Mark 4–5

4TH CHAPTER

A Story about a Farmer—Matthew 13:1–23; Luke 8:4–15

¹Jesus began to teach again by the Sea of Galilee. A very large crowd gathered around him, so he got into a boat and sat in it. The boat was in the water while the entire crowd lined the shore. ²He used stories as illustrations to teach them many things. 

While he was teaching them, he said, ³“Listen! A farmer went to plant seed. ⁴Some seeds were planted along the road, and birds came and devoured them. ⁵Other seeds were planted on rocky ground, where there wasn’t much soil. The plants sprouted quickly because the soil wasn’t deep. ⁶When the sun came up, they were scorched. They didn’t have any roots, so they withered. ⁷Other seeds were planted among thornbushes. The thornbushes grew up and choked them, and they didn’t produce anything. ⁸But other seeds were planted on good ground, sprouted, and produced thirty, sixty, or one hundred times as much as was planted.” ⁹He added, “Let the person who has ears listen!” 

¹⁰When he was alone with his followers and the twelve apostles, they asked him about the stories. 

¹¹Jesus replied to them, “The mystery about God’s kingdom has been given ⸤directly⸥ to you. To those on the outside, it is given in stories: 

¹²‘They see clearly but don’t perceive. 

They hear clearly but don’t understand. 

They never return to me 

and are never forgiven.’ ” 

¹³Jesus asked them, “Don’t you understand this story? How, then, will you understand any of the stories I use as illustrations? 

¹⁴“The farmer plants the word. ¹⁵Some people are like seeds that were planted along the road. Whenever they hear the word, Satan comes at once and takes away the word that was planted in them. ¹⁶Other people are like seeds that were planted on rocky ground. Whenever they hear the word, they accept it at once with joy. ¹⁷But they don’t develop any roots. They last for a short time. When suffering or persecution comes along because of the word, they immediately fall ⸤from faith⸥. ¹⁸Other people are like seeds planted among thornbushes. They hear the word, ¹⁹but the worries of life, the deceitful pleasures of riches, and the desires for other things take over. They choke the word so that it can’t produce anything. ²⁰Others are like seeds planted on good ground. They hear the word, accept it, and produce crops—thirty, sixty, or one hundred times as much as was planted.” 

A Story about a Lamp

²¹Jesus said to them, “Does anyone bring a lamp into a room to put it under a basket or under a bed? Isn’t it put on a lamp stand? ²²There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed. There is nothing kept secret that will not come to light. ²³Let the person who has ears listen!” 

²⁴He went on to say, “Pay attention to what you’re listening to! ⸤Knowledge⸥ will be measured out to you by the measure ⸤of attention⸥ you give. This is the way knowledge increases. ²⁵Those who understand ⸤these mysteries⸥ will be given ⸤more knowledge⸥. However, some people don’t understand ⸤these mysteries⸥. Even what they understand will be taken away from them.” 

A Story about Seeds That Grow

²⁶Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is like a man who scatters seeds on the ground. ²⁷He sleeps at night and is awake during the day. The seeds sprout and grow, although the man doesn’t know how. ²⁸The ground produces grain by itself. First the green blade appears, then the head, then the head full of grain. ²⁹As soon as the grain is ready, he cuts it with a sickle, because harvest time has come.” 

A Story about a Mustard Seed—Matthew 13:31–32; Luke 13:18–19

³⁰Jesus asked, “How can we show what God’s kingdom is like? To what can we compare it? ³¹It’s like a mustard seed planted in the ground. The mustard seed is one of the smallest seeds on earth. ³²However, when planted, it comes up and becomes taller than all the garden plants. It grows such large branches that birds can nest in its shade.” 

³³Jesus spoke ⸤God’s⸥ word to them using many illustrations like these. In this way people could understand what he taught. ³⁴He did not speak to them without using an illustration. But when he was alone with his disciples, he explained everything to them. 

Jesus Calms the Sea—Matthew 8:23–27; Luke 8:22–25

³⁵That evening, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side.” 

³⁶Leaving the crowd, they took Jesus along in a boat just as he was. Other boats were with him. 

³⁷A violent windstorm came up. The waves were breaking into the boat so that it was quickly filling up. ³⁸But he was sleeping on a cushion in the back of the boat. 

So they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to die?” 

³⁹Then he got up, ordered the wind to stop, and said to the sea, “Be still, absolutely still!” The wind stopped blowing, and the sea became very calm. 

⁴⁰He asked them, “Why are you such cowards? Don’t you have any faith yet?” 

