Mark 4

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.

Jesus Calms a Storm

35 ^atOn that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” 36And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. 37And a great windstorm arose, and the waves ^auwere breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. 38But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39And he awoke and ^avrebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and ^awthere was a great calm. 40He said to them, “Why are you ^axso afraid? Have you still no faith?” 41And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, ^ay“Who then is this, that even ^azthe wind and the sea obey him?”

Mark 5

Jesus Heals a Man with a Demon

1 ^baThey came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. ▼

▼Some manuscripts Gergesenes; some Gadarenes

2And when Jesus ▼

▼Greek he; also verse 9

had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. 3 ^bdHe lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, 4for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. 5Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. 6And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and ^befell down before him. 7And ^bfcrying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, ^bgSon of ^bhthe Most High God? ^biI adjure you by God, do not torment me.” 8For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” 9And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is ^bjLegion, for we are many.” 10And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. 11Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, 12and they begged him, saying, “Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.” 13So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea.

14The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. 15And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed ▼

▼Greek daimonizomai; also verses 16, 18; elsewhere rendered oppressed by demons

man, the one who had had ^blthe legion, sitting there, ^bmclothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. 16And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. 17And ^bnthey began to beg Jesus ▼

▼Greek him

to depart from their region. 18As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. 19And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and ^bptell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” 20And he went away and began to proclaim in ^bqthe Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.

Jesus Heals a Woman and Jairus’s Daughter

21And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him, and he was beside the sea. 22 ^brThen came one of ^bsthe rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet 23and implored him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and ^btlay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.” 24And he went with him.

And a great crowd followed him and ^buthronged about him. 25And there was a woman ^bvwho had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, 26and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. 27She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. 28For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” 29 ^bwAnd immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her ^bxdisease. 30And Jesus, perceiving in himself that ^bypower had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments?” 31And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’” 32And he looked around to see who had done it. 33But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. 34And he said to her, “Daughter, ^bzyour faith has made you well; ^cago in peace, and be healed of your ^cbdisease.”

35While he was still speaking, there came from ^ccthe ruler’s house some who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why ^cdtrouble ^cethe Teacher any further?” 36But overhearing ▼

▼Or ignoring; some manuscripts hearing

what they said, Jesus said to ^cgthe ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” 37And he allowed no one to follow him except ^chPeter and James and ^ciJohn the brother of James. 38They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus ▼

▼Greek he

saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. 39And when he had entered, he said to them, ^ck“Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but ^clsleeping.” 40And they laughed at him. But he ^cmput them all outside and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. 41 ^cnTaking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, ^coarise.” 42And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement. 43And ^cphe strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.