Mark 4:1–25

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.”