Mark 4:26–41

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