Mark 4:1–12

¹And again he began to teach by the sea. And a great crowd was gathered together to him, so that going on board ship he sat in the sea, and all the crowd were close to the sea on the land. ²And he taught them many things in parables. And he said to them in his doctrine, ³ Hearken: Behold, the sower went forth to sow. ⁴And it came to pass as he sowed, one fell by the wayside, and the birds came and devoured it. ⁵And another fell on the rocky ground, where it had not much earth, and immediately it sprung up out of the ground because it had no depth of earth; ⁶and when the sun arose it was burnt up, and because of its not having any root, it withered. ⁷And another fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. ⁸And another fell into the good ground, and yielded fruit, growing up and increasing; and bore, one thirty, and one sixty, and one a hundred. ⁹And he said, He that has ears to hear, let him hear. ¹⁰And when he was alone, those about him with the twelve asked him as to the parables. ¹¹And he said to them, To you is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to them who are without, all things are done in parables, ¹²that beholding they may behold and not see, and hearing they may hear and not understand, lest it may be, they should be converted and they should be forgiven.