马可福音 4
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Simplified)
撒种的比喻
4 耶稣又到湖边讲道，周围聚集了许多人，耶稣只好上到湖边的船上坐下，众人都站在岸上。 2 耶稣用比喻教导他们许多事，在教导中祂说： 3 “听着！有一个农夫出去撒种。 4 撒种的时候，有些种子落在路旁，被飞鸟吃掉了； 5 有些落在石头地上，因为泥土不深，种子很快就发芽了， 6 然而因为没有根，被太阳一晒就枯萎了； 7 有些落在荆棘丛中，荆棘长起来便把嫩苗挤住了，以致不能结实； 8 有些落在沃土里，就发芽生长，结出果实，收成多达三十倍、六十倍、一百倍！” 9 然后祂说：“有耳可听的，都应当听。”
10 当耶稣独自一人的时候，十二使徒和追随祂的人来请教比喻的意思。 11 耶稣说：“上帝国的奥秘只让你们知道，对于外人，我只用比喻， 12 使他们‘看了又看，却不领悟；听了又听，却不明白，免得他们回心转意，得到赦免。’”
13 耶稣又对他们说：“你们不明白这个比喻，又怎能明白其他比喻呢？ 14 农夫撒的是上帝的道。 15 种子落在路旁，是指人听了道，撒旦立刻过来夺去了撒在他们心里的道。 16 种子落在石头地上，是指人听了道后，立刻欢喜地接受了， 17 但他们心里没有根基，不过是暂时接受，一旦为道遭受患难和迫害，就立刻放弃了。 18 种子落在荆棘丛中，是指人虽然听过道， 19 但生活的忧虑、钱财的迷惑和其他欲望把道挤住了，以致不能结出果实。 20 种子落在沃土里，是指人听了道，领受了，又结出果实，收成多达三十倍、六十倍、甚至一百倍。”
灯的比喻
21 耶稣继续说：“人会把灯拿来放在篮子底下或床底下吗？当然不会，他一定会把它放在灯台上。 22 隐藏的事是不能掩盖的，终会显露出来。 23 有耳可听的，就应当听。” 24 耶稣又说：“要好好思想你们所听到的，你们用什么量器量给人，就用什么量器量给你们，甚至要多给你们。 25 因为凡有的，还要给他更多；凡没有的，连他仅有的也要夺去！”
种子生长的比喻
26 祂又说：“上帝的国就像一个人在地上撒种。 27 他天天日出而作，日落而息。种子就在他不知不觉中渐渐发芽长大。 28 大地会使种子生长，先发苗后吐穗，最终结出饱满的籽粒。 29 庄稼成熟后，他就拿起镰刀来收割，因为收成的时候到了。”
芥菜种的比喻
30 耶稣说：“我们拿什么比作上帝的国呢？用什么比喻来解释呢？ 31 上帝的国就像一粒芥菜种。它是种子中最小的， 32 但种在地里，却能长得比各样蔬菜都大，有粗大的枝条，可以让飞鸟在它的树荫中筑巢。”
33 耶稣用了许多类似的比喻，按照众人所能领悟的，把上帝的道讲给他们听。 34 祂总是用比喻对他们讲论，只有单独和门徒在一起的时候，才把一切解释清楚。
平息风浪
35 那天晚上，耶稣对门徒说：“我们渡到对面去吧。” 36 他们就离开众人，上了耶稣乘坐的船，一起渡到湖的对岸，还有其他船只跟着去。 37 忽然，湖面上狂风大作，波浪撞击船身，船内几乎灌满了水。 38 耶稣却还在船尾枕着枕头睡觉。门徒叫醒了祂，说：“老师，我们快淹死了，你怎么不管呢？”
39 耶稣起来斥责狂风，对着湖面说：“静下来！停下来！”于是就风平浪静了。 40 祂对门徒说：“你们为什么这样害怕呢？你们还是没有信心吗？”
41 他们极其害怕，彼此议论说：“祂到底是谁？连风浪都听祂的！”
Mark 4
New American Standard Bible
Parable of the Sower and Soils
4 Again (A)He began to teach (B)by the sea. And such a very large crowd gathered to Him that (C)He got into a boat on the sea and sat down; and the whole crowd was by the sea on the land. 2 And He was teaching them many things in (D)parables, and was saying to them in His teaching, 3 “Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow; 4 as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil. 6 And when the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. 7 Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. 8 Other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundred times as much.” 9 And He was saying, “(E)He who has ears to hear, [a]let him hear.”
