Mark 4
4
1 And again, he began to teach by the sea. And a great crowd was gathered to him, so much so that, climbing into a boat, he was seated on the sea. And the entire crowd was on the land along the sea.
2 And he taught them many things in parables, and he said to them, in his doctrine:
3 "Listen. Behold, the sower went out to sow.
4 And while he was sowing, some fell along the way, and the birds of the air came and ate it.
5 Yet truly, others fell upon stony ground, where it did not have much soil. And it rose up quickly, because it had no depth of soil.
6 And when the sun was risen, it was scorched. And because it had no root, it withered away.
7 And some fell among thorns. And the thorns grew up and suffocated it, and it did not produce fruit.
8 And some fell on good soil. And it brought forth fruit that grew up, and increased, and yielded: some thirty, some sixty, and some one hundred."
9 And he said, "Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear."
10 And when he was alone, the twelve, who were with him, questioned him about the parable.
11 And he said to them: "To you, it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God. But to those who are outside, everything is presented in parables:
12 'so that, seeing, they may see, and not perceive; and hearing, they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they may be converted, and their sins would be forgiven them.' "
13 And he said to them: "Do you not understand this parable? And so, how will you understand all the parables?
14 He who sows, sows the word.
15 Now there are those who are along the way, where the word is sown. And when they have heard it, Satan quickly comes and takes away the word, which was sown in their hearts.
16 And similarly, there are those who were sown upon stony ground. These, when they have heard the word, immediately accept it with gladness.
17 But they have no root in themselves, and so they are for a limited time. And when next tribulation and persecution arises because of the word, they quickly fall away.
18 And there are others who are sown among thorns. These are those who hear the word,
19 but worldly tasks, and the deception of riches, and desires about other things enter in and suffocate the word, and it is effectively without fruit.
20 And there are those who are sown upon good soil, who hear the word and accept it; and these bear fruit: some thirty, some sixty, and some one hundred."
21 And he said to them: "Would someone enter with a lamp in order to place it under a basket or under a bed? Would it not be placed upon a lampstand?
22 For there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed. Neither was anything done in secret, except that it may be made public.
23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear."
24 And he said to them: "Consider what you hear. With whatever measure you have measured out, it shall be measured back to you, and more shall be added to you.
25 For whoever has, to him it shall be given. And whoever has not, from him even what he has shall be taken away."
26 And he said: "The kingdom of God is like this: it is as if a man were to cast seed on the land.
27 And he sleeps and he arises, night and day. And the seed germinates and grows, though he does not know it.
28 For the earth bears fruit readily: first the plant, then the ear, next the full grain in the ear.
29 And when the fruit has been produced, immediately he sends out the sickle, because the harvest has arrived."
30 And he said: "To what should we compare the kingdom of God? Or to what parable should we compare it?
31 It is like a grain of mustard seed which, when it has been sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds which are in the earth.
32 And when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all the plants, and it produces great branches, so much so that the birds of the air are able to live under its shadow."
33 And with many such parables he spoke the word to them, as much as they were able to hear.
34 But he did not speak to them without a parable. Yet separately, he explained all things to his disciples.
35 And on that day, when evening had arrived, he said to them, "Let us cross over."
36 And dismissing the crowd, they brought him, so that he was in one boat, and other boats were with him.
37 And a great wind storm occurred, and the waves broke over the boat, so that the boat was being filled.
38 And he was in the stern of the boat, sleeping on a pillow. And they woke him and said to him, "Teacher, does it not concern you that we are perishing?"
39 And rising up, he rebuked the wind, and he said to the sea: "Silence. Be stilled." And the wind ceased. And a great tranquility occurred.
40 And he said to them: "Why are you afraid? Do you still lack faith?" And they were struck with a great fear. And they said to one another, "Who do you think this is, that both wind and sea obey him?"
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Mark 4
4
1Jesus began teaching beside the Sea again. So many people came to listen to him that he climbed into a boat and sat in it on the water while the crowd listened from the shore. 2He illustrated his teachings using many stories.
