MarkChapter 4

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¹Jesus began to teach beside the sea again. A huge crowd gathered around him. So he got into a boat on the water and sat down in it. All the people stayed on the shore. ²He taught them many things by using parables. As he taught, he said, ³"Listen! A farmer went out to plant his seed. ⁴As he was scattering the seed, some fell on the path. The birds came and ate it up. ⁵Some seed fell on rocky ground where there wasn't much soil. It came up quickly because the soil was not deep. ⁶But when the sun came up, the young plants were burned. They dried up because they had no roots. ⁷Other seed fell among thorns. The thorns grew up and choked the plants, so they didn't produce any grain. ⁸Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew, and produced a crop. Some plants made 30 times more than was planted. Some made 60 times more, and some made 100 times more." ⁹Then Jesus said, "Whoever has ears to hear should listen." ¹⁰Later Jesus was alone with the Twelve and the others around him. They asked him about the parable. ¹¹He answered, "The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside, everything is told in parables. ¹²That way, 'they will look and look, but never see. They will listen and listen, but never understand. If they did, they might turn and be forgiven.'" ¹³Then Jesus said to them, "Don't you understand this parable? Then how will you understand any of the parables? ¹⁴The farmer plants the word. ¹⁵Some people are like the seed on the path, where the word is planted. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes. He takes away the word that was planted in them. ¹⁶Some people are like the seed planted on rocky ground. They hear the word and accept it with joy right away. ¹⁷But they have no roots, so they last only a short time. Trouble or persecution comes because of the word. Then they quickly fall away. ¹⁸Others are like the seed planted among thorns. They hear the word. ¹⁹But the worries of this life come in. So do the false promise of riches and the desire for other things. These choke the word, and it produces no fruit. ²⁰Still others are like the seed planted on good soil. They hear the word and accept it. They produce a crop 30, 60, or even 100 times more than was planted." ²¹Jesus also said to them, "Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a basket or under a bed? No! You put it on a stand. ²²Everything that is hidden will be shown. Everything that is secret will be brought out into the light. ²³If anyone has ears to hear, he should listen." ²⁴He went on, "Pay attention to what you hear. The measure you use is the measure that will be used for you. And even more will be given to you. ²⁵Whoever has something will be given more. But whoever has nothing will lose even what he has." ²⁶Jesus also said, "The kingdom of God is like a man who scatters seed on the ground. ²⁷Night and day he sleeps and gets up. Meanwhile, the seed sprouts and grows, but he doesn't know how. ²⁸The ground makes the crop grow all by itself. First comes the stalk, then the head. Then the full grain ripens in the head. ²⁹As soon as the grain is ripe, he cuts it with his sickle, because harvest time has come." ³⁰Then Jesus asked, "What can we compare the kingdom of God to? What parable can we use to describe it? ³¹It is like a mustard seed. It is the smallest of all the seeds planted in the ground. ³²But once it is planted, it grows bigger than all the other garden plants. It grows large branches. Then the birds can make nests in its shade." ³³Jesus spoke the word to them using many parables like these. He taught them as much as they could understand. ³⁴He did not tell them anything without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything. ³⁵That evening, Jesus said to his disciples, "Let's go across to the other side." ³⁶They left the crowd behind. Jesus was already in the boat, so they took him along. Other boats were with him too. ³⁷Soon a fierce windstorm came up. The waves were crashing into the boat. It was filling up with water. ³⁸But Jesus was in the back of the boat, sleeping on a cushion. So they woke him up. "Teacher," they said, "don't you care that we're about to die?" ³⁹Jesus got up and gave an order to the wind and the sea. "Quiet!" he said. "Be still!" The wind stopped, and everything was completely calm. ⁴⁰"Why are you so afraid?" he asked. "Do you still have no faith?" ⁴¹They were terrified. They asked each other, "Who is this? Even the wind and the sea obey him!"