21 And He was saying to them, (A)A lamp is not brought to be put under a [a]basket, or under a bed, is it? Is it not brought to be put on the lampstand? 22 (B)For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light. 23 (C)If anyone has ears to hear, [b]let him hear.” 24 And He was saying to them, “Take care what you listen to. [c](D)By your standard of measure it will be measured to you; and more will be given you besides. 25 (E)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 [d](F)puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

Parable of the Mustard Seed

30 (G)And He was saying, “How shall we [e](H)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 (I)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 [f]understand it; 34 and He did not speak to them (J)without a parable; but He was (K)explaining everything privately to His own disciples.

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Footnotes

  1. Mark 4:21 Lit peck-measure
  2. Mark 4:23 Or hear! or listen!
  3. Mark 4:24 Lit By what measure you measure
  4. Mark 4:29 Lit sends forth
  5. Mark 4:30 Lit compare
  6. Mark 4:33 Lit hear

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?(A) 22 For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open.(B) 23 If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear.”(C)

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

The Parable of the Growing Seed

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

The Parable of the Mustard Seed(H)

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

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