10 As soon as He was alone, [b]His followers, along with the twelve disciples, began asking Him about the parables. 11 And He was saying to them, “To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but for (F)those who are outside, everything comes (G)in parables, 12 so that (H)while seeing they may see, and not perceive, and while hearing, they may hear, and not understand, otherwise they might return and it would be forgiven them.”
Explanation of the Parable
13 (I)And He *said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand all the parables? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 These are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown; and when they hear, immediately (J)Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them. 16 And in a similar way these are the ones sown with seed on the rocky places, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy; 17 and yet they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution occurs because of the word, immediately they [c]fall away. 18 And others are the ones sown with seed among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, 19 but the worries of (K)the [d]world, and the (L)deceitfulness of wealth, and the desires for other things enter and choke the word, and it [e]becomes unfruitful. 20 And those are the ones sown with seed on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it and (M)bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundred times as much.”
21 And He was saying to them, “(N)A lamp is not brought to be put under a [f]basket, or under a bed, is it? Is it not brought to be put on the lampstand? 22 (O)For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light. 23 (P)If anyone has ears to hear, [g]let him hear.” 24 And He was saying to them, “Take care what you listen to. [h](Q)By your standard of measure it will be measured to you; and more will be given you besides. 25 (R)For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”
Parable of the Seed
26 And He was saying, “The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil; 27 and he goes to bed at night and gets up daily, and the seed sprouts and grows—how, he himself does not know. 28 The soil produces crops by itself; first the stalk, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. 29 Now when the crop permits, he immediately [i](S)puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
Parable of the Mustard Seed
30 (T)And He was saying, “How shall we [j](U)picture the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is the smallest of all the seeds that are upon the soil, 32 yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants, and forms large branches, with the result that (V)the birds of the sky can nest under its shade.”
33 And with many such parables He was speaking the word to them, so far as they were able to [k]understand it; 34 and He did not speak to them (W)without a parable; but He was (X)explaining everything privately to His own disciples.
Jesus Stills the Sea
35 (Y)On that day, when evening came, He *said to them, “Let’s go over to the other side.” 36 After dismissing the crowd, they *took Him along with them (Z)in the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him. 37 And a fierce gale of wind *developed, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling with water. 38 And yet Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they *woke Him and *said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” 39 And He got up and (AA)rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” And the wind died down and [l]it became perfectly calm. 40 And He said to them, “Why are you [m]afraid? (AB)Do you still have no faith?” 41 They became very much afraid and said to one another, “Who, then, is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”
Footnotes
- Mark 4:9 Or hear! or listen!
- Mark 4:10 Lit those about Him
- Mark 4:17 I.e., from the faith
- Mark 4:19 Or age
- Mark 4:19 Or proves to be unfruitful
- Mark 4:21 Lit peck-measure
- Mark 4:23 Or hear! or listen!
- Mark 4:24 Lit By what measure you measure
- Mark 4:29 Lit sends forth
- Mark 4:30 Lit compare
- Mark 4:33 Lit hear
- Mark 4:39 Lit a great calm occurred
- Mark 4:40 Lit cowardly
Mark 4
Easy-to-Read Version
A Story About a Farmer Sowing Seed(A)
4 Another time Jesus began teaching by the lake, and a large crowd gathered around him. He got into a boat so that he could sit and teach from the lake. All the people stayed on the shore near the water. 2 Jesus used stories to teach them many things. One of his lessons included this story:
3 “Listen! A farmer went out to sow seed. 4 While he was scattering the seed, some of it fell by the road. The birds came and ate all that seed. 5 Other seed fell on rocky ground, where there was not enough dirt. It grew quickly there because the soil was not deep. 6 But then the sun rose and the plants were burned. They died because they did not have deep roots. 7 Some other seed fell among thorny weeds. The weeds grew and stopped the good plants from growing. So they did not make grain. 8 But some of the seed fell on good ground. There it began to grow, and it made grain. Some plants made 30 times more grain, some 60 times more, and some 100 times more.”
