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.

Luke 8:4-18

The Parable of the Sower

4 ^atAnd when a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable, 5 ^au“A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. 6And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, ^avit withered away, because it had no moisture. 7And some fell among ^awthorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. 8And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded ^axa hundredfold.” As he said these things, he called out, ^ay“He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

The Purpose of the Parables

9And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, 10he said, ^az“To you it has been given to know ^bathe secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so ^bbthat ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’ 11 ^bcNow the parable is this: The seed is ^bdthe word of God. 12The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not ^bebelieve and be saved. 13And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it ^bfwith joy. But these have no root; they ^bgbelieve for a while, and in time of testing ^bhfall away. 14And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but ^bias they go on their way they are choked by the ^bjcares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. 15As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and ^bkbear fruit ^blwith patience.

A Lamp Under a Jar

16 ^bm, ^bn“No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. 17 ^boFor nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light. 18 ^bpTake care then how you hear, ^bqfor to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away.”

Luke 13:18-20

The Mustard Seed and the Leaven

18 ^brHe said therefore, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? 19It is like ^bsa grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.”

20And again he said, “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God?