Mark 4–5

The Parable of the Sower

4And again he began to teach beside the sea,^a and a very large crowd was gathered to him, so that he got into a boat and^* sat on the sea, and the whole crowd was at the sea on the land. ²And he began to teach^b them many things in parables, and was saying to them in his teaching, ³“Listen! Behold, the sower went out to sow. ⁴And it happened that while he was sowing, some seed^c fell on the side of the path, and the birds came and devoured it. ⁵And other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up at once, because it did not have any depth of soil. ⁶And when the sun rose it was scorched, and because it did not have enough root, it withered. ⁷And other seed fell among the thorn plants, and the thorn plants came up and choked it, and it did not produce grain.^{d 8}And other seed fell on the good soil, and produced grain,^e coming up and increasing, and it bore a crop^*—one thirty and one sixty and one a hundred times as much.^{f 9}And he said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear!”

The Reason for the Parables

¹⁰And when he was alone, those around him together with the twelve began asking^g him about the parables. ¹¹And he said to them, “To you has been granted the secret of the kingdom of God, but to those who are outside everything is in parables, ¹²so that

‘they may look closely^h and not perceive,

and they may listen carefullyⁱ and not understand,

lest they turn and it be forgiven them.’ ”^j

The Parable of the Sower Interpreted

¹³And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? And how will you understand all the parables? ¹⁴The sower sows the word. ¹⁵And these are the ones beside the path where the word is sown, and whenever they hear it,^* immediately Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. ¹⁶And these are like^k the ones sown on the rocky ground, who whenever they hear the word immediately receive it with joy. ¹⁷And they have no root in themselves, but are temporary. Then when^* affliction or persecution comes because of the word, immediately they fall away. ¹⁸And others are the ones sown among the thorn plants—these are the ones who hear the word, ¹⁹and the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and^* choke the word and it becomes unproductive. ²⁰And those are the ones sown on the good soil, who hear the word and receive it^* and bear fruit—one thirty and one sixty and one a hundred times as much.”^l

The Parable of the Lamp

²¹And he said to them, “Surely a lamp is not brought so that it may be put under a bushel basket or under a bed, is it?^m Is it notⁿ so that it may be put on a lampstand? ²²For nothing is secret except so that it may be revealed, nor has become hidden except so that it will come to light. ²³If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!” ²⁴And he said to them, “Take care what you hear! With the measure by which you measure out, it will be measured out to you, and will be added to you. ²⁵For whoever has, more will be given to him, and whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”

The Parable of the Seed that Grows by Itself

²⁶And he said, “The kingdom of God is like this: like a man scatters seed on the ground. ²⁷And he sleeps and gets up, night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows—he does not know how.^{o 28}By itself the soil produces a crop: first the grass, then the head of grain, then the full grain in the head. ²⁹But when the crop permits, he sends in the sickle right away, because the harvest has come.”

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

³⁰And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or by what parable can we present it? ³¹It is like a mustard seed that when sown on the ground, although it^* is the smallest of all the seeds that are on the ground, ³²but when it is sown it grows up and becomes the largest of all the garden herbs, and sends out large branches so that the birds of the sky are able to nest in its shade.” ³³And with many parables such as these he was speaking the word to them, as they were able to hear it.^{* 34}And he did not speak to them without a parable, but in private he explained everything to his own disciples.

Calming of a Storm

³⁵And on that day, when it^* was evening, he said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.” ³⁶And leaving the crowd, they took him along, as he was, in the boat. And other boats were with him. ³⁷And a great storm of wind developed, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already being filled with water.^{* 38}And he was in the stern sleeping on the cushion, and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, is it not a concern to you that we are perishing?” ³⁹And he woke up and^* rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Be quiet! Be silent!” And the wind abated and there was a great calm. ⁴⁰And he said to them, “Why are you fearful? Do you not yet have faith?” ⁴¹And they were terribly frightened^p and began to say^q to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

A Demon-possessed Gerasene Healed

5And they came to the other side of the sea,^a to the region of the Gerasenes.^{b 2}And as^* he was getting out of the boat, immediately from the tombs a man with an unclean spirit went to meet him, ³who lived^c among the tombs. And no one was able to bind him any longer, not even with a chain, ⁴because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him, and the shackles had been shattered. And no one was strong enough to subdue him. ⁵And during every night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was crying out and cutting himself with stones. ⁶And when he^* saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and knelt down before him. ⁷And crying out with a loud voice he said, “What have I to do with you^d, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore you by God, do not torment me!” ⁸(For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, unclean spirit!”) ⁹And he was asking him “What is your name?”^e And he said to him, “My name is Legion, because we are many.” ¹⁰And he was imploring him many times that he would not send them out of the region. ¹¹Now a large herd of pigs was there at the hill feeding, ¹²and they implored him, saying, “Send us to the pigs so that we may enter into them.” ¹³And he permitted them. And the unclean spirits came out and^* entered into the pigs, and the herd—about two thousand—rushed headlong down the steep slope into the sea and were drowned in the sea. ¹⁴And their herdsmen fled and reported it^* in the town and in the countryside, and they came to see what it was that had happened. ¹⁵And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man sitting there clothed and in his right mind—the one who had had the legion—and they were afraid. ¹⁶And those who had seen it^* described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man, and about the pigs. ¹⁷And they began to urge him to depart from their region. ¹⁸And as^* he was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed began to implore^f him that he could go with him. ¹⁹And he did not permit him, but said to him, “Go to your home to your people and tell them all that the Lord has done for you, and that he has had mercy on you.” ²⁰And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him, and they were all astonished.

A Woman Healed and a Daughter Raised

²¹And after^* Jesus had crossed over again in the boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered to him, and he was beside the sea. ²²And one of the rulers of the synagogue came—Jairus by name—and when he^* saw him, he fell down at his feet. ²³And he was imploring him many times, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death!^g Come, lay your^h hands on her, so that she will get well and will live.” ²⁴And he went with him, and a large crowd was following him and pressing around him.

²⁵And there was a woman who was suffering from hemorrhagesⁱ twelve years. ²⁶And she had endured many things under many physicians, and had spent all that she had^j and had received no help at all, but instead became worse.^{k 27}When she^* heard about Jesus, she came up in the crowd behind him and^* touched his cloak, ²⁸for she was saying, “If I touch just his clothing, I will be healed!” ²⁹And immediately her hemorrhage stopped^l and she realized in her^m body that she was healed of herⁿ suffering. ³⁰And immediately Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from himself, turned around in the crowd and^* said, “Who touched my clothing?” ³¹And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing upon you, and you say ‘Who touched me?’ ” ³²And he was looking around to see the one who had done this. ³³So the woman, frightened and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. ³⁴But he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be well from your suffering.”

³⁵While^* he was still speaking, they came from the synagogue ruler’s house^* saying, “Your daughter has died. Why trouble the Teacher further?” ³⁶But Jesus, ignoring^o what was said,^p told the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not be afraid—only believe!” ³⁷And he did not allow anyone to follow along with him except Peter and James and John, the brother of James. ³⁸And they came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue and saw a commotion, and people weeping and wailing loudly. ³⁹And when he^* entered, he said to them, “Why are you agitated and weeping? The child is not dead, but is sleeping.” ⁴⁰And they began laughing^q at him. But he sent them all out and^* took along the father and mother of the child, and those who were with him, and went in to where the child was. ⁴¹And taking hold of the child’s hand, he said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which is translated, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”), ⁴²and immediately the girl stood up and began walking around^r (for she was twelve years old). And…