Mark 4

¹And again he began to teach beside the sea. And such a vast crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat on the water, while the whole crowd faced the sea, standing on the shore. ²And he was teaching them many things in parables, and he said to them in his teaching:

³"Listen! Look—the sower went out to sow. ⁴And it happened that as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. ⁵And other seed fell on rocky ground where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil. ⁶But when the sun rose, it was scorched, and because it had no root, it withered away. ⁷And other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it produced no grain. ⁸And other seeds fell into the good soil and were yielding grain, growing up and increasing, and bearing thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold."

⁹And he said, "Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear."

¹⁰And when he was alone, those around him together with the Twelve were asking him about the parables. ¹¹And he said to them, "To you the mystery of the kingdom of God has been given. But to those outside, everything comes in parables, ¹²so that seeing they may see but not perceive, and hearing they may hear but not understand—lest they turn back and be forgiven."

¹³And he said to them, "You do not understand this parable? Then how will you understand all the parables? ¹⁴The sower sows the word. ¹⁵These are the ones along the path where the word is sown: when they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. ¹⁶And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: when they hear the word, they immediately receive it with joy, ¹⁷but they have no root in themselves; rather, they are temporary. Then when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away. ¹⁸And others are the ones sown among the thorns. These are the ones who hear the word, ¹⁹but the anxieties of this age, and the seduction of wealth, and the cravings for everything else come in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. ²⁰And these are the ones sown on the good soil: those who hear the word and welcome it and bear fruit—thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold."

²¹And he said to them, "Does the lamp come to be put under the measuring basket, or under the bed? Does it not come to be put on the lampstand? ²²For nothing is hidden except to be revealed, nor has anything become secret except to come into the open. ²³If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear."

²⁴And he said to them, "Pay attention to what you hear. With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and more will be added to you. ²⁵For whoever has, more will be given to them; and whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them."

²⁶And he said, "The kingdom of God is like this: as if a man should throw seed on the ground, ²⁷and should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows—how, he himself does not know. ²⁸The earth produces fruit by itself: first the blade, then the head, then the full grain in the head. ²⁹But when the crop is ready, immediately he sends in the sickle, because the harvest has arrived."

³⁰And he said, "How shall we compare the kingdom of God, or with what parable shall we present it? ³¹It is like a mustard seed, which when sown on the ground is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth— ³²yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes the largest of all garden plants, and produces great branches, so that the birds of the sky can make nests in its shade."

³³With many such parables he was speaking the word to them, according to what they were able to hear. ³⁴Without a parable he did not speak to them, but privately to his own disciples he was explaining everything.

³⁵And he said to them on that day, when evening had come, "Let us cross to the other side." ³⁶And leaving the crowd, they took him along just as he was in the boat, and other boats were with him. ³⁷And a violent windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling up. ³⁸And he was in the stern, sleeping on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?"

³⁹And having risen, he rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Silence! Be still!" And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. ⁴⁰And he said to them, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still not have faith?"

⁴¹And they were filled with great fear, and they said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"