Mark:4

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* Then Jesus began to teach again beside the sea . Such a large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it , while the entire crowd remained beside the sea on the shore . * He began teaching them many things in parables . While he was teaching them he said , * “Listen ! A sower went out to sow . * As he was sowing , some seeds fell along the path , and birds came and ate them up . * Others fell on stony ground , where they did not have a lot of soil . They sprouted at once because the soil wasn 't deep . * But when the sun came up , they were scorched . Since they did not have any roots , they dried up . * Others fell among thornbushes , and the thornbushes came up and choked them , and they did not produce anything . * But others fell on good soil and produced a crop . They grew up , increased in size , and produced thirty , sixty , or one hundred times what was sown .” * He added ,“Let the person who has ears to hear , listen !” * When he was alone with his followers and the twelve , they began to ask him about the parables . * He said to them ,“The secret about the kingdom of God has been given to you . But to those on the outside , everything comes in parables * sothat ‘they may see clearly but not perceive ,and they may hear clearly but not understand ,otherwise they might turn around and be forgiven .’” * Then he said to them ,“You don 't understand this parable , so how can you understand any of the parables ? * The sower sows the word . * Some people are like the seedsalong the path , where the word is sown . When they hear it , Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that was sown in them . * Others are like the seedssown on the stony ground . When they hear the word , they accept it at once with joy , * but since they don 't have any roots in themselves , they last for only a short time . When trouble or persecution comes along because of the word , they immediately fall away . * Still others are like the seedssown among the thornbushes . These are the people who hear the word , * 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 . * Others are like the seedssown on good soil . They hear the word , accept it , and produce crops —thirty , sixty , or one hundred times what was sown .” * Then Jesus said to them ,“A lamp isn 't brought indoors to be put under a basket or under a bed , is it ? It 's to be put on a lampstand , isn 't it ? * For nothing is hidden except for the purpose of having it revealed , and nothing is secret except for the purpose of having it come to light . * If anyone has ears to hear , let him listen !” * He went on to say to them ,“Pay attention to what you 're listening to ! With the measure you use ,you will be measured , and still more will be given to you . * For whoever has something , will have more given to him . But whoever has nothing , even what he has will be taken away .” * He was also saying ,“The kingdom of God is like a man who scatters seeds on the ground . * He sleeps and gets up night and day while the seeds sprout and grow , although he doesn 't know how . * The ground produces grain by itself , first the stalk , then the head , then the full grain in the head . * But when the grain is ripe , he swings his sickle immediately because the harvest time has come .” * He was also saying ,“How can we show what the kingdom of God is like , or what parable can we use to describe it ? * It is like a mustard seed planted in the ground . Although it is the smallest ofall the seeds on earth , * when it is planted it comes up and becomes larger than all the garden plants . It grows such large branches that the birds in the sky can nest in its shade .” * With many other parables like these Jesus kept speaking the word to them according to their ability to understand them . * He did not tell them anything without using a parable , though he explained everything to his disciples in private . * That day , when evening had come , he said to them ,“Let 's cross to the other side .” * So they left the crowd and took him along in the boat just as he was . Other boats were with him . * A violent windstorm came up , and the waves began breaking into the boat , so that the boat was rapidly becoming swamped . * But Jesus was in the back of the boat , asleep on a cushion . So they woke him up and said to him , “Teacher , don 't you care that we 're going to die ?” * Then he got up , rebuked the wind , and said to the sea ,“Hush ! Be still !” Then the wind stopped blowing , and there was a great calm . * He said to them ,“Why are you such cowards ? Don 't you have any faith yet ?” * They were overcome with fear and kept saying to one another , “Who is this man ? Even the wind and the sea obey him !”

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