐ δέδοται. 12 ὅστις γὰρ ἔχει, δοθήσεται αὐτῷ καὶ περισσευθήσεται· ὅστις δὲ οὐκ ἔχει, καὶ ὃ ἔχει ἀρθήσεται ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ. 13 διὰ τοῦτο ἐν παραβολαῖς αὐτοῖς λαλῶ, ὅτι βλέποντες οὐ βλέπουσιν καὶ ἀκούοντες οὐκ ἀκούουσιν οὐδὲ συνίουσιν· 14 καὶ ἀναπληροῦται αὐτοῖς ἡ προφητεία Ἠσαΐου ἡ λέγουσα· Ἀκοῇ ἀκούσετε καὶ οὐ μὴ συνῆτε, καὶ βλέποντες βλέψετε καὶ οὐ μὴ ἴδητε. 15 ἐπαχύνθη γὰρ ἡ καρδία τοῦ λαοῦ τούτου, καὶ τοῖς ὠσὶν βαρέως ἤκουσαν, καὶ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτῶν ἐκάμμυσαν· μήποτε ἴδωσιν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς καὶ τοῖς ὠσὶν ἀκούσωσιν καὶ τῇ καρδίᾳ συνῶσιν καὶ ἐπιστρέψωσιν, καὶ ἰάσομαι αὐτούς. 16 ὑμῶν δὲ μακάριοι οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ ὅτι βλέπουσιν, καὶ τὰ ὦτα ὑμῶν ὅτι [b]ἀκούουσιν. 17 ἀμὴν γὰρ λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι πολλοὶ προφῆται καὶ δίκαιοι ἐπεθύμησαν ἰδεῖν ἃ βλέπετε καὶ οὐκ εἶδαν, καὶ ἀκοῦσαι ἃ ἀκούετε καὶ οὐκ ἤκουσαν.

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Footnotes

  1. ΚΑΤΑ ΜΑΤΘΑΙΟΝ 13:11 αὐτοῖς Treg RP NA ] WH NIV
  2. ΚΑΤΑ ΜΑΤΘΑΙΟΝ 13:16 ἀκούουσιν WH Treg NIV ] ἀκούει RP

10 The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?”

11 He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven(A) has been given to you,(B) but not to them. 12 Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.(C) 13 This is why I speak to them in parables:

“Though seeing, they do not see;
    though hearing, they do not hear or understand.(D)

14 In them is fulfilled(E) the prophecy of Isaiah:

“‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
    you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
15 For this people’s heart has become calloused;
    they hardly hear with their ears,
    and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
    hear with their ears,
    understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.’[a](F)

16 But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.(G) 17 For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see(H) but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 13:15 Isaiah 6:9,10 (see Septuagint)

The Purpose of the Parables(A)

10 Then the disciples came to Jesus and asked him, “Why do you use parables when you talk to the people?”

11 Jesus answered, “The knowledge about the secrets of the Kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. 12 (B)For the person who has something will be given more, so that he will have more than enough; but the person who has nothing will have taken away from him even the little he has. 13 The reason I use parables in talking to them is that they look, but do not see, and they listen, but do not hear or understand. 14 (C)So the prophecy of Isaiah applies to them:

‘This people will listen and listen, but not understand;
    they will look and look, but not see,
15 because their minds are dull,
    and they have stopped up their ears
    and have closed their eyes.
Otherwise, their eyes would see,
    their ears would hear,
    their minds would understand,
and they would turn to me, says God,
    and I would heal them.’

16 (D)“As for you, how fortunate you are! Your eyes see and your ears hear. 17 I assure you that many prophets and many of God's people wanted very much to see what you see, but they could not, and to hear what you hear, but they did not.

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10 At this the disciples approached him and asked, “Why do you talk to them in parables?”

11-15 “Because you have been given the chance to understand the secrets of the kingdom of Heaven,” replied Jesus, “but they have not. For when a man has something, more is given to him till he has plenty. But if he has nothing even his nothing will be taken away from him. This is why I speak to them in these parables; because they go through life with their eyes open, but see nothing, and with their ears open, but understand nothing of what they hear. They are the living fulfilment of Isaiah’s prophecy which says: ‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; for the heart of this people has grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their heart and turn, so that I should heal them’.

