Mark 4

The Parable of the Soils (4:1–9)

1 And again he began to teach beside the sea. And a large crowd was gathered to him, so having gotten into a boat, he sat in it in the sea, and all the crowd was beside the sea on the land. 2 And he taught them in parables many things and said to them in his teachings, 3 “Listen! Look! A planter went out to plant. 4 And it came to pass that as he planted, some indeed fell by the [path]way, and the birds came and ate it. 5 And other seed fell on rocky land, where it did not have much soil. And immediately it sprouted because there was no depth to the soil. 6 But after the sun rose, it was burned. And since it did not have root, it withered away. 7 And other seed fell into the thorns. And the thorns came up and choked it, and it produced no crop. 8 But other seeds fell into the good soil and produced a crop, coming up and increasing, and bore thirty times and sixty times and one hundred times as much.” 9 And he said, “Whoever has ears to hear, hear!”

Jesus Teaches about Parables (4:10–20)

10 And when he was alone, those around him and the Twelve were asking him about the parables. 11 And he said to them, “To you the secret of the kingdom of God has been given. But to those who are outside, all things come in parables. 12 So that

       ‘they might see but not perceive,
       and hear but not understand,
       to prevent them from ever returning and being forgiven.’”

13 And he says to them, “You don’t understand this parable? Then how will you understand all of the parables? 14 The planter plants the word. 15 These are the ones along the pathway where the word is planted: and when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that has been planted in them. 16 And, similarly, these are the ones who are planted in rocky places: who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy, 17 and they do not have any root in themselves but are temporary; then when trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they immediately stumble. 18 And others are the ones who are planted among the thorns: these are the ones who, having heard the word, 19 the anxieties of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desires for other things enter in, choke the word, and it becomes fruitless. 20 And these are the ones planted on the good soil: they hear the word and accept it and produce a crop, one thirty times, and one sixty times, and one a hundred times as much.”

Jesus Shares More Parables (4:21–34)

21 And he was saying to them, “The lamp doesn’t come so that it might be placed under the bowl or under the cot, does it? Doesn’t it come in order that it might be placed on a lampstand? 22 For nothing is hidden that will not be revealed, nor is there any secret that will not come to light. 23 Whoever has ears to hear, hear!” 24 And he was saying to them, “Look closely at what you hear; by what measure you measure, it will be measured to you, and more will be added to you. 25 Indeed, whoever has will be given more, but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.”

26 And he was saying, “So is the kingdom of God like a person who scatters seed upon the ground 27 and sleeps and rises, night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows, but he does not know how. 28 By itself the ground produces the crop: first a stalk, then a head, then the full grain in the head. 29 But when the crop is ready, he immediately sends in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

30 And he was saying, “To what should we compare the kingdom of God? Or, with what parable could we describe it? 31 It is like a mustard seed that, when it has been planted in the ground, is the smallest of all of the seeds that are in the ground. 32 But when it has been planted, it rises and becomes taller than all of the shrubs and produces large branches so that the birds are able to nest in its shade.”

33 And with many such parables, he was speaking the word to them, as they were able to hear. 34 He was not speaking to them without a parable. But privately, alone with his own disciples, he was explaining all things.

Jesus Stills the Sea (4:35–41)

35 And he says to them on that day, when the evening had come, “Let’s go across to the other side.” 36 And leaving the crowd, they take him with them in the boat, just as he was, and other boats were with him. 37 And a great wind storm comes, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat is already being filled up with water. 38 And he was in the stern, sleeping on the cushion. And they wake him and say to him, “Teacher, don’t you care that we are being destroyed?” 39 And awakening, he commanded the wind and said to the sea, “Be quiet! Be calm!” And the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. 40 And he said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Do you not yet have trust?” 41 And they were completely terrified and were saying to one another, “Who, then, is this? Even the wind and the sea obey him!”