Mark 4
1
And again He began to teach beside the sea. And a large crowd was gathered to Him,
so that He got aboard into the boat, and sat on the sea; and all the crowd was upon
the land by the sea.
2
And He was teaching them many [things] by parables, and said to them in His teaching:
3
"Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow.
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And it happened, as he sowed, that some [seed] fell alongside the road; and the birds
came and devoured it.
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And some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it
sprang up because it had no depth of earth.
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But when the sun rose it was scorched, and because it had no root it was withered
up.
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And some [seed ]fell into the thorns; and the thorns came up and choked it, and it
yielded no fruit.
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But other [seed ]fell on good ground, and it was yielding fruit coming up and growing,
and it was producing-some thirty[fold], some sixty[,] and some a hundred."
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And He said, "He that has ears to hear, let him hear!"
10
But when He was by himself, those around Him together with the twelve asked Him about
the parable.
11
And He said to them, "Unto you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom
of God; but to those who are outside, all things come to be [spoken] in parables,
12
so that 'Seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand;
Lest they should turn, and their sins be forgiven them.' "
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And He said to them, "Do you not know this parable? How then will you know all the
parables?
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The sower sows the word.
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And these are the [seeds] beside the road where the word is sown, and whenever they
hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which was sown in their hearts.
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And these are similarly the [seeds] being sown on stony ground which, whenever they
hear the word, immediately they receive it with joy;
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and they have no root in themselves, but are shortlived. Afterward, when trials or
persecution arise because of the word, immediately they fall away.
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And these are the [seeds] being sown in the thorns; they are the [ones] who are hearing
the word,
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and the anxieties of this age, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for
other things coming in choke out the word, and it becomes fruitless.
20
And these are the [seeds] sown on good ground, such as who hear the word and welcome
it, and bear fruit: some thirty [fold], some sixty, and some a hundred."
21
And He said to them, "A lamp is not brought so that it may be put under a measuring
basket or under a bed, [is it?] [Is it] not[ brought] so that it may be put on a lampstand?
22
For there is nothing hidden which shall not be made manifest, nor was it hidden but
that it might come to light.
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If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear."
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Then He said to them, "Watch what you hear. By what measure you measure, it will be
measured out to you; and [more] will be added to you who hear.
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For whoever has, [more] will be given to him; and he who does not have, even what
he has will be taken away from him."
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And He said, "Thus is the kingdom of God as if a man should cast the seed on the ground,
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and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and should grow,
he himself does not know how.
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For the earth produces fruit of itself: first a shoot, then a head of grain, then
full wheat in the head of grain.
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But whenever the fruit permits, immediately he sends forth the sickle, because the
harvest has come."
30
Then He said, "To what shall we compare the kingdom of God? Or by what sort of parable
shall we illustrate it?
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It is like a mustard seed, which whenever it is sown on the ground, is smaller than
all the seeds on the earth;
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but whenever it is sown, it comes up and becomes greater than all the garden vegetables,
and produces great branches, so that the birds of heaven are able to nest under its
shade."
33
And by many such parables He would speak the word to them, just as they were able
to hear it.
34
And apart from a parable He did not speak to them, however, privately to His disciples,
he would explain all things.
35
On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, "Let us go across to the
other side."
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And leaving the crowd, they took Him along as He was in the boat. And other little
boats were also with Him.
37
And there was a severe windstorm, and the waves dashed up into the boat, so that it
was already filling up.
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But He was in the stern, sleeping upon the cushion. And they awakened Him and said
to Him, "Teacher! Does it not matter to You that we are perishing?"
39
And having awakened He rebuked the wind, and He said to the sea, "Peace, be still."And
the wind abated and there was a great calm.
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But He said to them, "Why are you so fearful? How [is it that] you do not have faith?"
41
And they feared exceedingly, and were saying to one another, "Who then is this, that
even the wind and the sea obey Him!"