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Mark 4
New Testament for Everyone
Mark 4
New Testament for Everyone
Parable of the sower
4 Once again Jesus began to teach beside the sea. A huge crowd gathered; so he got into a boat and stationed himself on the sea, with all the crowd on the shore looking out to sea. 2 He taught them lots of things in parables. This is how his teaching went.
3 “Listen!” he said. “Once upon a time there was a sower who went out sowing. 4 As he was sowing, some seed fell beside the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Other seed fell on the rock, where it didn’t have much soil. There was no depth to the ground, so it shot up at once; 6 but when the sun came up it was scorched, and withered away, because it hadn’t got any root. 7 Other seed fell in among thorns; the thorns grew up and choked it, and it didn’t give any crop. 8 And other seeds fell into good soil, and gave a harvest, which grew up and increased, and bore a yield, in some cases thirtyfold, in some sixtyfold, and in some a hundredfold.”
9 And he added, “If you’ve got ears, then listen!”
10 When they were alone, the people who were around Jesus, with the Twelve, asked him about the parables.
11 “The mystery of God’s kingdom is given to you,” he replied, “but for the people outside it’s all in parables, 12 so that ‘they may look and look but never see, and hear and hear but never understand; otherwise they would turn and be forgiven.’
13 “Don’t you understand the parable?” he said to them. “How are you going to understand all the parables?
14 “The sower sows the word. 15 The ones by the path are people who hear the word, but immediately the Accuser comes and takes away the word that has been sown in them. 16 The ones sown on the rock are those who hear the word and accept it with excitement, 17 but don’t have any root in themselves. They are short-term enthusiasts. When the word brings them trouble or hostility they quickly become disillusioned. 18 The others—the ones sown among thorns—are those who hear the word, 19 and the worries of the present age, and the deceit of riches, and desire for other kinds of things, come in and choke the word, so that it produces no fruit. 20 But the ones sown on good soil are the people who hear the word and receive it, and produce fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixtyfold, some a hundredfold.”
A lamp on its stand
21 Jesus said to them, “When you bring a lamp into a room, do you put it under a bucket, or under a bed? Of course not! It goes on a lampstand. 22 No: nothing is secret except what’s meant to be revealed, and nothing is covered up except what’s meant to be uncovered. 23 If you have ears, then listen!
24 “Be careful with what you hear,” he went on. “The scales you use will be used for you, and more so. 25 If you have something, you’ll be given more; but if you have nothing, even what you have will be taken away.”
More seed parables
26 “This is what God’s kingdom is like,” said Jesus. “Once upon a time a man sowed seed on the ground. 27 Every night he went to bed; every day he got up; and the seed sprouted and grew without him knowing how it did it. 28 The ground produces crops by itself: first the stalk, then the ear, then the complete corn in the ear. 29 But when the crop is ready, in goes the sickle at once, because harvest has arrived.
30 “What shall we say God’s kingdom is like?” he said. “What picture shall we give of it? 31 It’s like a grain of mustard seed. When it’s sown on the ground, it’s the smallest of all the seeds on the earth. 32 But when it’s sown, it springs up and becomes the biggest of all shrubs. It grows large branches, so that ‘the birds of the air make their nests’ within its shade.”
33 He used to tell them a lot of parables like this, speaking the word as much as they were able to hear. 34 He never spoke except in parables. But he explained everything to his own disciples in private.
Jesus calms the storm
35 That day, when it was evening, Jesus said to them, “Let’s go over to the other side.”
36 They left the crowd, and took him with them in the boat he’d been in. There were other boats with him too.
37 A big windstorm blew up. The waves beat on the boat, and it quickly began to fill. 38 Jesus, however, was asleep on a cushion in the stern. They woke him up.
“Teacher!” they said to him, “We’re going down! Don’t you care?”
39 He got up, scolded the wind, and said to the sea, “Silence! Shut up!”
The wind died, and there was a flat calm. 40 Then he said to them, “Why are you scared? Don’t you believe yet?”
41 Great fear stole over them. “Who is this?” they said to each other. “Even the wind and the sea do what he says!”
Mark 4
New International Version
Mark 4
New International Version
The Parable of the Sower(A)(B)
4 Again Jesus began to teach by the lake.(C) The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water’s edge. 2 He taught them many things by parables,(D) and in his teaching said: 3 “Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed.(E) 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.”(F)
9 Then Jesus said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”(G)
10 When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. 11 He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God(H) has been given to you. But to those on the outside(I) everything 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]”(J)
13 Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? 14 The farmer sows the word.(K) 15 Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan(L) comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. 16 Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive 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 quickly fall away. 18 Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19 but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth(M) and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. 20 Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, 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 under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don’t you put it on its stand?(N) 22 For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open.(O) 23 If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear.”(P)
24 “Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more.(Q) 25 Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.”(R)
The Parable of the Growing Seed
26 He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like.(S) A man scatters 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 itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. 29 As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”(T)
The Parable of the Mustard Seed(U)
30 Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like,(V) or what parable shall we use to describe it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. 32 Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.”
33 With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand.(W) 34 He did not say anything to them without using a parable.(X) But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.
Jesus Calms the Storm(Y)
35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat.(Z) There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”(AA)
41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”
Footnotes
- Mark 4:12 Isaiah 6:9,10
New Testament for Everyone (NTFE) 
Scripture quotations from The New Testament for Everyone are copyright © Nicholas Thomas Wright 2011, 2018, 2019.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.