16-17 “But how fortunate you are to have eyes that see and ears that hear! Believe me, a great many prophets and good men have longed to see what you are seeing and they never saw it. Yes, and they longed to hear what you are hearing and they never heard it.

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Disciples: 10 Why do You speak to the people in parables?

Jesus: 11 The knowledge of the secrets of heaven has been given to you, but it has not been given to them. 12 Those who have something will be given more—and they will have abundance. Those who have nothing will lose what they have—they will be destitute. 13 I teach in parables so the people may look but not see, listen but not hear or understand.[a] 14 They are fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy:

You will listen, but you will not understand;
    you will look, but you will not see.
15 The people’s hearts have turned to flab;
    their ears are clogged;
    their eyes are shut.
They will try to see, but they will not see;
    they will try to hear, but they will not hear;
    they will try to understand, but they will not comprehend.
If they, with their blindness and deafness, so choose, then I will heal them.[b]

16-17 Many holy prophets and righteous men and women and people of prayer and doers of good have wanted to see but did not see, and have wanted to hear but did not hear. Your eyes and ears are blessed.

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34 Ταῦτα πάντα ἐλάλησεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἐν παραβολαῖς τοῖς ὄχλοις, καὶ χωρὶς παραβολῆς [a]οὐδὲν ἐλάλει αὐτοῖς·

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Footnotes

  1. ΚΑΤΑ ΜΑΤΘΑΙΟΝ 13:34 οὐδὲν WH Treg NIV ] οὐκ RP

34 Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable.(A)

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Jesus' Use of Parables(A)

34 Jesus used parables to tell all these things to the crowds; he would not say a thing to them without using a parable.

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34-35 All these things Jesus spoke to the crowd in parables, and he did not speak to them at all without using parables—to fulfil the prophecy: ‘I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world’.

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Without the leaven, the dough remains flat. But the secret is the almost invisible leaven making her loaves fluff and rise.

34 Jesus gave all these teachings to the crowd in parables. Indeed, He spoke only in parables

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καὶ ἐδίδασκεν αὐτοὺς ἐν παραβολαῖς πολλά καὶ ἔλεγεν αὐτοῖς ἐν τῇ διδαχῇ αὐτοῦ· Ἀκούετε. ἰδοὺ ἐξῆλθεν ὁ [a]σπείρων σπεῖραι. καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν τῷ σπείρειν ὃ μὲν ἔπεσεν παρὰ τὴν ὁδόν, καὶ ἦλθεν τὰ πετεινὰ καὶ κατέφαγεν αὐτό. [b]καὶ ἄλλο ἔπεσεν ἐπὶ τὸ πετρῶδες [c]ὅπου οὐκ εἶχεν γῆν πολλήν, καὶ [d]εὐθὺς ἐξανέτειλεν διὰ τὸ μὴ ἔχειν βάθος γῆς· [e]καὶ ὅτε ἀνέτειλεν ὁ ἥλιος [f]ἐκαυματίσθη καὶ διὰ τὸ μὴ ἔχειν ῥίζαν ἐξηράνθη. καὶ ἄλλο ἔπεσεν εἰς τὰς ἀκάνθας, καὶ ἀνέβησαν αἱ ἄκανθαι καὶ συνέπνιξαν αὐτό, καὶ καρπὸν οὐκ ἔδωκεν. καὶ [g]ἄλλα ἔπεσεν εἰς τὴν γῆν τὴν καλήν, καὶ ἐδίδου καρπὸν ἀναβαίνοντα καὶ [h]αὐξανόμενα, καὶ ἔφερεν [i]ἓν τριάκοντα καὶ ἓν ἑξήκοντα καὶ ἓν ἑκατόν. καὶ ἔλεγεν· [j]Ὃς ἔχει ὦτα ἀκούειν ἀκουέτω.

