Mark:4:1-34

---

Seeker Overlay ON

* And again He began to teach beside the sea . And a large crowd was gathered to Him , so that He got aboard into the boat , and sat on the sea ; and all the crowd was upon the land by the sea . * And He was teaching them many [things ] by parables , and said to them in His teaching : * "Listen ! Behold , a sower went out to sow . * And it happened , as he sowed , that some [seed ] fell alongside the road ; and the birds came and devoured it . * And some fell on stony ground , where it did not have much earth ; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth . * But when the sun rose it was scorched , and because it had no root it was withered up . * And some [seed ]fell into the thorns ; and the thorns came up and choked it , and it yielded no fruit . * But other [seed ]fell on good ground , and it was yielding fruit coming up and growing , and it was producing-some thirty [fold ], some sixty [,] and some a hundred ." * And He said , "He that has ears to hear , let him hear !" * But when He was by himself , those around Him together with the twelve asked Him about the parable . * And He said to them , "Unto you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God ; but to those who are outside , all things come to be [spoken ] in parables , * so that 'Seeing they may see and not perceive , and hearing they may hear and not understand ; Lest they should turn , and their sins be forgiven them .' " * And He said to them , "Do you not know this parable ? How then will you know all the parables ? * The sower sows the word . * And these are the [seeds ] beside the road where the word is sown , and whenever they hear , immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which was sown in their hearts . * And these are similarly the [seeds ] being sown on stony ground which , whenever they hear the word , immediately they receive it with joy ; * and they have no root in themselves , but are shortlived . Afterward , when trials or persecution arise because of the word , immediately they fall away . * And these are the [seeds ] being sown in the thorns ; they are the [ones ] who are hearing the word , * and the anxieties of this age , and the deceitfulness of riches , and the desires for other things coming in choke out the word , and it becomes fruitless . * And these are the [seeds ] sown on good ground , such as who hear the word and welcome it , and bear fruit : some thirty [fold ], some sixty , and some a hundred ." * And He said to them , "A lamp is not brought so that it may be put under a measuring basket or under a bed , [is it ?] [Is it ] not [ brought ] so that it may be put on a lampstand ? * For there is nothing hidden which shall not be made manifest , nor was it hidden but that it might come to light . * If anyone has ears to hear , let him hear ." * Then He said to them , "Watch what you hear . By what measure you measure , it will be measured out to you ; and [more ] will be added to you who hear . * For whoever has , [more ] will be given to him ; and he who does not have , even what he has will be taken away from him ." * And He said , "Thus is the kingdom of God as if a man should cast the seed on the ground , * and should sleep by night and rise by day , and the seed should sprout and should grow , he himself does not know how . * For the earth produces fruit of itself : first a shoot , then a head of grain , then full wheat in the head of grain . * But whenever the fruit permits , immediately he sends forth the sickle , because the harvest has come ." * Then He said , "To what shall we compare the kingdom of God ? Or by what sort of parable shall we illustrate it ? * It is like a mustard seed , which whenever it is sown on the ground , is smaller than all the seeds on the earth ; * but whenever it is sown , it comes up and becomes greater than all the garden vegetables , and produces great branches , so that the birds of heaven are able to nest under its shade ." * And by many such parables He would speak the word to them , just as they were able to hear it . * And apart from a parable He did not speak to them , however , privately to His disciples , he would explain all things .

---