14 (A)The sower sows (B)the word. 15 And 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. 16 And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it (C)with joy. 17 And they have no root in themselves, but (D)endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately (E)they fall away.[a] 18 And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, 19 but (F)the cares of (G)the world and (H)the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 20 But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and (I)bear fruit, (J)thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”

A Lamp Under a Basket

21 (K)And he said to them, (L)“Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand? 22 (M)For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light. 23 (N)If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” 24 And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear: (O)with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you. 25 (P)For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

The Parable of the Seed Growing

26 And he said, (Q)“The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. 27 He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; (R)he knows not how. 28 The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. 29 But when the grain is ripe, at once (S)he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

30 (T)And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? 31 It is like (U)a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, 32 yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”

33 (V)With many such parables he spoke (W)the word to them, (X)as they were able to hear it. 34 He did not speak to them (Y)without a parable, but (Z)privately to his own disciples he (AA)explained everything.

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Footnotes

  1. Mark 4:17 Or stumble

14 The farmer sows the word.(A) 15 Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan(B) 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(C) 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?(D) 22 For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open.(E) 23 If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear.”(F)

24 “Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more.(G) 25 Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.”(H)

The Parable of the Growing Seed

26 He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like.(I) 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.”(J)

The Parable of the Mustard Seed(K)

30 Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like,(L) 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.(M) 34 He did not say anything to them without using a parable.(N) But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.

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