Mark 4 - Legacy Standard Bible

Mark 4

The Parable of the Sower

And He began to teach again by the sea. And such a very large crowd gathered to Him that He got into a boat in the sea and sat down; and the whole crowd was by the sea on the land. 2 And He was teaching them many things in parables, and was saying to them in His teaching, 3 “Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow; 4 and it happened that as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 And other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil. 6 And after the sun rose, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. 7 And other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. 8 And other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they were yielding a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.” 9 And He was saying, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” 10 And when He was alone, His followers, along with the twelve, began asking Him about the parables. 11 And He was saying to them, “To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but to those who are outside, everything comes in parables, 12 so that while seeing, they may see and not perceive, and while hearing, they may hear and not understand, lest they return and be forgiven.”

The Parable of the Sower Explained

13 And He *said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand all the parables? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 And these are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown: when they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them. 16 And in a similar way, these are the ones being sown on the rocky places: those who, when hearing the word, immediately receive it with joy; 17 and they have no root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away. 18 And others are those being sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, 19 but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for anything else enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 20 And those are the ones which were sown on the good soil: they who hear the word and accept it and are bearing fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.” 21 And He was saying to them, “Is a lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed? Is it not to be put on the lampstand? 22 For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light. 23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” 24 And He was saying to them, “Beware what you listen to. By your standard of measure it will be measured to you, and more will be given to you. 25 For whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.”

The Parable of the Seed

26 And He was saying, “The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil; 27 and he sleeps and rises, night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows—how, he himself does not know. 28 The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. 29 But when the grain is ripe, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

30 And He was saying, “How shall we compare the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is smallest of all the seeds that are upon the soil, 32 yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes largest of all the garden plants and forms large branches; so that the birds of the air can nest under its shade.” 33 And with many such parables He was speaking the word to them, as they were able to hear it; 34 and He was not speaking to them without a parable; but He was explaining everything privately to His own disciples.

Jesus Calms a Storm

35 And on that day, when evening came, He *said to them, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 And leaving the crowd, they *took Him along with them in the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him. 37 And a great windstorm *arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat so that the boat was already filling up. 38 And Jesus Himself was in the stern, sleeping on the cushion; and they *got Him up and *said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” 39 And He woke up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Silence! Be still.” And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm. 40 And He said to them, “Why are you so cowardly? Do you still have no faith?” 41 And they became very afraid and were saying to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”