⁴¹They were overcome with fear and asked each other, “Who is this man? Even the wind and the sea obey him!” 

5TH CHAPTER

Jesus Cures a Demon-Possessed Man—Matthew 8:28–34; Luke 8:26–39

¹They arrived in the territory of the Gerasenes on the other side of the Sea of Galilee. ²As Jesus stepped out of the boat, a man came out of the tombs and met him. The man was controlled by an evil spirit ³and lived among the tombs. No one could restrain him any longer, not even with a chain. ⁴He had often been chained hand and foot. However, he snapped the chains off his hands and broke the chains from his feet. No one could control him. ⁵Night and day he was among the tombs and on the mountainsides screaming and cutting himself with stones. 

⁶The man saw Jesus at a distance. So he ran ⸤to Jesus⸥, bowed down in front of him, ⁷and shouted, “Why are you bothering me now, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won’t torture me.” ⁸He shouted this because Jesus said, “You evil spirit, come out of the man.” 

⁹Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” 

He told Jesus, “My name is Legion ^[Six Thousand^[, because there are many of us.” ¹⁰He begged Jesus not to send them out of the territory. 

¹¹A large herd of pigs was feeding on a mountainside nearby. ¹²The demons begged him, “Send us into the pigs! Let us enter them!” 

¹³Jesus let them do this. The evil spirits came out of the man and went into the pigs. The herd of about two thousand pigs rushed down the cliff into the sea and drowned. 

¹⁴Those who took care of the pigs ran away. In the city and countryside they reported everything that had happened. So the people came to see what had happened. ¹⁵They came to Jesus and saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons. The man was sitting there dressed and in his right mind. The people were frightened. ¹⁶Those who saw this told what had happened to the demon-possessed man and the pigs. ¹⁷Then the people began to beg Jesus to leave their territory. 

¹⁸As Jesus stepped into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged him, “Let me stay with you.” ¹⁹But Jesus would not allow it. Instead, he told the man, “Go home to your family, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how merciful he has been to you.” 

²⁰So the man left. He began to tell how much Jesus had done for him in the Ten Cities.^aEveryone was amazed. 

Jairus’ Daughter and a Woman with Chronic Bleeding—Matthew 9:18–26; Luke 8:40–56

²¹Jesus again crossed to the other side of the Sea of Galilee in a boat. A large crowd gathered around him by the seashore. 

²²A synagogue leader named Jairus also arrived. When he saw Jesus, he quickly bowed down in front of him. ²³He begged Jesus, “My little daughter is dying. Come, lay your hands on her so that she may get well and live.” 

²⁴Jesus went with the man. A huge crowd followed Jesus and pressed him on every side. 

²⁵In the crowd was a woman who had been suffering from chronic bleeding for twelve years. ²⁶Although she had been under the care of many doctors and had spent all her money, she had not been helped at all. Actually, she had become worse. ²⁷Since she had heard about Jesus, she came from behind in the crowd and touched his clothes. ²⁸She said, “If I can just touch his clothes, I’ll get well.” ²⁹Her bleeding stopped immediately. She felt cured from her illness. 

³⁰At that moment Jesus felt power had gone out of him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?” 

³¹His disciples said to him, “How can you ask, ‘Who touched me,’ when you see the crowd pressing you on all sides?” 

³²But he kept looking around to see the woman who had done this. ³³The woman trembled with fear. She knew what had happened to her. So she quickly bowed in front of him and told him the whole truth. 

³⁴Jesus told her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace! Be cured from your illness.” 

³⁵While Jesus was still speaking to her, some people came from the synagogue leader’s home. They told the synagogue leader, “Your daughter has died. Why bother the teacher anymore?” 

³⁶When Jesus overheard what they said, he told the synagogue leader, “Don’t be afraid! Just believe.” 

³⁷Jesus allowed no one to go with him except Peter and the two brothers James and John. ³⁸When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a noisy crowd there. People were crying and sobbing loudly. ³⁹When he came into the house, he asked them, “Why are you making so much noise and crying? The child isn’t dead. She’s just sleeping.” 

⁴⁰They laughed at him. So he made all of them go outside. Then he took the child’s father, mother, and his three disciples and went to the child. ⁴¹Jesus took the child’s hand and said to her, “Talitha, koum!” which means, “Little girl, I’m telling you to get up!” 

⁴²The girl got up at once and started to walk. (She was twelve years old.) They were astonished. 

⁴³Jesus ordered them not to let anyone know about this. He also told them to give the little girl something to eat.