Mark

¹Again Jesus began to teach by the sea. Such a large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, while all the people were along the shore at the water's edge.

²He taught them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said:

³"Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed."

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 ground, 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 they bore no grain."

⁸"Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew, and produced a crop — some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown."

⁹Then Jesus said, "Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear."

¹⁰When he was alone, the Twelve and others around him asked him about the parable.

¹¹He said to them, "The mystery of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside, everything is said in parables,"

¹²"so that they may see but not perceive, and hear but not understand; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven."

¹³Then Jesus said to them, "Don't you understand this parable? How then will you understand any of the parables?"

¹⁴"The farmer sows the word."

¹⁵"Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them."

¹⁶"Others, like seed sown on rocky ground, hear the word and at once receive it with joy."

¹⁷"But 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, and the desire for other things crowd 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 — thirty, sixty or a hundred times what was sown."

²¹He said to them, "Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? No, you put it on its stand."

²²"For whatever is hidden will be disclosed, and whatever is concealed will be brought out into the open."

²³"If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear."

²⁴"Consider carefully what you hear," he continued. "With the measure you use, it will be measured to you — and even more."

²⁵"Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him."

²⁶He also said, "This is what the kingdom of God is like: 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"The earth produces grain by itself — 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."

³⁰Again he said, "What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it?"

³¹"It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds sown in the 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."

³³With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand.

³⁴He did not speak to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.

³⁵That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, "Let us go over to the other side."

³⁶Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him.

³⁷A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped.

³⁸Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?"

³⁹He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

⁴⁰He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?"

⁴¹They were terrified and asked each other, "Who is this? Even the wind and the sea obey him!"