Mark 4:1-20

New Testament for Everyone

Parable of the sower

4 Once again Jesus began to teach beside the sea. A huge crowd gathered; so he got into a boat and stationed himself on the sea, with all the crowd on the shore looking out to sea. ² He taught them lots of things in parables. This is how his teaching went.

³ “Listen!” he said. “Once upon a time there was a sower who went out sowing. ⁴ As he was sowing, some seed fell beside the path, and the birds came and ate it up. ⁵ Other seed fell on the rock, where it didn’t have much soil. There was no depth to the ground, so it shot up at once; ⁶ but when the sun came up it was scorched, and withered away, because it hadn’t got any root. ⁷ Other seed fell in among thorns; the thorns grew up and choked it, and it didn’t give any crop. ⁸ And other seeds fell into good soil, and gave a harvest, which grew up and increased, and bore a yield, in some cases thirtyfold, in some sixtyfold, and in some a hundredfold.”

⁹ And he added, “If you’ve got ears, then listen!”

¹⁰ When they were alone, the people who were around Jesus, with the Twelve, asked him about the parables.

¹¹ “The mystery of God’s kingdom is given to you,” he replied, “but for the people outside it’s all in parables, ¹² so that ‘they may look and look but never see, and hear and hear but never understand; otherwise they would turn and be forgiven.’

¹³ “Don’t you understand the parable?” he said to them. “How are you going to understand all the parables?

¹⁴ “The sower sows the word. ¹⁵ The ones by the path are people who hear the word, but immediately the Accuser comes and takes away the word that has been sown in them. ¹⁶ The ones sown on the rock are those who hear the word and accept it with excitement, ¹⁷ but don’t have any root in themselves. They are short-term enthusiasts. When the word brings them trouble or hostility they quickly become disillusioned. ¹⁸ The others—the ones sown among thorns—are those who hear the word, ¹⁹ and the worries of the present age, and the deceit of riches, and desire for other kinds of things, come in and choke the word, so that it produces no fruit. ²⁰ But the ones sown on good soil are the people who hear the word and receive it, and produce fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixtyfold, some a hundredfold.”