3“Listen,” he said. “A sower went out to sow. 4Now as he was scattering the seeds, some fell on the path, and birds came and ate them up. 5Other seeds fell on stony ground where there wasn't much earth. In the shallow soil the plants started growing quickly, but because the soil wasn't deep 6they were scorched when the sun came up. Since they didn't have any real roots, they soon withered. 7Other seeds fell among thorns. The thorns grew up and choked the sprouting seeds, so they produced nothing. 8Other seeds fell on good soil where they sprouted and grew. They produced a harvest of some thirty, some sixty, and some a hundred times what was planted. 9If you have ears to hear, listen to what I'm saying.”
10When he was by himself, his twelve disciples and the others who were with him asked him what the illustrations meant.
11He told them, “The mystery of God's kingdom has been given to you to understand. But outsiders only have the stories, 12so that even though they see, they don't really ‘see,’ and even though they hear, they don't understand, otherwise they might turn to me and be forgiven.”#4:12. Quoting Isaiah 6:9-10.
13“Don't you understand this story?” Jesus asked them. “If you can't, how are you going to understand all the other stories?
14The sower sows the word.#4:14. Word—or “message,” the Word of God that Jesus came to bring. (See also John 1:1.) 15The seeds on the path where the word is sown illustrate those who hear the message, but then Satan immediately comes along and takes away the word that's been sown in them. 16Likewise the seeds on the rocky ground illustrate those who hear the word, and happily accept it right away. 17But since they have no real roots, they only last for a while until trouble or persecution comes, and then they quickly fall away. 18Those sown among the thorns illustrate those who hear the word, 19but worries of this world, the temptation of wealth, and other distractions choke the growth of the word, and it becomes unproductive. 20But the seeds sown on good soil illustrate those who hear the word, accept it, and are productive—producing thirty, sixty, and a hundred times what was originally sown.
21Who puts a lamp under a bucket, or beneath a bed?” Jesus asked them. “No, you put a lamp up on a lamp-stand. 22Everything that is hidden will be revealed, and everything that is secret will be brought out into the open. 23If you have ears to hear, listen to what I'm saying! 24Pay attention to what you're hearing,” he told them, “for you will be given according to how much you want to receive, measure for measure. 25More will be given to those who already have understanding, but those who don't want to know will have what little understanding they have taken from them.
26God's kingdom is like a man sowing seed in the ground,” Jesus said. 27“He goes to bed and gets up, day after day, but the man has no knowledge of how the seeds sprout and grow. 28The earth produces a harvest by itself. First a shoot appears, then the heads of grain, and then the heads of grain ripen. 29When the grain is ripe, the farmer reaps it with a sickle, because the harvest is ready.#4:29. Possibly a reference to Joel 3:13.
30What can we compare God's kingdom to? What illustration shall we use?” he asked. 31“It's like a mustard seed, the tiniest seed of all. 32But when it's sown it grows into a plant that's larger than other plants. It has branches big enough that birds can roost in its shade.”
33Jesus used many of these illustrated stories when he spoke to the people so they would understand as much as they could. 34In fact, when he spoke publicly, he only used stories; however in private he explained everything to his disciples.
35Later that day, in the evening, he said to his disciples, “Let's go across to the other side of the Sea.” 36Leaving the crowd behind, the disciples went with Jesus, just as he was, and got into a boat. Other boats went with them. 37Soon a terrible storm started blowing, and waves crashed against the boat, filling it with water. 38Jesus was asleep in the stern, resting his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting at him, “Teacher, don't you care that we're about to drown?”
39Jesus woke up. He told the wind to die down and told the waves, “Be quiet! Be still.” The wind stopped, and the water became completely calm. 40“Why are you so frightened?#4:40. The word used is for cowards. Haven't you learned to trust me?” he asked them.
41They were stunned and terrified.#4:41. Although the aspect of fear is usually brought out in translations, the text indicates that they had been frightened previously. Now they were amazed, in awe at what had happened, though no doubt still terrified. They asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com