Mark 4
1 Jesus began teaching by the sea again. A very large crowd gathered around him, so he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, while the whole crowd remained on the shore, facing the sea.
2 He taught them many things in parables, saying to them as he taught:
3 “Listen. A sower went out to sow.
4 As he was sowing, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.
5 Other seed fell on rocky ground, where there was not much soil, and it sprang up at once because the soil was shallow.
6 When the sun rose, it was scorched, and because it had no root, it withered.
7 Other seed fell among the thorns. The thorns grew up and choked it, and it bore no fruit.
8 Other seeds fell on good soil and bore fruit, growing up and increasing; they produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.”
9 And he said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear.”
10 When he was alone, those who were with him, along with the Twelve, asked him about the parables.
11 He said to them, “The mystery of the kingdom of God has been given to you; but for those outside, everything comes in parables,
12 so that ‘they may look and look, yet not see; they may hear and hear, yet not understand; otherwise they might turn back and be forgiven.’”
13 And he said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How, then, will you understand all the others?
14 The sower sows the word.
15 These are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear it, Satan comes at once and takes away the word that was sown in them.
16 Others, like seed sown on rocky ground, are those who hear the word and immediately receive it with joy.
17 But they have no root in themselves and last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they immediately fall away.
18 Others are those sown among the thorns: they are the ones who have heard the word.
19 But the worries of this age, the deceitfulness of wealth, and desires for other things come in and choke the word, and it becomes fruitless.
20 And those are the ones sown on good soil: they hear the word, receive it, and bear fruit—thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.”
21 And he said to them, “Does a lamp come to be put under a measuring basket or under a bed? Isn’t it meant to be put on a lampstand?
22 For nothing is hidden except to be revealed; nothing has been kept secret except to come to light.
23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”
24 And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear. The measure you use will be measured out to you, and more will be added to you.
25 For to the one who has, more will be given; and from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.”
26 And he said, “The kingdom of God is like this: someone scatters seed on the ground.
27 He sleeps and gets up, night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows—he does not know how.
28 The earth produces fruit by itself: first the blade, then the head, then the full grain in the head.
29 And when the grain is ready, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
30 And he said, “What can we compare the kingdom of God to? Or what parable can we use to present it?
31 It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown in the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth.
32 But once it is sown, it grows and becomes larger than all the garden plants, and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the sky can nest in its shade.”
33 With many parables like these he spoke the word to them, as much as they were able to understand.
34 He did not speak to them without a parable, but in private he explained everything to his own disciples.
35 That day, when evening came, he said to them, “Let’s go across to the other side.”
36 They left the crowd and took him along in the boat just as he was, and other boats went with him.
37 A great windstorm arose, and the waves crashed into the boat, so that it was already filling with water.
38 He was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. They woke him and said, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re perishing?”
39 He got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Silence. Be still.” The wind died down, and there was a great calm.
40 He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? How is it that you still have no faith?”
41 They were terrified and said to one another, “Who is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
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