Mark 4

4 ¹ Again Jesus began to teach beside the sea. And such a large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it on the water, while the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. ² He taught them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: ³ "Listen! A sower went out to sow." ⁴ "And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it." ⁵ "Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up at once, since the soil was shallow." ⁶ "And when the sun rose, the plants were scorched, and since they had no root, they withered away." ⁷ "Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain." ⁸ "And other seed fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirty, sixty, and a hundred times what was sown." ⁹ And he said, "Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear."

¹⁰ When he was alone, those around him, together with the Twelve, asked him about the parables. ¹¹ And he said to them, "You have been given the secret of the kingdom of our Father, but to those outside, everything comes in parables, ¹² so that 'they may indeed look but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they turn and be forgiven.'"

¹³ And he said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?" ¹⁴ "The sower sows the word." ¹⁵ "These are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan comes at once and takes away the word that is sown in them." ¹⁶ "And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: when they hear the word, they receive it at once with joy." ¹⁷ "But they have no root in themselves and last only a while; then, when trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away." ¹⁸ "And others are the ones sown among thorns. These are those who hear the word, ¹⁹ but the worries of this life, the deceit of riches, and the cravings for other things come in and choke the word, and it produces no fruit." ²⁰ "But those sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word, welcome it, and bear fruit—thirty, sixty, and a hundred times what was sown."

Light Is Made to Shine

²¹ He said to them, "Does anyone bring in a lamp to put it under a basket or under a bed? Don't they put it on a stand?" ²² "For nothing is hidden except to be made known, and nothing is concealed 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. With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more will be added to you." ²⁵ "For 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 Seed Grows on Its Own

²⁶ And he said, "This is what the kingdom of our Father is like: a man scatters seed on the ground." ²⁷ "Night and day, whether he sleeps or rises, the seed sprouts and grows—though he does not know how." ²⁸ "All by itself the soil produces grain—first the blade, then the head, then the full kernel in the head." ²⁹ "But as soon as the grain is ripe, he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come."

The Mustard Seed

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

³³ With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as much as they were able to hear. ³⁴ He did not speak to them without a parable, but privately he explained everything to his own disciples.

Jesus Stills the Storm

³⁵ That day, when evening came, he said to them, "Let us cross over to the other side." ³⁶ Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat; and other boats were with him. ³⁷ A fierce windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was already being swamped. ³⁸ But Jesus was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. They woke him and said, "Teacher, don't you care that we are perishing?"

³⁹ He woke up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" Then the wind died down, and there was a great calm. ⁴⁰ He said to them, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?"

⁴¹ And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"