Mark 4

4 ¹Jesus again taught by the sea. So large a crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat on the water and sat, while the whole crowd was on land by the sea. ²He taught them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them:

³"Listen! 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, lacking much soil, and sprang up at once since the soil had no depth. ⁶When the sun rose, the plants were scorched, and since they had no root, they withered. ⁷Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, yielding no grain. ⁸Other seed fell into good soil, producing grain that sprouted, grew, and yielded thirty, sixty, one hundred times what was sown." ⁹And he said, "Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear."

¹⁰When he was alone, those around him, together with the Twelve, asked him about the parables.

¹¹He said to them, "To you is given the secret of the kingdom of our Father, but to those outside, everything comes in parables, ¹²so that 'they may look but not perceive, and hear but not understand, and not turn and be forgiven.'"

¹³He said to them, "You don't understand this parable? Then how will you understand all the parables? ¹⁴The sower sows the word. ¹⁵These are the ones on the path where the word is sown: once they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word sown in them. ¹⁶These are the ones sown on rocky ground, who hear the word and immediately receive it with joy. ¹⁷But they have no root in themselves, lasting only briefly; when trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they fall away at once. ¹⁸And others are the ones sown among thorns. These are those who hear the word, ¹⁹but worries of this age, the deceit of wealth, and desires for other things enter and choke the word, and it produces no fruit. ²⁰And these are the ones sown on good soil: they hear the word, accept it, and produce fruit—thirty, sixty, one hundred times over."

Light Is Made to Shine

²¹He told them, "Does anyone bring in a lamp to put it under a basket or bed—not on a stand? ²²Nothing is hidden except to be revealed; nothing is secret except to surface. ²³If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear."

²⁴He told them, "Watch what you hear. The measure you use will be measured to you—and more added. ²⁵For whoever has will be given more; whoever doesn't, even what he has will be taken from him."

The Seed Grows on Its Own

²⁶He said, "This is what the kingdom of our Father is like: a man scatters seed on the ground. ²⁷Night and day, asleep or awake, the seed sprouts and grows, though he doesn't know how. ²⁸The soil yields grain on its own—first blade, then head, then full kernel in the head. ²⁹But when the grain ripens, he immediately sends the sickle, since harvest has come."

The Mustard Seed

³⁰He said, "What can we compare the kingdom of our Father to, or what parable can we use for it? ³¹It's like a mustard seed, the smallest of all seeds when sown on the ground. ³²Yet once sown, it grows up and becomes the largest of all garden plants, producing branches so big that birds of the air can nest in its shade."

³³With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear. ³⁴He spoke to them only in parables, but privately explained everything to his own disciples.

Jesus Stills the Storm

³⁵That day, when evening came, he said to them, "Let us cross over to the other side."

³⁶They left the crowd and took him along, just as he was, in the boat, other boats accompanying him. ³⁷A fierce windstorm came up. Waves broke over the boat, so that it was already being swamped. ³⁸But Jesus was asleep in the stern on the cushion. They woke him and said, "Teacher, don't you care that we're dying?"

³⁹He got up, rebuked the wind, and told the sea, "Peace! Be still!" The wind stopped, and it grew totally calm. ⁴⁰He said to them, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?"

⁴¹They were terrified and asked one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"