Mark 4 1099 ered be cause they had no root . 7 Oth er seed fell among thorns , which grew up and choked the plants , so that they did not bear grain . 8 Still oth er seed fell on good soil . It came up , grew and pro duced a crop , some mul ti ply ing thir ty , some six ty , some a hundred times .”
9 Then Jesus said , “ Who ev er has ears to
hear , let them hear .”
10 When he was alone , the Twelve and
the oth ers around him asked him about the par a bles . 11 He told them , “ The se cret of the king dom of God has been giv en to you . But to those on the out side ev ery thing is said in par a bles 12 so that ,
“ ‘ they may be ever seeing but never perceiving , and ever hearing but never understanding ; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven !’ a ”
13 Then Jesus said to them , “ Don ’ t you
un der stand this par a ble ? How then will you un der stand any par a ble ? 14 The farmer sows the word . 15 Some peo ple are like seed along the path , where the word is sown . As soon as they hear it , Sa tan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them . 16 Oth ers , like seed sown on rocky plac es , hear the word and at once re ceive it with joy . 17 But since they have no root , they last only a short time . When trou ble or perse cu tion comes be cause of the word , they quick ly fall away . 18 Still oth ers , like seed sown among thorns , hear the word ; 19 but the wor ries of this life , the de ceit ful ness of wealth and the de sires for oth er things come in and choke the word , mak ing it unfruit ful . 20 Oth ers , like seed sown on good soil , hear the word , ac cept it , and pro duce a crop — some thir ty , some six ty , some a hun dred times what was sown .”
A Lamp on a Stand
21 He said to them , “ Do you bring in a
lamp to put it un der a bowl or a bed ? Instead , don ’ t you put it on its stand ? 22 For what ev er is hid den is meant to be disclosed , and what ev er is con cealed is meant to be brought out into the open . 23 If any one has ears to hear , let them hear .”
24 “ Con sid er care ful ly what you hear ,” he
con tin ued . “ With the mea sure you use , it a 12 Isaiah 6:9,10
will be mea sured to you — and even more .
25 Who ever has will be giv en more ; whoever does not have , even what they have will be tak en from them .”
The Parable of the Growing Seed
26 He also said , “ This is what the kingdom of God is like . A man scat ters seed on the ground . 27 Night and day , wheth er he sleeps or gets up , the seed sprouts and grows , though he does not know how . 28 All by it self the soil pro duc es grain — first the stalk , then the head , then the full ker nel in the head . 29 As soon as the grain is ripe , he puts the sick le to it , be cause the har vest has come .”
The Parable of the Mustard Seed
30 Again he said , “ What shall we say
the king dom of God is like , or what par a- ble shall we use to de scribe it ? 31 It is like a mus tard seed , which is the small est of all seeds on earth . 32 Yet when plant ed , it grows and be comes the larg est of all garden plants , with such big branch es that the birds can perch in its shade .”
33 With many sim i lar par a bles Jesus
spoke the word to them , as much as they could un der stand . 34 He did not say anything to them with out us ing a par a ble . But when he was alone with his own dis ci ples , he ex plained ev ery thing .
Jesus Calms the Storm
35 That day when eve ning came , he said
to his dis ci ples , “ Let us go over to the other side .” 36 Leav ing the crowd be hind , they took him along , just as he was , in the boat . There were also oth er boats with him . 37 A fu ri ous squall came up , and the waves broke over the boat , so that it was near ly swamped . 38 Jesus was in the stern , sleeping on a cush ion . The dis ci ples woke him and said to him , “ Teach er , don ’ t you care if we drown ?”
39 He got up , re buked the wind and said to
the waves , “ Qui et ! Be still !” Then the wind died down and it was com plete ly calm .
40 He said to his dis ci ples , “ Why are you
so afraid ? Do you still have no faith ?”
41 They were ter ri fied and asked each
oth er , “ Who is this ? Even the wind and the waves obey him !”