Mark 4
1 And again He began to teach by the sea, and there was gathered to Him a great multitude, so that He, having gone into the boat, sat in the sea, and all the multitude was near the sea, on the land,
Once 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, while all the people crowded along the shore.
2 and He taught them many things in allegories, and He said to them in His teaching:
And He taught them many things in parables, and in His teaching He said,
3 “Listen, behold, the sower went forth to sow;
“Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed.
4 and it came to pass, in the sowing, some fell by the way, and the birds of the sky came and devoured it;
And as he was sowing, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it.
5 and other fell on the rocky ground, where it did not have much earth, and immediately it sprang forth, because of having no depth of earth,
Some fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly because the soil was shallow.
6 and the sun having risen, it was scorched, and because of having no root it withered;
But when the sun rose, the seedlings were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.
7 and other fell toward the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it gave no fruit;
Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the seedlings, and they yielded no crop.
8 and other fell to the good ground, and was giving fruit, coming up and increasing, and it was bearing, one thirty-fold, and one sixty, and one a hundred.”
Still other seed fell on good soil, where it sprouted, grew up, and produced a crop—one bearing thirtyfold, another sixtyfold, and another a hundredfold.”
9 And He said to them, “He who is having ears to hear—let him hear.”
Then Jesus said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
10 And when He was alone, those around Him, with the Twelve, asked Him of the allegory,
As soon as Jesus was alone with the Twelve and those around Him, they asked Him about the parable.
11 and He said to them, “To you it has been given to know the secret of the Kingdom of God, but to those who are outside, in allegories are all the things done,
He replied, “The mystery of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to those on the outside everything is expressed in parables,
12 that seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand, lest they may turn, and the sins may be forgiven them.”
so that, ‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven.’”
13 And He says to them, “Have you not known this allegory? And how will you know all the allegories?
Then Jesus said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand any of the parables?
14 He who is sowing sows the word;
The farmer sows the word.
15 and these are they by the way where the word is sown: and whenever they may hear, Satan immediately comes, and he takes away the word that has been sown in their hearts.
Some are like the seeds along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.
16 And these are they, in like manner, who are sown on the rocky ground: who, whenever they may hear the word, immediately receive it with joy,
Some are like the seeds sown on rocky ground. They hear the word and at once receive it with joy.
17 and have no root in themselves, but are temporary; afterward tribulation or persecution having come because of the word, immediately they are stumbled.
But they themselves have no root, and they remain for only a season. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.
18 And these are they who are sown toward the thorns: these are they who are hearing the word,
Others are like the seeds sown among the thorns. They hear the word,
19 and the anxieties of this age, and the deceitfulness of the riches, and the desires concerning the other things, entering in, choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. (aiōn g165)
but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. (aiōn g165)
20 And these are they who on the good ground have been sown: who hear the word, and receive, and bear fruit, one thirty-fold, and one sixty, and one a hundred.”
Still others are like the seeds sown on good soil. They hear the word, receive it, and produce a crop—thirtyfold, sixtyfold, or a hundredfold.”
21 And He said to them, “Does the lamp come that it may be put under the measure, or under the bed—not that it may be put on the lampstand?
Jesus also said to them, “Does anyone bring in a lamp to put it under a basket or under a bed? Doesn’t he set it on a stand?
22 For there is not anything hid that may not be revealed, nor was anything kept hid but that it may come to light.
For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be brought to light.
23 If any has ears to hear—let him hear.”
If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”
24 And He said to them, “Take heed what you hear; in what measure you measure, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear it will be added;
He went on to say, “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 whoever may have, there will be given to him, and whoever has not, also that which he has will be taken from him.”
For whoever has will be given more. But whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”
26 And He said, “Thus is the Kingdom of God: as if a man may cast the seed on the earth,
Jesus also said, “The kingdom of God is like a man who scatters seed on the ground.
27 and may sleep, and may rise night and day, and the seed springs up and grows, he has not known how;
Night and day he sleeps and wakes, and the seed sprouts and grows, though he knows not how.
28 for of itself the earth bears fruit, first a blade, afterward an ear, afterward full grain in the ear;
All by itself the earth produces a crop—first the stalk, then the head, then grain that ripens within.
29 and whenever the fruit may yield itself, immediately he sends forth the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
And as soon as the grain is ripe, he swings the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
30 And He said, “To what may we liken the Kingdom of God, or in what allegory may we compare it?
Then He asked, “To what can we compare the kingdom of God? With what parable shall we present it?
31 As a grain of mustard, which, whenever it may be sown on the earth, is less than any of the seeds that are on the earth;
It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds sown upon the earth.
32 and whenever it may be sown, it comes up, and becomes greater than any of the herbs, and makes great branches, so that under its shade the birds of the sky are able to rest.”
But after it is planted, it grows to be the largest of all garden plants and puts forth great branches, so that the birds of the air nest in its shade.”
33 And with many such allegories He was speaking to them the word, as they were able to hear,
With many such parables Jesus spoke the word to them, to the extent that they could understand.
34 and without an allegory He was not speaking to them, and by themselves, to His disciples He was expounding all.
He did not tell them anything without using a parable. But privately He explained everything to His own disciples.
35 And He says to them on that day, evening having come, “We may pass over to the other side”;
When that evening came, He said to His disciples, “Let us cross to the other side.”
36 and having let away the multitude, they take Him up as He was in the boat, and other little boats were also with Him.
After they had dismissed the crowd, they took Jesus with them, since He was already in the boat. And there were other boats with Him.
37 And there comes a great storm of wind, and the waves were beating on the boat, so that it is now being filled,
Soon a violent windstorm came up, and the waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was being swamped.
38 and He Himself was on the stern, sleeping on the pillow, and they wake Him up, and say to Him, “Teacher, are You not caring that we perish?”
But Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on the cushion. So they woke Him and said, “Teacher, don’t You care that we are perishing?”
39 And having awoken, He rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace, be stilled”; and the wind stilled, and there was a great calm;
Then Jesus got up and rebuked the wind and the sea. “Silence!” He commanded. “Be still!” And the wind died down, and it was perfectly calm.
40 and He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How have you no faith?”
“Why are you so afraid?” He asked. “Do you still have no faith?”
41 And they feared a great fear and said to one another, “Who, then, is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”
Overwhelmed with fear, they asked one another, “Who is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”
