Mark 4-6

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?”

The Demon-possessed Man Cured

5 ^(AC)They came to the other side of the sea, into the region of the Gerasenes. ² When He got out of ^(AD)the boat, immediately a man from the tombs ^(AE)with an unclean spirit met Him. ³ He lived among the tombs; and no one was able to bind him anymore, not even with a chain, ⁴ because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him and the shackles broken in pieces; and no one was strong enough to subdue him. ⁵ Constantly, night and day, he was screaming among the tombs and in the mountains, and cutting himself with stones. ⁶ Seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran up and bowed down before Him; ⁷ and shouting with a loud voice, he *said, “^[n](AF)What business do You have with me, Jesus, ^(AG)Son of ^(AH)the Most High God? I implore You by God, do not torment me!” ⁸ For He had already been saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” ⁹ And He was asking him, “What is your name?” And he *said to Him, “My name is ^(AI)Legion, for we are many.” ¹⁰ And he begged Him earnestly not to send them out of the region. ¹¹ Now there was a large herd of pigs feeding ^[o]nearby on the mountain. ¹² And the demons begged Him, saying, “Send us into the pigs so that we may enter them.” ¹³ Jesus gave them permission. And coming out, the unclean spirits entered the pigs; and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea, about two thousand of them; and they were drowned in the sea.

¹⁴ Their herdsmen ran away and reported it in the city and in the countryside. And the people came to see what it was that had happened. ¹⁵ And then they *came to Jesus and *saw the man who had been ^(AJ)demon-possessed sitting down, ^(AK)clothed and ^(AL)in his right mind, the very man who had previously had the “^(AM)legion”; and they became frightened. ¹⁶ Those who had seen it described to them how it had happened to the ^(AN)demon-possessed man, and all about the pigs. ¹⁷ And they began to ^(AO)beg Him to leave their region. ^18 (AP)And as He was getting into the boat, the man who had been ^(AQ)demon-possessed was begging Him that he might ^[p]accompany Him. ¹⁹ And He did not let him, but He *said to him, “^(AR)Go home to your people and report to them ^[q]what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you.” ²⁰ And he went away and began to ^(AS)proclaim in ^(AT)Decapolis ^[r]what great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed.

Miracles and Healing

^21 (AU)When Jesus had crossed over again in ^(AV)the boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around Him; and He ^[s]stayed ^(AW)by the seashore. ^22 (AX)And one of ^(AY)the synagogue ^[t]officials, named Jairus, *came, and upon seeing Him, *fell at His feet ²³ and *pleaded with Him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death; please come and ^(AZ)lay Your hands on her, so that she will ^[u]get well and live.” ²⁴ And He went off with him; and a large crowd was following Him and pressing in on Him.

²⁵ A woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years, ²⁶ and had endured much at the hands of many physicians, and had spent all that she had and was not helped at all, but instead had become worse— ²⁷ after hearing about Jesus, she came up in the crowd behind Him and touched His ^[v]cloak. ²⁸ For she had been saying to herself, “If I just touch His garments, I will ^[w]get well.” ²⁹ And immediately the flow of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her ^(BA)disease. ³⁰ And immediately Jesus, perceiving in Himself that ^(BB)power from Him had gone out, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My garments?” ³¹ And His disciples said to Him, “You see the crowd pressing in on You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’” ³² And He looked around to see the woman who had done this. ³³ But the woman, fearing and trembling, aware of what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth. ³⁴ And He said to her, “Daughter, ^(BC)your faith has ^[x]made you well; ^(BD)go in peace and be cured of your ^(BE)disease.”

³⁵ While He was still speaking, people *came from the house of the ^(BF)synagogue official, saying, “Your daughter has died; why bother the Teacher further?” ³⁶ But Jesus, overhearing what was being spoken, *said to the ^(BG)synagogue official, “^(BH)Do not be afraid, only ^[y]believe.” ³⁷ And He allowed no one to accompany Him except ^(BI)Peter, ^[z]James, and John the brother of ^[aa]James. ³⁸ They *came to the house of the ^(BJ)synagogue official, and He *saw a commotion, and people loudly weeping and wailing. ³⁹ And after entering, He *said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child has not died, but is asleep.” ⁴⁰ And they began laughing at Him. But putting them all outside, He *took along the child’s father and mother and His own companions, and *entered the room where the child was in bed. ⁴¹ And taking the child by the hand, He *said to her, “Talitha, kum!” (which translated means, “Little girl, ^(BK)I say to you, get up!”). ⁴² And immediately the girl got up and began to walk, for she was twelve years old. And immediately they were completely astonished. ⁴³ And He ^(BL)gave them strict orders that no one was to know about this, and He told them to have something given her to eat.

Teaching at Nazareth

6 ^(BM)Jesus went out from there and *came into ^[ab](BN)His hometown; and His disciples *followed Him. ² And when the Sabbath came, He began ^(BO)to teach in the synagogue; and ^[ac]the ^(BP)many listeners were astonished, saying, “Where did this man learn these things, and what is this wisdom that has been given to Him, and such ^[ad]miracles as these performed by His hands? ³ Is this not ^(BQ)the carpenter, ^(BR)the son of Mary and brother of ^[ae]James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are ^(BS)His sisters not here with us?” And they took ^(BT)offense at Him. ⁴ Jesus said to them, “^(BU)A prophet is not dishonored except in ^[af](BV)his hometown and among his own relatives, and in his own household.” ⁵ And He could not do any ^[ag]miracle there except that He ^(BW)laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. ⁶ And He was amazed at their unbelief.

^(BX)And He was going around the villages, teaching.

