Mark 4
Seed in Four Soils, and a Word That Stills the Sea
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The Parable of the Sower
4:1Again He began teaching beside the sea. A very great crowd gathered around Him, so that He boarded a boat and sat on the sea, while the whole crowd was on the land beside the sea.
4:2He taught them many things in parables, and in His teaching He said to them:
4:3“Listen! Look, the sower went out to sow.
4:4As he sowed, some fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up.
4:5Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil, and immediately sprang up because the soil had no depth.
4:6When the sun rose, it was scorched, and because it had no root, it withered.
4:7Other seed fell among the thorns. The thorns grew up and choked it, and it gave no fruit.
4:8Other seeds fell into the good soil and gave fruit, growing up and increasing; they yielded thirtyfold, sixtyfold, and a hundredfold.”
4:9He said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear.”
The Purpose of the Parables
4:10When He was alone, those around Him, together with the Twelve, asked Him about the parables.
4:11He said to them, “To you the mystery of the kingdom of God has been given. But for those outside, everything comes in parables,
4:12so that, looking, they may look and not see, and hearing, they may hear and not understand, lest they turn back and be forgiven.”
Do You Not Understand This Parable?
4:13He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand all the parables?
4:14The sower sows the word.
4:15These are the ones beside the road where the word is sown: whenever they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word sown into them.
4:16Likewise, these are the ones sown on the rocky places: whenever they hear the word, they immediately receive it with joy,
4:17but they have no root in themselves and last only for a time. Then, when distress or persecution comes because of the word, they immediately stumble.
4:18Others are the ones sown among the thorns. These are the ones who have heard the word,
4:19but the cares of the age, the deceitfulness of riches, and desires for other things enter and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
4:20Those sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: thirtyfold, sixtyfold, and a hundredfold.”
Does the Lamp Come to Be Put Under a Basket?
4:21He said to them, “Does the lamp come to be put under the modius basket, or under the bed? Is it not to be put on the lampstand?
4:22For nothing is hidden except to be revealed, nor has anything become secret except to come into the open.
4:23If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”
4:24He said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear. With the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and more will be added to you.
4:25For whoever has will be given more; and whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.”
The Kingdom of God Is Like Scattered Seed
4:26He said, “The kingdom of God is like this: a man casts seed on the ground,
4:27and sleeps and rises, night and day, while the seed sprouts and grows—he himself does not know how.
4:28The earth bears fruit of itself: first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.
4:29When the crop permits, he immediately sends in the sickle, because the harvest has arrived.”
How Shall We Compare the Kingdom of God?
4:30He said, “How shall we compare the kingdom of God, or in what parable shall we set it out?
4:31It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on the earth.
4:32Yet when sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants, and makes great branches, so that the birds of the sky can shelter under its shade.”
With Many Such Parables He Spoke to Them
4:33With many such parables He spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear.
4:34He did not speak to them without a parable, but privately He explained everything to His own disciples.
The Storm Stilled
4:35On that day, when evening came, He said to them, “Let us cross to the other side.”
4:36Leaving the crowd, they took Him with them, just as He was, in the boat. Other boats were with Him.
4:37A great windstorm arose, and the waves broke into the boat, so that the boat was already filling.
4:38He was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. They woke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?”
4:39He woke, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Be silent! Be muzzled!” The wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
4:40He said to them, “Why are you cowardly? Do you still have no faith?”
4:41They were greatly afraid and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”
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Saints Translation · Liturgical reading edition · V1 · working draft awaiting specialist review.