Explanation of the Parable

13 (A)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 (B)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 [a]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 (C)the [b]world, and the (D)deceitfulness of wealth, and the desires for other things enter and choke the word, and it [c]becomes unfruitful. 20 And those are the ones sown with seed on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it and (E)bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundred times as much.”

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Footnotes

  1. Mark 4:17 I.e., from the faith
  2. Mark 4:19 Or age
  3. Mark 4:19 Or proves to be unfruitful

The Parable of the Sower Explained(A)

13 And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? 14 (B)The sower sows the word. 15 And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts. 16 These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; 17 and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word’s sake, immediately they stumble. 18 Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, 19 and the (C)cares of this world, (D)the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 20 But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, [a]accept it, and bear (E)fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”

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Footnotes

  1. Mark 4:20 receive