Mark 4
1 Again he began to teach beside the sea, and a large crowd gathered around him. He stepped into a boat that was on the sea, and he sat down in it. The whole crowd was on the shore beside the sea.
Afterwards Jesus began to teach by the seaside, and a vast multitude of people gathered about him, so that he went on board a boat on the sea, and sat there, while all the people stayed on shore, at the water’s edge.
2 He taught them many things in parables, and in his teaching, this is what he said to them.
Then he began teaching them in parables many things. In his teaching he said to them.
3 “Listen, the farmer went out to sow his seed.
"Listen! the Sower once went out to sow,
4 As he sowed, some seed fell on the road, and the birds came and devoured it.
and as he sowed, it happened that some seed fell on the road, and birds came and picked it up;
5 Other seed fell on the rocky ground, where it did not have much soil. Immediately it sprang up, because it did not have deep soil.
some other seed fell on stony soil, where it had not much earth; and it sprang up quickly because it had no depth of soil,
6 But when the sun rose, the plants were scorched, and because they had no root, they dried up.
but when the sun rose it was scorched and withered away because it had no root.
7 Other seed fell among the thorn plants. The thorn plants grew up and choked it, and it did not produce a crop.
Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked it, so that it yielded no crop.
8 Other seed fell into good soil and it produced a crop growing up and increasing thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times.”
But some seed fell into good soil and yielded a crop that sprang up and increased, yielding thirty, sixty, or a hundredfold.
9 Then he said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear!”
"Any one who has ears to hear," he added, "let him listen to this."
10 When Jesus was alone, those who were close to him and with the twelve asked him about the parables.
When he was alone his followers and the Twelve began asking about the parables.
11 He said to them, “To you is given the mystery of the kingdom of God. But to those outside everything is in parables,
He went on to say to them. "The secret truth concerning the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to those outside everything is told in parables,
12 so that when they look, yes they look, but do not see, and so that when they hear, yes they hear, but do not understand, or else they would turn and God would forgive them.”
so that, "for all their looking they may not see, and for all their hearing, they may not understand, lest perchance they should turn and be pardoned.
13 Then he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the other parables?
"You do not understand this parable," said Jesus. "Then how will you understand the other parables?
14 The farmer who sows his seed is the one who sows the word.
"What the Sower sows is the Word. There are those ‘on the wayside’ where the Word is sown.
15 These are the ones that fall beside the road, where the word was sown, but when they hear it, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.
As soon as they hear it, Satan immediately comes and snatches away the Word which has been sown in them.
16 These are the ones that are sown on rocky ground, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy.
And like the sowing upon ‘stony ground’ are those who, whenever they hear the Word, at once receive it with joy,
17 They have no root in themselves, but endure for a short time. Then tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, and immediately they stumble.
but because they have no root in themselves they last for a time; but when suffering or persecution ensues because of the Word, they at once fall away.
18 The others are the ones that were sown among the thorns. They hear the word,
There are others who are ‘sown among thorns.’
19 but the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires of other things enter in and choke the word, and it does not produce a crop. (aiōn g165)
When they have heard the Word, the anxieties of life and the snares of wealth, and all sorts of other ambitions, come in to choke the Word, so that it proves unfruitful. (aiōn g165)
20 Then those that were sown in the good soil are the ones who hear the word and receive it, and they produce crops—thirty, sixty, or a hundred times what was sown.”
But those, on the other hand, who were sown on that good soil, are those who listen to the Word, and welcome it, and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, or a hundredfold."
21 Jesus said to them, “Do you bring a lamp inside the house to put it under a basket, or under the bed? You bring it in and you put it on a lampstand.
He went on to say. "Is the lamp brought in to be put under the bushel or the bed? Is it not rather to be put on the lamp-stand?
22 For nothing is hidden that will not be known, and nothing is secret that will not come out into the open.
There is nothing hidden except what is to be disclosed, and nothing concealed except what is to be revealed.
23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!”
If any man has ears to hear, let him hear."
24 He said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear, for the measure you use will be measured to you, and more will be added to you.
And he said to them. "Take heed what you hear. With what measure you measure it will be measured to you, and more will be given to you.
25 Because whoever has, to him will be given more, and whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken.”
For he who holds, to him will more be given, and he who holds not, from him will be taken even what he holds."
26 He also said, “The kingdom of God is like a man who sows his seed on the ground.
"It is with the kingdom of God," he continued, "as if a man should have sown seed in the earth;
27 He sleeps at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how.
night and day he sleeps and wakes while the seed is sprouting and growing tall, he knows not how.
28 The earth bears grain by itself: First the blade, then the ear, then the mature grain in the ear.
Of its own accord the earth bears its crops; first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.
29 When the crop is ripe, he immediately sends in the sickle because the harvest has come.”
Then as soon as the crop is ready the man has the sickle put in at once, because harvest-time is come.
30 Again he said, “To what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use to explain it?
"To what shall we compare the kingdom of God?" he said again. "in what parable shall we set it forth?
31 It is like a mustard seed which, when it is sown, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth.
It is like a mustard-seed, which, when sown in the soil, is the smallest seed in the world;
32 Yet, when it is sown, it grows and becomes greater than all the garden plants, and it forms large branches, so that the birds of heaven can make their nests in its shade.”
yet when sown shoots up and becomes larger than any plant, sending out such branches that the wild birds build their nests under its shadow."
33 With many parables like this he spoke the word to them, as much as they were able to understand,
With many such illustrations Jesus used to tell his message to people as far as they were able to receive it;
34 and he did not speak to them without a parable. But when he was alone, he explained everything to his own disciples.
and to them it was his practice never to speak except in parables. But he used to explain everything in private to his disciples.
35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go over to the other side.”
On the evening of that same day Jesus said to them, "Let us go across to the other side."
36 So they left the crowd, taking Jesus with them, just as he was, in the boat. There were other boats going along with him.
So, leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them just as he was in the boat; and the other boats were with him.
37 Just then a violent windstorm arose and the waves were breaking into the boat so that the boat was almost full of water.
But a great gale of wind came up, and the waves were dashing into the boat so that it began to fill.
38 But Jesus himself was in the stern, asleep on a cushion. They woke him up, saying, “Teacher, do you not care that we are about to die?”
Now he himself was sleeping on the cushion in the stern, so they woke him up, saying, "Master, do you not care if we perish?"
39 He got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
And he awoke, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace, be still!"
40 Then he said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still not have faith?”
The wind fell, and there ensued a great calm. Then he said to them. "Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?"
41 They were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, because even the wind and the sea obey him?”
Then they were awestruck, and said one to another, "Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey him!"
