Mark 4:13-20

International Standard Version

Jesus Explains the Parable about the Farmer^(A)

¹³ Then he told them, “You don’t understand this parable, so how can you understand any of the parables? ¹⁴ The farmer sows the word. ¹⁵ Some people are like the seeds^[a] along the path, where the word is sown. When they hear it, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. ¹⁶ Others are like the seeds^[b] sown on the stony ground. When they hear the word, at once they joyfully accept it, ¹⁷ but since they don’t have any roots, they last for only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes along because of the word, they immediately fall away. ¹⁸ Still others are like the seeds^[c] sown among the thorn bushes. These are the people who hear the word, ¹⁹ but the worries of life, the deceitful pleasures of wealth, and the desires for other things come in and choke the word so that it can’t produce a crop. ²⁰ Others are like the seeds^[d] sown on good soil. They hear the word, accept it, and produce crops—30, 60, or 100 times what was sown.”^[e]