Mark
4
- Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The
crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat
in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water's
edge.
- He taught them many things by parables, and
in his teaching said:
- "Listen! A farmer went out to sow his
seed.
- As he was scattering the seed, some fell
along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.
- Some fell on rocky places, where it did not
have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow.
- But when the sun came up, the plants were
scorched, and they withered because they had no root.
- Other seed fell among thorns, which grew
up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain.
- Still other seed fell on good soil. It came
up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred
times."
- Then Jesus said, "He who has ears to
hear, let him hear."
- When he was alone, the Twelve and the others
around him asked him about the parables.
- He told them, "The secret of the kingdom
of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said
in parables
- so that, "'they may be ever seeing but
never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they
might turn and be forgiven!'"
- Then Jesus said to them, "Don't you
understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable ?
- The farmer sows the word.
- Some people are like seed 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.
- Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear
the word and at once receive it with joy.
- But since they have no root, they last only
a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they
quickly fall away.
- Still others, like seed sown among thorns,
hear the word;
- but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness
of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making
it unfruitful.
- Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear
the word, accept it, and produce a crop--thirty, sixty or even a hundred times
what was sown."
- He said to them, "Do you bring in a
lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don't you put it on its stand
?
- For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed,
and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open.
- If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear."
- "Consider carefully what you hear,"
he continued. "With the measure you use, it will be measured to you--and
even more.
- Whoever has will be given more; whoever does
not have, even what he has will be taken from him."
- He also said, "This is what the kingdom
of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground.
- Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets
up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how.
- All by itself the soil produces grain--first
the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head.
- As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the
sickle to it, because the harvest has come."
- Again he said, "What shall we say the
kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it ?
- It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest
seed you plant in the ground.
- Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the
largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the
air can perch in its shade."
- With many similar parables Jesus spoke the
word to them, as much as they could understand.
- He did not say anything to them without using
a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained
everything.
- That day when evening came, he said to his
disciples, "Let us go over to the other side."
- Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along,
just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him.
- A furious squall came up, and the waves broke
over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped.
- Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion.
The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we
drown ?"
- He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the
waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely
calm.
- He said to his disciples, "Why are you
so afraid? Do you still have no faith ?"
- They were terrified and asked each other,
"Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him !"
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