Mark:4:1-20

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* Jesus began to teach people by the sea again . Many people came to him . So he got in a boat on the sea and sat down . The people were by the sea on the land . * He told the people stories and taught them many things . * He said , Listen . A man went out to sow some seed . * As he sowed it , some of the seed fell on the road . Birds came and ate the seed . * Some seed fell on the stony ground . Not much ground covered the stones . The seed started to grow right away because it was not deep in the ground . * When the sun began to shine , it was too hot for the new plants . They died because they had no roots . * Some seed fell among the weeds . The weeds grew up and made the new plants die . So no seeds grew on them . * But some seed fell on good ground . That seed grew and the plants gave more seed . Some plants gave thirty seeds . Some gave sixty . And some gave a hundred . * Jesus said to them , Everyone who has ears to hear , listen ! * Later , Jesus was alone . Then the twelve disciples and the other people who were there asked him about the stories . * He said to them , You can learn the secret things about the kingdom of God . But we must use stories to tell the other people . * They may look and look , but they will not see . They may listen and listen , but they will not understand . If they did understand , they would turn back to God and he would forgive them for the wrong things they have done . * Jesus said also , Do you not understand this story ? How then are you going to understand all the stories ? * The man who sows the seed tells Gods message . * Those beside the road are like people who hear the message . But as soon as they hear it , Satan comes and takes it out of their hearts * The seed that fell on the stony ground is the same . It is like people who hear the message and as soon as they hear it they are very glad . * They believe it for a short time . When trouble or a hard time comes because of the message , they stop believing . * The seed that fell among the weeds is like people who hear the message . * But they think about the things of this world . They want to get money and other things to be happy . These things push the message out of their hearts . No good comes from it . * But some seed fell on good ground . That is like people who hear the message and understand it . Much good comes from it . Some people are like the seed that made thirty seeds . Some people are like the seed that gave sixty . Some people are like the seed that gave a hundred .

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