10 [k]Καὶ ὅτε ἐγένετο κατὰ μόνας, [l]ἠρώτων αὐτὸν οἱ περὶ αὐτὸν σὺν τοῖς δώδεκα [m]τὰς παραβολάς. 11 καὶ ἔλεγεν αὐτοῖς· Ὑμῖν [n]τὸ μυστήριον δέδοται τῆς βασιλείας τοῦ θεοῦ· ἐκείνοις δὲ τοῖς ἔξω ἐν παραβολαῖς τὰ πάντα γίνεται, 12 ἵνα βλέποντες βλέπωσι καὶ μὴ ἴδωσιν, καὶ ἀκούοντες ἀκούωσι καὶ μὴ συνιῶσιν, μήποτε ἐπιστρέψωσιν καὶ ἀφεθῇ [o]αὐτοῖς.

13 Καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς· Οὐκ οἴδατε τὴν παραβολὴν ταύτην, καὶ πῶς πάσας τὰς παραβολὰς γνώσεσθε;

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Footnotes

  1. ΚΑΤΑ ΜΑΡΚΟΝ 4:3 σπείρων WH NIV ] + τοῦ Treg RP
  2. ΚΑΤΑ ΜΑΡΚΟΝ 4:5 καὶ ἄλλο WH Treg NIV ] Ἄλλο δὲ RP
  3. ΚΑΤΑ ΜΑΡΚΟΝ 4:5 ὅπου NIV RP ] καὶ ὅπου WH Treg
  4. ΚΑΤΑ ΜΑΡΚΟΝ 4:5 εὐθὺς WH Treg NIV ] εὐθέως RP
  5. ΚΑΤΑ ΜΑΡΚΟΝ 4:6 καὶ ὅτε ἀνέτειλεν ὁ ἥλιος WH Treg NIV ] ἡλίου δὲ ἀνατείλαντος RP
  6. ΚΑΤΑ ΜΑΡΚΟΝ 4:6 ἐκαυματίσθη WH RP NA ] ἐκαυματίσθησαν Treg NIV
  7. ΚΑΤΑ ΜΑΡΚΟΝ 4:8 ἄλλα WH NIV ] ἄλλο Treg RP
  8. ΚΑΤΑ ΜΑΡΚΟΝ 4:8 αὐξανόμενα WH NIV ] αὐξανόμενον Treg; αὐξάνοντα RP
  9. ΚΑΤΑ ΜΑΡΚΟΝ 4:8 ἓν … ἓν … ἓν NIV ] εἰς … ἐν … ἐν WH; εἰς … εἰς … εἰς Treg; ἐν … ἐν … ἐν RP
  10. ΚΑΤΑ ΜΑΡΚΟΝ 4:9 Ὃς ἔχει WH Treg NIV ] Ὃ ἔχων RP
  11. ΚΑΤΑ ΜΑΡΚΟΝ 4:10 Καὶ ὅτε WH Treg NIV ] Ὅτε δὲ RP
  12. ΚΑΤΑ ΜΑΡΚΟΝ 4:10 ἠρώτων WH Treg NIV ] ἠρώτησαν RP
  13. ΚΑΤΑ ΜΑΡΚΟΝ 4:10 τὰς παραβολάς WH Treg NIV ] τὴν παραβολήν RP
  14. ΚΑΤΑ ΜΑΡΚΟΝ 4:11 τὸ μυστήριον δέδοται WH Treg NIV ] δέδοται γνῶναι τὸ μυστήριον RP
  15. ΚΑΤΑ ΜΑΡΚΟΝ 4:12 αὐτοῖς WH Treg NIV ] + τὰ ἁμαρτήματα RP

He taught them many things by parables,(A) and in his teaching said: “Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed.(B) As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.”(C)

Then Jesus said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”(D)

10 When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. 11 He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God(E) has been given to you. But to those on the outside(F) everything is said in parables 12 so that,

“‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving,
    and ever hearing but never understanding;
otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!’[a](G)

13 Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable?

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Footnotes

  1. Mark 4:12 Isaiah 6:9,10

He used parables to teach them many things, saying to them:

“Listen! Once there was a man who went out to sow grain. As he scattered the seed in the field, some of it fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some of it fell on rocky ground, where there was little soil. The seeds soon sprouted, because the soil wasn't deep. Then, when the sun came up, it burned the young plants; and because the roots had not grown deep enough, the plants soon dried up. Some of the seed fell among thorn bushes, which grew up and choked the plants, and they didn't bear grain. But some seeds fell in good soil, and the plants sprouted, grew, and bore grain: some had thirty grains, others sixty, and others one hundred.”