9 Then Jesus said, “You people who hear me, listen!”
Why Jesus Used Stories to Teach(B)
10 Later, Jesus was away from the people. The twelve apostles and his other followers asked him about the stories.
11 Jesus said, “Only you can know the secret truth about God’s kingdom. But to those other people I tell everything by using stories. 12 I do this so that
‘They will look and look but never really see;
they will listen and listen but never understand.
If they saw and understood,
they might change and be forgiven.’” (C)
Jesus Explains the Story About Seed(D)
13 Then Jesus said to the followers, “Do you understand this story? If you don’t, how will you understand any story? 14 The farmer is like someone who plants God’s teaching in people. 15 Sometimes the teaching falls on the path. That is like some people who hear the teaching of God. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the teaching that was planted in them.
16 “Other people are like the seed planted on rocky ground. They hear the teaching, and they quickly and gladly accept it. 17 But they don’t allow it to go deep into their lives. They keep it only a short time. As soon as trouble or persecution comes because of the teaching they accepted, they give up.
18 “Others are like the seed planted among the thorny weeds. They hear the teaching, 19 but their lives become full of other things: the worries of this life, the love of money, and everything else they want. This keeps the teaching from growing, and it does not produce a crop[a] in their lives.
20 “And others are like the seed planted on the good ground. They hear the teaching and accept it. Then they grow and produce a good crop—sometimes 30 times more, sometimes 60 times more, and sometimes 100 times more.”
Use the Understanding You Have(E)
21 Then Jesus said to them, “You don’t take a lamp and hide it under a bowl or a bed, do you? Of course not. You put it on a lampstand. 22 Everything that is hidden will be made clear. Every secret thing will be made known. 23 You people who hear me, listen! 24 Think carefully about what you are hearing. God will know how much to give you by how much you understand now. But he will give you more than you deserve. 25 The people who have some understanding will receive more. But those who do not have much will lose even the small amount they have.”
Jesus Uses a Story About Seed
26 Then Jesus said, “God’s kingdom is like a man who plants seed in the ground. 27 The seed begins to grow. It grows night and day. It doesn’t matter whether the man is sleeping or awake, the seed still grows. He doesn’t know how it happens. 28 Without any help the ground produces grain. First the plant grows, then the head, and then all the grain in the head. 29 When the grain is ready, the man cuts it. This is the harvest time.”
What Is God’s Kingdom Like?(F)
30 Then Jesus said, “What can I use to show you what God’s kingdom is like? What story can I use to explain it? 31 God’s kingdom is like a mustard seed, which is smaller than any other seed on earth that you can plant. 32 But when you plant it, it grows and becomes the largest of all the plants in your garden. It has branches that are very big. The wild birds can come and make nests there and be protected from the sun.”
33 Jesus used many stories like these to teach the people. He taught them all they could understand. 34 He always used stories to teach them. But when he was alone with his followers, Jesus explained everything to them.
Jesus’ Followers See His Power(G)
35 That day, at evening, Jesus said to his followers, “Come with me across the lake.” 36 So they left the crowd behind and went with Jesus in the boat he was already in. There were also other boats that went with them. 37 A very bad wind came up on the lake. The waves were coming over the sides and into the boat, and it was almost full of water. 38 Jesus was inside the boat, sleeping with his head on a pillow. The followers went and woke him. They said, “Teacher, don’t you care about us? We are going to drown!”
39 Jesus stood up and gave a command to the wind and the water. He said, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind stopped, and the lake became calm.
40 He said to his followers, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
41 They were very afraid and asked each other, “What kind of man is this? Even the wind and the water obey him!”
Footnotes
- Mark 4:19 produce a crop Meaning to do the good things God wants his people to do.
Chinese Contemporary Bible Copyright © 1979, 2005, 2007, 2011 by Biblica® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International