Shared Word Translation
Mark 4
Teaching Beside the Sea
Again he began to teach beside the sea. Such a very large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat on the sea and sat there, while the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. And he taught them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them:
“Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up quickly, since it had no depth of soil. And when the sun rose, it was scorched; and since it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. Other seed fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.” And he said, “Let anyone with ears to hear listen.”
The Purpose of the Parables
When he was alone, those around him together with the twelve asked him about the parables.
And he said to them, “To you has been given the mystery of the reign of God, but for those outside, everything comes in parables,
so that
‘they may indeed look, but not perceive,
and may indeed hear, but not understand,
lest they turn again and be forgiven.’”
And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand all the parables?
The Parable of the Sower Explained
“The sower sows the word. These are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them.
And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: when they hear the word, they immediately receive it with joy. But they have no root in themselves, and endure only for a while; then, when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away.
And others are the ones sown among thorns: these are those who hear the word, but the cares of the age, and the lure of wealth, and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.
But these are the ones sown on good soil: they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.”
A Lamp Is Not Hidden
And he said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not to be put on a lampstand? For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest, nor is anything secret except to come to light. Let anyone with ears to hear listen.”
And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear; the measure you give will be the measure you receive, and still more will be given to you. For to those who have, more will be given; and from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.”
The Parable of the Growing Seed
And he said, “The reign of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow—he does not know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
The Parable of the Mustard Seed
And he said, “With what can we compare the reign of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”
The Use of Parables
With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it. He did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.
Jesus Calms the Storm
On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him.
A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”
He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no trust?”
And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”