Mark 4:1–25

The Parable of the Sower

4Again ^vhe began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him, ^wso that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. ²And ^xhe was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: ³“Listen! ^yBehold, a sower went out to sow. ⁴And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. ⁵Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. ⁶And ^zwhen the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, ^ait withered away. ⁷Other seed fell among ^bthorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. ⁸And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and ^ca hundredfold.” ⁹And he said, ^d“He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

The Purpose of the Parables

¹⁰And ^ewhen he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. ¹¹And he said to them, ^f“To you has been given ^gthe secret of the kingdom of God, but for ^hthose outside everything is in parables, ¹²ⁱso that

“ ‘they ^jmay indeed see but not perceive,

and may indeed hear but not understand,

lest they ^kshould turn and be forgiven.’ ”

^13lAnd he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? ^14mThe sower sows ⁿthe word. ¹⁵And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. ¹⁶And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it ^owith joy. ¹⁷And they have no root in themselves, but ^pendure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately ^qthey fall away.^{1 18}And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, ¹⁹but ^rthe cares of ^sthe world and ^tthe deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. ²⁰But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and ^ubear fruit, ^vthirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”

A Lamp Under a Basket

^21wAnd he said to them, ^x“Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand? ^22yFor nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light. ^23zIf anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” ²⁴And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear: ^awith the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you. ^25bFor to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”