< Mark 4 >
1 Again, he was teaching by the sea side, when so great a multitude gathered about him, that he was obliged to go aboard a bark, and sit there, while all the people remained on shore.
2 Then he taught them many things by parables.
3 In teaching, he said to them, Attend, behold the sower went out to sow.
4 And as he sowed, part of the seed fell by the way-side, and the birds came and picked it up.
5 Part fell upon rocky ground, where it had little mold. This sprang sooner, because there was no depth of soil.
6 But after the sun had beaten upon it, it was scorched, and having no root, it withered away.
7 Part fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and stifled it, so that it yielded nothing.
8 Part fell into good ground, and sprang up, and became so fruitful, that some grains produced thirty, some sixty, and some a hundred.
9 He added. Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear.
10 When he was in private, those who were about him with the twelve, asked him the meaning of the parable.
11 He said to them, It is your privilege to know the secrets of the Reign of God, but to those without everything is vailed in parables;
12 that they may not perceive what they look at, or understand what they hear; lest they should be reclaimed, and obtain the forgiveness of their sins.
13 He said also to them, Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?
14 The sower is he who disperses the word.
15 The wayside on which some of the grain fell, denotes those who have no sooner heard the word, than Satan comes, and takes away that which was sown in their hearts.
16 The rocky ground denotes those, who, hearing the word, receive it first with pleasure;
17 yet not having it rooted in their minds, retain it but a while; for when trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they instantly relapse.
18 The ground overrun with thorns, denotes those hearers
19 in whom worldly cares, and delusive riches, and the inordinate desire of other things, stifle the word, and render it unfruitful. (aiōn )
20 The good soil on which some grains yielded thirty, some sixty, and some a hundred, denotes those who hear the word, and retain it, and produce the fruits thereof.
21 He said further, Is a lamp brought to be put under a vessel, or under a bed, and not to be set on a stand?
22 For there is no secret, that is not discovered; nor has anything been concealed, which is not to be divulged.
23 If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.
24 He said, moreover, Consider what you hear: with the measure with which you give, you shall receive.
25 For to him who has, more shall be given; but from him who has not, even that which he has shall be taken.
26 He said also, The kingdom of God is like seed, which a man sowed in his field.
27 While he slept by night, and waked by day, the seed shot up, and grew without his minding it.
28 For the earth produces of itself first the blade, then the ear; afterward the full corn.
29 But as soon as the grain was ripe, he applied the sickle, because it was time to reap it.
30 He said also, To what shall we compare the kingdom of God, or by what similitude shall we represent it?
31 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is the smallest of all the seeds that are there.
32 But after it is sown, it springs up, and becomes greater than any herb, and shoots out branches so large, that under their shades, the birds of the air may find shelter.
33 And in many such similitudes, he conveyed instruction to the people, as he found them disposed to hear:
34 and without a similitude he told them nothing; but he solved all to his disciples in private.
35 That day, in the evening, he said to them, Let us pass to the other side.
36 And they, leaving the people, but having him in the bark, set sail in company with other small barks.
37 Then there arose a great storm of wind which drove the billows into the bark, which was now full.
38 Jesus being in the stern, asleep on a pillow, they awake him, saying, Rabbi, do you not care that we perish?
39 And he arose, and commanded the wind, saying to the sea, Peace! be still! Immediately the wind ceased, and great calm ensued.
40 And he said to them, Why are you so timorous? How is it that you have no faith?
41 And they were exceedingly terrified, and said one to another, Who is this, whom even the wind and the sea obey?
