Mark 4:1–25

A Story About Planting Seed

4Again Jesus began teaching by the lake. A great crowd gathered around him, so he sat down in a boat near the shore. All the people stayed on the shore close to the water. ²Jesus taught them many things, using stories. He said, ³“Listen! A farmer went out to plant his seed. ⁴While he was planting, some seed fell by the road, and the birds came and ate it up. ⁵Some seed fell on rocky ground where there wasn’t much dirt. That seed grew very fast, because the ground was not deep. ⁶But when the sun rose, the plants dried up because they did not have deep roots. ⁷Some other seed fell among thorny weeds, which grew and choked the good plants. So those plants did not produce a crop. ⁸Some other seed fell on good ground and began to grow. It got taller and produced a crop. Some plants made thirty times more, some made sixty times more, and some made a hundred times more.”

⁹Then Jesus said, “Let those with ears use them and listen!”

Jesus Tells Why He Used Stories

¹⁰Later, when Jesus was alone, the twelve apostles and others around him asked him about the stories.

¹¹Jesus said, “You can know the secret about the kingdom of God. But to other people I tell everything by using stories ¹²so that:

‘They will look and look, but they will not learn.

They will listen and listen, but they will not understand.

If they did learn and understand,

they would come back to me and be forgiven.’ ”

Jesus Explains the Seed Story

¹³Then Jesus said to his followers, “Don’t you understand this story? If you don’t, how will you understand any story? ¹⁴The farmer is like a person who plants God’s message in people. ¹⁵Sometimes the teaching falls on the road. This is like the people who hear the teaching of God, but Satan quickly comes and takes away the teaching that was planted in them. ¹⁶Others are like the seed planted on rocky ground. They hear the teaching and quickly accept it with joy. ¹⁷But since they don’t allow the teaching to go deep into their lives, they keep it only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the teaching they accepted, they quickly give up. ¹⁸Others are like the seed planted among the thorny weeds. They hear the teaching, ¹⁹but the worries of this life, the temptation of wealth, and many other evil desires keep the teaching from growing and producing fruit ⁿ in their lives. ²⁰Others are like the seed planted in the good ground. They hear the teaching and accept it. Then they grow and produce fruit—sometimes thirty times more, sometimes sixty times more, and sometimes a hundred times more.”

Use What You Have

²¹Then Jesus said to them, “Do you hide a lamp under a bowl or under a bed? No! You put the lamp on a lampstand. ²²Everything that is hidden will be made clear and every secret thing will be made known. ²³Let those with ears use them and listen!

²⁴“Think carefully about what you hear. The way you give to others is the way God will give to you, but God will give you even more. ²⁵Those who have understanding will be given more. But those who do not have understanding, even what they have will be taken away from them.”