Mark 4
1 And, again, began he to be teaching by the sea; and there come together unto him a very great multitude, so that, he, into a boat, entering, was sitting upon the sea, —and, all the multitude, were, near the sea upon the land.
Jesus began teaching beside the Sea again. So many people came to listen to him that he climbed into a boat and sat in it on the water while the crowd listened from the shore.
2 And he began to teach them, in parables, many things, and was saying unto them, in his teaching—
He illustrated his teachings using many stories.
3 Hearken! Lo! the sower went forth to sow;
“Listen,” he said. “A sower went out to sow.
4 And it came to pass, as he sowed, some, indeed, fell by the pathway, and the birds came, and devoured it;
Now as he was scattering the seeds, some fell on the path, and birds came and ate them up.
5 And, some, fell on the rocky places, [even] where it had not much earth, —and, straightway, it sprang forth, by reason of its not having depth of earth;
Other seeds fell on stony ground where there wasn't much earth. In the shallow soil the plants started growing quickly, but because the soil wasn't deep
6 and, when the sun arose, it was scorched, —and, by reason of its not having root, it was dried up;
they were scorched when the sun came up. Since they didn't have any real roots, they soon withered.
7 And, some, fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and, fruit, it yielded not;
Other seeds fell among thorns. The thorns grew up and choked the sprouting seeds, so they produced nothing.
8 And, other, fell into the good ground, and was yielding fruit, coming up and growing, —and was bearing, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold,
Other seeds fell on good soil where they sprouted and grew. They produced a harvest of some thirty, some sixty, and some a hundred times what was planted.
9 And he was saying—He that hath ears to hear, let him hear!
If you have ears to hear, listen to what I'm saying.”
10 And when he was alone they who were about him with the twelve questioned him as to the parables;
When he was by himself, his twelve disciples and the others who were with him asked him what the illustrations meant.
11 and he was saying unto them—To you, the sacred secret hath been given of the kingdom of God, whereas, to them who are outside, in parables are all things coming to pass, —that
He told them, “The mystery of God's kingdom has been given to you to understand. But outsiders only have the stories,
12 They may surely look and yet not see, and surely hear and yet not understand, lest once they should return and it be forgiven them.
so that even though they see, they don't really ‘see,’ and even though they hear, they don't understand, otherwise they might turn to me and be forgiven.”
13 And he saith unto them—Know ye not this parable? How then will ye get to know all the parables?
“Don't you understand this story?” Jesus asked them. “If you can't, how are you going to understand all the other stories?
14 The sower, soweth the word;
The sower sows the word.
15 And these are they beside the pathway where the word is sown, —and, as soon as they hear, straightway, cometh Satan, and snatcheth away the word which hath been sown into them;
The seeds on the path where the word is sown illustrate those who hear the message, but then Satan immediately comes along and takes away the word that's been sown in them.
16 And these are likewise they upon the rocky places sown, —who, as soon as they hear the word, straightway, with joy receive it,
Likewise the seeds on the rocky ground illustrate those who hear the word, and happily accept it right away.
17 and have no root in themselves, but, only for a season are, —afterwards, when there ariseth tribulation or persecution by reason of the word, straightway, they find cause of stumbling;
But since they have no real roots, they only last for a while until trouble or persecution comes, and then they quickly fall away.
18 And others are they who among thorns are sown, —these are they who hear the word,
Those sown among the thorns illustrate those who hear the word,
19 and, the anxieties of the age, and the deceit of wealth, and the covetings about the remaining things, entering in, choke up the word, and, unfruitful, it becometh; (aiōn g165)
but worries of this world, the temptation of wealth, and other distractions choke the growth of the word, and it becomes unproductive. (aiōn g165)
20 And those yonder are they who on the good ground are sown, —who, indeed, hear the word, and accept it, and bear fruit—thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.
But the seeds sown on good soil illustrate those who hear the word, accept it, and are productive—producing thirty, sixty, and hundred times what was originally sown.