The Twelve Sent Out

^7 (BY)And ^(BZ)He *summoned the twelve and began to send them out ^(CA)in pairs, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits; ^8 (CB)and He instructed them that they were to take nothing for their journey, except a mere staff—no bread, no ^[ah]bag, no money in their belt— ⁹ but ^[ai]to wear sandals; and He added, “Do not wear two ^[aj]tunics.” ¹⁰ And He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you ^[ak]leave town. ¹¹ Any place that does not receive you or listen to you, as you go out from there, ^(CC)shake the dust ^[al]off the soles of your feet as a testimony against them.” ^12 (CD)And they went out and ^[am]preached that people are to repent. ¹³ And they were casting out many demons and ^(CE)were anointing with oil many sick people and healing them.

John’s Fate Recalled

^14 (CF)And King Herod heard about it, for His name had become well known; and people were saying, “^(CG)John the Baptist has risen from the dead, and that is why these miraculous powers are at work in Him.” ¹⁵ But others were saying, “He is ^(CH)Elijah.” And others were saying, “He is ^(CI)a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” ¹⁶ But when Herod heard about it, he kept saying, “John, whom I beheaded, has risen!”

¹⁷ For Herod himself had sent men and had John arrested and bound in prison on account of ^(CJ)Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, because he had married her. ¹⁸ For John had been saying to Herod, “^(CK)It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” ¹⁹ And ^(CL)Herodias held a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death, and could not do so; ²⁰ for ^(CM)Herod was afraid of John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he had been protecting him. And when he heard him, he was very perplexed; and yet he ^[an]used to enjoy listening to him. ²¹ An opportune day came when Herod, on his birthday, ^(CN)held a banquet for his nobles and military commanders, and the leading people ^(CO)of Galilee; ²² and when the daughter of ^(CP)Herodias herself came in and danced, she pleased Herod and ^[ao]his dinner guests; and the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you want, and I will give it to you.” ²³ And he swore to her, “Whatever you ask of me, I will give it to you, up to ^(CQ)half of my kingdom.” ²⁴ And she went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.” ²⁵ Immediately she came in a hurry to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” ²⁶ And although the king was very sorry, because of his oaths and ^[ap]his dinner guests, he was unwilling to refuse her. ²⁷ Immediately the king sent an executioner and commanded him to bring back his head. And he went and beheaded him in the prison, ²⁸ and brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother. ²⁹ When his disciples heard about this, they came and carried away his body, and laid it in a tomb.

^30 (CR)The ^(CS)apostles *gathered together with Jesus; and they reported to Him all that they had done and taught. ³¹ And He *said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a little while.” (For there were many people coming and going, and ^(CT)they did not even have time to eat.) ^32 (CU)And they went away in ^(CV)the boat to a secluded place by themselves.

Five Thousand Men Fed

³³ The people saw them going, and many recognized them and ran there together on foot from all the cities, and got there ahead of them. ³⁴ When Jesus went ^[aq]ashore, He ^(CW)saw a large crowd, and He felt compassion for them because ^(CX)they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things. ³⁵ And when it was already late, His disciples came up to Him and said, “^[ar]This place is secluded and it is already late; ³⁶ send them away so that they may go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves ^[as]something to eat.” ³⁷ But He answered them, “You give them something to eat!” ^(CY)And they *said to Him, “Shall we go and spend two hundred ^[at](CZ)denarii on bread, and give it to them to eat?” ³⁸ But He *said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go look!” And when they found out, they *said, “Five, and two fish.” ³⁹ And He ordered them all to recline by groups on the green grass. ⁴⁰ They reclined in groups of hundreds and fifties. ⁴¹ And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He ^(DA)blessed the food and broke the loaves and He gave them to the disciples again and again to set before them; and He divided the two fish among them all. ⁴² And they all ate and were satisfied; ⁴³ and they picked up twelve full ^(DB)baskets of the broken pieces of bread, and of the fish. ⁴⁴ There were ^(DC)five thousand ^[au]men who ate the loaves.

Jesus Walks on the Water

^45 (DD)And immediately Jesus had His disciples get into ^(DE)the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, to ^(DF)Bethsaida, while He Himself *dismissed the crowd. ⁴⁶ And after ^(DG)saying goodbye to them, He left ^(DH)for the mountain to pray.

⁴⁷ When it was evening, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and He was alone on the land. ⁴⁸ Seeing them ^[av]straining at the oars—for the wind was against them—at about the ^[aw](DI)fourth watch of the night, He *came to them, walking on the sea; and He intended to pass by them. ⁴⁹ But when they saw Him walking on the sea, they thought that it was a ghost, and they cried out; ⁵⁰ for they all saw Him and were ^[ax]terrified. But immediately He spoke with them and *said to them, “^(DJ)Take courage; it is I, ^(DK)do not be afraid.” ⁵¹ Then He got into ^(DL)the boat with them, and the wind stopped; and they were utterly astonished, ⁵² for ^(DM)they ^[ay]had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but ^[az]their hearts ^(DN)were hardened.

Healing at Gennesaret

^53 (DO)When they had crossed over they came to land at Gennesaret, and moored at the shore. ⁵⁴ And when they got out of the boat, immediately the people recognized Him, ⁵⁵ and ran about that entire country and began carrying here and there on their pallets those who were sick, ^[ba]to wherever they heard He was. ⁵⁶ And wherever He entered villages, or cities, or a countryside, they were laying the sick in the marketplaces and imploring Him that they might just ^(DP)touch ^(DQ)the fringe of His cloak; and all who touched it were being ^[bb]healed.