Mark 4:1-25
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Parable of the Sower
4 Again he began to teach beside the sea. Such a very large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat on the sea and sat there, while the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land.(A) 2 He began to teach them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them:(B) 3 “Listen! A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell on a path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up quickly, since it had no depth of soil. 6 And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root it withered away. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. 8 Other seed fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.”(C) 9 And he said, “If you have ears to hear, then hear!”(D)
The Purpose of the Parables
10 When he was alone, those who were around him along with the twelve asked him about the parables. 11 And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret[a] of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything comes in parables,(E) 12 in order that
‘they may indeed look but not perceive,
and may indeed hear but not understand;
so that they may not turn again and be forgiven.’ ”(F)
13 And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand all the parables? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 These are the ones on the path where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them.(G) 16 And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: when they hear the word, they immediately receive it with joy. 17 But they have no root and endure only for a while; then, when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away.[b] 18 And others are those sown among the thorns: these are the ones who hear the word, 19 but the cares of the age and the lure of wealth and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it yields nothing. 20 And these are the ones sown on the good soil: they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.”
A Lamp under a Bushel Basket
21 He said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under the bushel basket or under the bed and not on the lampstand? 22 For there is nothing hidden, except to be disclosed; nor is anything secret, except to come to light.(H) 23 If you have ears to hear, then hear!”(I) 24 And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear; the measure you give will be the measure you get, and it will be added to you.(J) 25 For to those who have, more will be given, and from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.”(K)
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