21 And he was saying unto them—Doth the lamp come that under the measure it should be put, or under the couch? Is it not that upon the lampstand it may be put?
Who puts a lamp under a bucket, or beneath a bed?” Jesus asked them. “No, you put a lamp up on a lamp-stand.
22 For it is not hidden, save that it may be made visible; neither did it get hidden away, but that it might come into a place where it could be seen.
Everything that is hidden will be revealed, and everything that is secret will be brought out into the open.
23 If any one hath ears to hear, let him hear.
If you have ears to hear, listen to what I'm saying!
24 And he was saying unto them—Be taking heed what ye are hearing: —with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured unto you, and added unto you;
Pay attention to what you're hearing,” he told them, “for you will be given according to how much you want to receive, measure for measure.
25 For, he that hath, it shall be given, unto him, and, he that hath not, even what he hath, shall be taken from him.
More will be given to those who already have understanding, but those who don't want to know will have what little understanding they have taken from them.
26 And he was saying—Thus, is the kingdom of God: As a man may cast seed upon the earth,
God's kingdom is like a man sowing seed in the ground,” Jesus said.
27 and be sleeping and rising, night and day, —and the seed be sprouting, and lengthening itself, —how, he, knoweth not:
“He goes to bed and gets up, day after day, but the man has no knowledge of how the seeds sprout and grow.
28 of itself, the earth beareth fruit, —first, a blade, afterwards, an ear, after that, full corn in the ear;
The earth produces a harvest by itself. First a shoot appears, then the heads of grain, and then the heads of grain ripen.
29 but, as soon as the fruit yieldeth itself up, straightway, he sendeth forth the sickle, because standing by is the harvest.—
When the grain is ripe, the farmer reaps it with a sickle, because the harvest is ready.
30 And he was saying—How shall we liken the kingdom of God, or, in what parable, shall we put it?
What can we compare God's kingdom to? What illustration shall we use?” he asked.
31 As a grain of mustard seed, —which, whensoever it may be sown upon the earth, is less than all the seeds that are upon the earth;
“It's like a mustard seed, the tiniest seed of all.
32 and, as soon as it is sown, springeth up, and becometh greater than all garden plants, and produceth large branches, so that, under the shade thereof, the birds of heaven can find shelter.
But when it's sown it grows into a plant that's larger than other plants. It has branches big enough that birds can roost in its shade.”
33 And, with many such parables as these, was he speaking unto them the word, —according as they were able to hear;
Jesus used many of these illustrated stories when he spoke to the people so they would understand as much as they could.
34 but, without a parable, was he not speaking unto them, —privately, however, unto his own disciples, was he explaining all things.
In fact, when he spoke publicly, he only used stories; however in private he explained everything to his disciples.
35 And he saith unto them, on that day, when evening came, Let us cross over unto the other side;
Later that day, in the evening, he said to his disciples, “Let's go across to the other side of the Sea.”
36 and, dismissing the multitude, they take him with them, as he was, in the boat, and, other boats, were with him.
Leaving the crowd behind, the disciples went with Jesus and got into a boat. Other boats went with them.
37 And there ariseth a great tempest of wind, —and, the waves, were dashing over into the boat, so that, already being filled, was the boat.
Soon a terrible storm started blowing, and waves crashed against the boat, filling it with water.
38 And he was in the stern, on the cushion, sleeping. And they arouse him, and say unto him, Teacher! carest thou not that we perish?
Jesus was asleep in the stern, resting his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting at him, “Teacher, don't you care that we're about to drown?”
39 And, roused up, he rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea—Hush! be still! and the wind lulled, and it became a great calm.
Jesus woke up. He told the wind to die down and told the waves, “Be quiet! Be still.” The wind stopped, and the water became completely calm.
40 And he said unto them—Why, are ye, fearful? Not yet, have ye faith?
“Why are you so frightened? Haven't you learned to trust me?” he asked them.
41 And they were caused to fear a great fear, and were saying one to another—Who then is, this, that, both the wind and the sea, give ear unto him?
They were stunned and terrified. They asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”
