Mak4:1 He began to teach again by the sea. And such a very large crowd gathered to Him that He got into a boat in the sea and sat down; and the whole crowd was by the sea on the land.
Mak4:2 And He was teaching them many things in parables, and was saying to them in His teaching,
Mak4:3 "Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow;
Mak4:4 as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up.
Mak4:5 "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.
Mak4:6 "And after the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.
Mak4:7 "Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.
Mak4:8 "Other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold."
Mak4:9 And He was saying, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
Mak4:10 As soon as He was alone, His followers, along with the twelve, began asking Him about the parables.
Mak4:11 And He was saying to them, "To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but those who are outside get everything in parables,
Mak4:12 so that while seeing, they may see and not perceive, and while hearing, they may hear and not understand, otherwise they might return and be forgiven."
Mak4:13 And He said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand all the parables?
Mak4:14 "The sower sows the word.
Mak4:15 "These are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown; and when they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them.
Mak4:16 "In a similar way these are the ones on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy;
Mak4:17 and they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away.
Mak4:18 "And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word,
Mak4:19 but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
Mak4:20 "And those are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold."
Mak4:21 And He was saying to them, "A lamp is not brought to be put under a basket, is it, or under a bed? Is it not brought to be put on the lampstand?
Mak4:22 "For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light.
Mak4:23 "If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear."
Mak4:24 And He was saying to them, "Take care what you listen to. By your standard of measure it will be measured to you; and more will be given you besides.
Mak4:25 "For whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him."
Mak4:26 And He was saying, "The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil;
Mak4:27 and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows--how, he himself does not know.
Mak4:28 "The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head.
Mak4:29 "But when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come."
Mak4:30 And He said, "How shall we picture the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it?
Mak4:31 "It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is smaller than all the seeds that are upon the soil,
Mak4:32 yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and forms large branches; so that the birds of the air can nest under its shade."
Mak4:33 With many such parables He was speaking the word to them, so far as they were able to hear it;
Mak4:34 and He did not speak to them without a parable; but He was explaining everything privately to His own disciples.
Mak4:35 On that day, when evening came, He said to them, "Let us go over to the other side."
Mak4:36 Leaving the crowd, they took Him along with them in the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him.
Mak4:37 And there arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up.
Mak4:38 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?"
Mak4:39 And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Hush, be still." And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm.
Mak4:40 And He said to them, "Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?"
Mak4:41 They became very much afraid and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?"