Mark 4:10–20

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.”