Mark 4–5

THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER

4Again^aa he began to teach^ab by the sea, and a very large crowd gathered around him. So he got into a boat on the sea and sat down, while the whole crowd was by the sea on the shore. ²He taught them many things in parables,^ac and in his teaching^ad he said to them, ³“Listen! Consider the sower who went out to sow.^{ae 4}As he sowed, some seed fell along the path,^af and the birds came and devoured^ag it. ⁵Other seed fell on rocky ground where it didn’t have much soil, and it grew up quickly,^ah since the soil wasn’t deep. ⁶When the sun came up, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away.^{ai 7}Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it didn’t produce fruit. ⁸Still other seed fell on good ground and it grew up, producing fruit that increased^aj thirty, sixty, and a hundred times.”^{ak 9}Then he said, “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen.”^al

WHY JESUS USED PARABLES

¹⁰When he was alone, those around him with the Twelve^am asked him about the parables.^{an 11}He answered them, “The secret^ao of the kingdom of God^ap has been given to you, but to those outside,^aq everything comes in parables ¹²so that

they may indeed look,

and yet not perceive;

they may indeed listen,

and yet not understand;^ar

otherwise, they might turn back

and be forgiven.”^ABas

THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER EXPLAINED

¹³Then^at he said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable?^au How then will you understand all of the parables? ¹⁴The sower sows^av the word.^{aw 15}Some are like the word sown on the path.^ax When they hear, immediately Satan^ay comes and takes away the word^az sown in them.^{C 16}And others are like seed sown on rocky ground. When they hear the word, immediately they receive it with joy.^{ba 17}But they have no root; they are short-lived. When distress^bb or persecution comes because of the word, they immediately fall away.^{bc 18}Others are like seed sown among thorns; these are the ones who hear the word, ¹⁹but the worries^bd of this age,^be the deceitfulness^Dbf of wealth,^bg and the desires^bh for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.^{bi 20}And those like seed sown on good ground hear the word,^bj welcome it, and produce fruit^bk thirty, sixty, and a hundred times what was sown.”

USING YOUR LIGHT

²¹He^bl also said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket or under a bed?^bm Isn’t it to be put on a lampstand?^{bn 22}For there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed,^bo and nothing concealed that will not be brought to light. ²³If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen.”^{bp 24}And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear. By the measure^a you use,^b it will be measured to you—and more will be added^c to you. ²⁵For whoever has, more will be given to him, and whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”^d

THE PARABLE OF THE GROWING SEED

²⁶“The kingdom of God^e is like this,” he said. “A man scatters seed on the ground. ²⁷He sleeps^f and rises^g night^h and day; the seed sprouts and grows, although he doesn’t know how. ²⁸The soil produces a cropⁱ by itself—first the blade, then the head, and then the full grain^j on the head. ²⁹As soon as the crop is ready, he sends for the sickle,^k because the harvest^l has come.”

THE PARABLE OF THE MUSTARD SEED

³⁰And^m he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God,ⁿ or what parable^o can we use to describe it? ³¹It’s like a mustard seed^p that, when sown upon the soil, is the smallest of all the seeds on the ground. ³²And when sown,^q it comes up and grows taller than all the garden plants,^r and produces large branches, so that the birds of the sky^s can nest in its shade.”

USING PARABLES

³³He was speaking the word^t to them with many parables^u like these, as they were able to understand.^{v 34}He did not speak to them without a parable. Privately, however, he explained everything to his own disciples.^w

WIND AND WAVES OBEY JESUS

³⁵On^x that day, when evening had come, he told them, “Let’s cross over to the other side of the sea.” ³⁶So they left the crowd and took him along since he was in the boat. And other boats were with him. ³⁷A great windstorm^y arose, and the waves^z were breaking over the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. ³⁸He was in the stern, sleeping^aa on the cushion. So they woke him up^ab and said to him, “Teacher! Don’t you care that we’re going to die?”^ac

³⁹He got up, rebuked^ad the wind, and said to the sea, “Silence!^ae Be still!” The wind ceased, and there was a great calm. ⁴⁰Then he said to them, “Why are you afraid?^af Do you still have no faith?”

