Mark 4

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