him , and they told him , “ Your moth er and broth ers are out side look ing for you .”
33 “ Who are my moth er and my brothers ?” he asked .
34 Then he looked at those seat ed in a cir cle around him and said , “ Here are my moth er and my broth ers ! 35 Who ev er does God ’ s will is my broth er and sis ter and mother .”
The Parable of the Sower
Again Jesus be gan to teach by the lake .
4 The crowd that gath ered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake , while all the peo ple were along the shore at the wa ter ’ s edge . 2 He taught them many things by par a bles , and in his teach ing said : 3 “ Listen ! A farmer went out to sow his seed . 4 As he was scatter ing the seed , 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 shal low . 6 But when the sun came up , the plants were scorched , and they with 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 hun dred 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 ables . 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 parables 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 a 12 Isaiah 6:9,10
861 l Mark 4:36
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 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 ? 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 anyone has ears to hear , let them hear .”
24 “ Consider carefully 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 , wheth er he sleeps or gets up , the seed sprouts and grows , though he does not know how . 28 All by itself the soil produces 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 explained everything .
Jesus Calms the Storm
35 That day when eve ning came , he said to his disciples , “ Let us go over to the other side .” 36 Leav ing the crowd be hind , they