⁴¹And they were terrified^Aag and asked one another, “Who then is this? Even the wind and the sea obey^ah him!”^ai

DEMONS DRIVEN OUT BY JESUS

5They^aj came to the other side of the sea, to the region of the Gerasenes.^{B 2}As soon as he got out of the boat, a man with an unclean^ak spirit^al came out of the tombs^am and met him. ³He lived in the tombs,^an and no one was able to restrain him anymore—not even with a chain^ao—⁴because he often had been bound with shackles and chains, but had torn the chains apart and smashed^ap the shackles. No one was strong enough to subdue^aq him. ⁵Night^ar and day among the tombs^as and on the mountains,^at he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones.

⁶When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and knelt down before him. ⁷And he cried out with a loud voice, “What do you have to do with me, Jesus, Son^au of the Most High God?^av I beg you before God, don’t torment^aw me!” ⁸For he had told him, “Come out of the man, you unclean^ax spirit!”^ay

⁹“What is your name?” he asked him.

“My name is Legion,”^az he answered him, “because we are many.” ¹⁰And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the region.

¹¹A large herd of pigs^ba was there, feeding^bb on the hillside. ¹²The demons^C begged him, “Send us to the pigs, so that we may enter them.” ¹³So he gave them permission, and the unclean^bc spirits^bd came out and entered the pigs. The herd of about two thousand rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned there.

¹⁴The men who tended them^D ran off^be and reported it in the town and the countryside, and people went to see what had happened. ¹⁵They came to Jesus and saw the man who had been demon-possessed,^bfbg sitting there, dressed and in his right mind;^bh and they were afraid.^{bi 16}Those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed^bj man and told about the pigs. ¹⁷Then they began to beg him to leave their region.

¹⁸As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged him earnestly that he might remain with him. ¹⁹Jesus did not let him but told him, “Go home to your own people, and report to them how much the Lord^a has done^b for you and how he has had mercy on you.” ²⁰So he went out and began to proclaim^c in the Decapolis^d how much Jesus had done for him, and they were all amazed.^e

A GIRL RESTORED AND A WOMAN HEALED

²¹When^f Jesus had crossed over again by boat^A to the other side, a large crowd^g gathered around him while he was by the sea. ²²One of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus,^h came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet^{i 23}and begged him earnestly, “My little daughter is dying. Come and lay your hands on^j her so that she can get well^Bk and live.” ²⁴So Jesus went with him, and a large crowd was following and pressing against him.

²⁵Now a woman suffering from bleeding^l for twelve years ²⁶had endured^m much under many doctors.ⁿ She had spent everything she had and was not helped at all. On the contrary, she became worse. ²⁷Having heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched^o his clothing.^{p 28}For she said, “If I just touch his clothes, I’ll be made well.”^{q 29}Instantly her flow of blood ceased, and she sensed in her body that she was healed^r of her affliction.

³⁰Immediately Jesus realized that power^s had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd^t and said, “Who touched my clothes?”^u

³¹His disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing against you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’ ”

³²But he was looking around to see who had done this. ³³The woman, with fear and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down^v before him, and told him the whole truth.^{w 34}“Daughter,” he said to her, “your faith^x has saved you.^y Go in peace and be healed^z from your affliction.”^aa

³⁵While he was still speaking, people came from the synagogue leader’s house and said, “Your daughter is dead. Why bother the teacher^ab anymore?”

³⁶When Jesus overheard^C what was said, he told the synagogue leader, “Don’t be afraid.^ac Only believe.” ³⁷He did not let anyone accompany him except Peter,^ad James,^ae and John,^af James’s brother. ³⁸They came to the leader’s house, and he saw a commotion—people weeping and wailing loudly. ³⁹He went in and said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping?^ag The child^ah is not dead but asleep.”^{ai 40}They laughed at him, but he put them all outside. He took the child’s father,^aj mother, and those who were with him, and entered the place where the child was. ⁴¹Then he took the child^ak by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum”^D (which is translated, “Little girl, I say to you, get up”^al). ⁴²Immediately the girl got up^am and began to walk.^an (She was twelve years old.) At this they were utterly astounded.^{ao 43}Then he gave them strict orders that no one should know about this^ap and told them to give her something to eat.