1133 / Mark 4:39
some fell along the path, and the birds
came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky
plac es, where it did not have much soil.
It sprang up quick ly, be cause the soil was
shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the
plants were scorched, and they withered
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 multi
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 parables. 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 erything
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 understand any parable? 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
trouble or persecution comes because 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 un fruit 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
hundred 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?
In stead, don’t you put it on its stand?
22 For what ev er is hid den is meant to be
dis closed, 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 will be mea sured to you — and even
more. 25 Who ever has will be giv en more;
who ever 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, whether
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 understand. 34 He did not say anything
to them with out us ing a par a ble.
But when he was alone with his own disciples,
he explained everything.
JESUS CALMS THE STORM
35 That day when eve ning came, he
said to his dis ci ples, “Let us go over to
the oth er side.” 36 Leav ing the crowd behind,
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 nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the
stern, sleep ing on a cush ion. The dis ciples
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
a
12 Isaiah 6:9,10