Mark 4:1-34

The Parable of the Sower

1Again ^ahe began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him, ^bso that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. 2And ^che was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: 3“Listen! ^dBehold, 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, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. 6And ^ewhen the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, ^fit withered away. 7Other seed fell among ^gthorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. 8And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and ^ha hundredfold.” 9And he said, ⁱ“He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

The Purpose of the Parables

10And ^jwhen he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. 11And he said to them, ^k“To you has been given ^lthe secret of the kingdom of God, but for ^mthose outside everything is in parables, 12 ⁿso that

“'they ^omay indeed see but not perceive,
and may indeed hear but not understand,
lest they ^pshould turn and be forgiven.'”
13 ^qAnd he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? 14 ^rThe sower sows ^sthe word. 15And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. 16And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it ^twith joy. 17And they have no root in themselves, but ^uendure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately ^vthey fall away. ▼

▼Or stumble

18And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, 19but ^xthe cares of ^ythe world and ^zthe deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 20But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and ^aabear fruit, ^abthirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”

A Lamp Under a Basket

21 ^acAnd he said to them, ^ad“Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand? 22 ^aeFor nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light. 23 ^afIf anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” 24And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear: ^agwith the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you. 25 ^ahFor to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

The Parable of the Seed Growing

26And he said, ^ai“The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. 27He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; ^ajhe knows not how. 28The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. 29But when the grain is ripe, at once ^akhe puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

30 ^alAnd he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? 31It is like ^ama grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, 32yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”

33 ^anWith many such parables he spoke ^aothe word to them, ^apas they were able to hear it. 34He did not speak to them ^aqwithout a parable, but ^arprivately to his own disciples he ^asexplained everything.