Fluent Translation · Read & Reflect

Mark 4

The Parable of the Sower

Jesus began teaching beside the sea again. Such a large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, while the whole crowd stayed on the shore. He taught them many things in parables. In his teaching he said, “Listen! A sower went out to sow. 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. It sprang up quickly because the soil was shallow. When the sun rose, it was scorched, and because it had no root, it withered. Other seed fell among thorns. The thorns grew up and choked it, and it produced no grain. Other seed fell into good soil and produced grain, growing and increasing and yielding thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.” Then he said, “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen.”

Hearing and the Mystery of the Kingdom

When Jesus was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. He said to them, “To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom 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 and be forgiven.’” Then he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?

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 sown in them. 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 last only for a while. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they immediately fall away. Others are the ones sown among thorns. They hear the word, but the cares of the age, the lure of wealth, and desires for other things enter in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. But the ones sown on good soil hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit—thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.”

A Lamp and a Measure

He said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket or under a bed? Is it not put on a lampstand? Nothing is hidden except to be revealed, and nothing is concealed except to come into the open. If anyone has ears to hear, listen.” He also said, “Pay attention to what you hear. The measure you use will be measured to you, and more will be added to you. For whoever has will be given more, and whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken away.”

The Seed Growing by Itself

Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is like this: someone scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether that person sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though the person does not know how. The earth produces by itself—first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But as soon as the grain is ready, the person sends in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

The Mustard Seed

He said, “How can we compare the kingdom of God? What parable can we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which when sown on the ground is among the smallest of the seeds on earth. Yet after it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than the other garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can nest in its shade.” With many parables like these he spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it. He did not speak to them without a parable, but in private he explained everything to his own disciples.

Jesus Calms the Storm

That day, when evening came, he said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat just as he was. Other boats were with him. A great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat so that it was already filling. Jesus was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. They woke him and said, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” He got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Quiet! Be still!” The wind stopped, and there was a great calm. He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” They were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this? Even the wind and the sea obey him!”