And Jesus concluded, “Listen, then, if you have ears!”

The Purpose of the Parables(A)

10 When Jesus was alone, some of those who had heard him came to him with the twelve disciples and asked him to explain the parables. 11 “You have been given the secret of the Kingdom of God,” Jesus answered. “But the others, who are on the outside, hear all things by means of parables, 12 (B)so that,

‘They may look and look,
    yet not see;
they may listen and listen,
    yet not understand.
For if they did, they would turn to God,
    and he would forgive them.’”

Jesus Explains the Parable of the Sower(C)

13 Then Jesus asked them, “Don't you understand this parable? How, then, will you ever understand any parable?

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The story of the sower

1-8 Then once again he began to teach them by the lake-side. A bigger crowd than ever collected around him so that he got into the little boat on the lake and sat down, while the crowd covered the ground right up to the water’s edge. He taught them a great deal in parables, and in the course of his teaching he said, “Listen! A man once went out to sow his seed and as he sowed, some seed fell by the roadside and the birds came and gobbled it up. Some of the seed fell among the rocks where there was not much soil, and sprang up very quickly because there was no depth of earth. But when the sun rose it was scorched, and because it had no root, it withered away. And some of the seed fell among thorn-bushes and the thorns grew up and choked the life out of it, and it bore no crop. And there was some seed which fell on good soil, and when it grew, produced a crop which yielded thirty or sixty or even a hundred times as much as the seed.”

Then he added, “Every man who has ears should use them!”

10-12 Then when they were by themselves, his close followers and the twelve asked him about the parables, and he told them. “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those who do not know the secret, everything remains in parables, so that, ‘seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand; lest they should turn, and their sins be forgiven them’”.

13-20 Then he continued, “Do you really not understand this parable? Then how are you going to understand all the other parables? The man who sows, sows the message. As for those who are by the roadside where the message is sown, as soon as they hear it Satan comes at once and takes away what has been sown in their minds. Similarly, the seed sown among the rocks represents those who hear the message without hesitation and accept it joyfully. But they have no real roots and do not last—when trouble or persecution arises because of the message, they give up their faith at once. Then there are the seeds which were sown among thorn-bushes. These are the people who hear the message, but the worries of this world and the false glamour of riches and all sorts of other ambitions creep in and choke the life out of what they have heard, and it produces no crop in their lives. As for the seed sown on good soil, this means the men who hear the message and accept it and do produce a crop—thirty, sixty, even a hundred times as much as they received.”

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1-2 Jesus went out again to teach by the Sea of Galilee. When the crowd became unmanageable, He climbed aboard a boat and sat down to teach the people listening on the shore by telling them parables. One of His teachings went like this:

Jesus: Listen! A farmer went out and sowed his seed. As he scattered it, one seed fell along the hardened path, and a bird flapped down and snapped it up. One seed fell onto rocky places where the soil was thin, so it sprang up quickly. But when the hot sun scorched the fragile stems and leaves, the seedling withered because its roots didn’t go deep in the soil. One of the seeds fell among the weeds and thorns, which crowded the seedling out of producing a crop. And the rest of the seeds fell in good, rich soil. When they sprouted, the plants grew and produced a crop 30, 60, even 100 times larger than expected for every seed that the farmer had sown.

All who have ears to hear, let them listen.

10 When they were alone, the twelve and others close to Him asked why He always taught in parables instead of explaining His teachings clearly.

Jesus: 11 God has let you in on the inside story regarding the workings of the Kingdom—the hidden meanings. But the crowds—I teach them in parables 12 as the prophet Isaiah predicted,

    So that when they look, they see and yet do not understand.
        When they hear, they listen and yet do not comprehend.
    Otherwise, they might really turn and be forgiven.[a]

This makes the disciples scratch their heads. Why would He want to hide the truth from some people? His teachings are hard enough without putting them into parables.

13 Do you mean to say that you didn’t understand My parable of the sower? That was the key parable. If you don’t see what I was trying to teach there, how will you be able to understand any of the others?

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