MARK Chapter 4 (GNB)

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4:1   Again Jesus began to teach beside Lake Galilee. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it. The boat was out in the water, and the crowd stood on the shore at the water's edge.

4:2   He used parables to teach them many things, saying to them:

4:3   "Listen! Once there was a man who went out to sow grain.

4:4   As he scattered the seed in the field, some of it fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.

4:5   Some of it fell on rocky ground, where there was little soil. The seeds soon sprouted, because the soil wasn't deep.

4:6   Then, when the sun came up, it burned the young plants; and because the roots had not grown deep enough, the plants soon dried up.

4:7   Some of the seed fell among thorn bushes, which grew up and choked the plants, and they didn't bear grain.

4:8   But some seeds fell in good soil, and the plants sprouted, grew, and bore grain: some had thirty grains, others sixty, and others one hundred."

4:9   And Jesus concluded, "Listen, then, if you have ears!"

4:10   When Jesus was alone, some of those who had heard him came to him with the twelve disciples and asked him to explain the parables.

4:11   "You have been given the secret of the Kingdom of God," Jesus answered. "But the others, who are on the outside, hear all things by means of parables,

4:12   so that, 'They may look and look, yet not see; they may listen and listen, yet not understand. For if they did, they would turn to God, and he would forgive them.' "

4:13   Then Jesus asked them, "Don't you understand this parable? How, then, will you ever understand any parable?

4:14   The sower sows God's message.

4:15   Some people are like the seeds that fall along the path; as soon as they hear the message, Satan comes and takes it away.

4:16   Other people are like the seeds that fall on rocky ground. As soon as they hear the message, they receive it gladly.

4:17   But it does not sink deep into them, and they don't last long. So when trouble or persecution comes because of the message, they give up at once.

4:18   Other people are like the seeds sown among the thorn bushes. These are the ones who hear the message,

4:19   but the worries about this life, the love for riches, and all other kinds of desires crowd in and choke the message, and they don't bear fruit.

4:20   But other people are like seeds sown in good soil. They hear the message, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirty, some sixty, and some one hundred."

4:21   Jesus continued, "Does anyone ever bring in a lamp and put it under a bowl or under the bed? Isn't it put on the lampstand?

4:22   Whatever is hidden away will be brought out into the open, and whatever is covered up will be uncovered.

4:23   Listen, then, if you have ears!"

4:24   He also said to them, "Pay attention to what you hear! The same rules you use to judge others will be used by God to judge you---but with even greater severity.

4:25   Those who have something will be given more, and those who have nothing will have taken away from them even the little they have."

4:26   Jesus went on to say, "The Kingdom of God is like this. A man scatters seed in his field.

4:27   He sleeps at night, is up and about during the day, and all the while the seeds are sprouting and growing. Yet he does not know how it happens.

4:28   The soil itself makes the plants grow and bear fruit; first the tender stalk appears, then the head, and finally the head full of grain.

4:29   When the grain is ripe, the man starts cutting it with his sickle, because harvest time has come.

4:30   "What shall we say the Kingdom of God is like?" asked Jesus. "What parable shall we use to explain it?

4:31   It is like this. A man takes a mustard seed, the smallest seed in the world, and plants it in the ground.

4:32   After a while it grows up and becomes the biggest of all plants. It puts out such large branches that the birds come and make their nests in its shade."

4:33   Jesus preached his message to the people, using many other parables like these; he told them as much as they could understand.

4:34   He would not speak to them without using parables, but when he was alone with his disciples, he would explain everything to them.

4:35   On the evening of that same day Jesus said to his disciples, "Let us go across to the other side of the lake."

4:36   So they left the crowd; the disciples got into the boat in which Jesus was already sitting, and they took him with them. Other boats were there too.

4:37   Suddenly a strong wind blew up, and the waves began to spill over into the boat, so that it was about to fill with water.

4:38   Jesus was in the back of the boat, sleeping with his head on a pillow. The disciples woke him up and said, "Teacher, don't you care that we are about to die?"

4:39   Jesus stood up and commanded the wind, "Be quiet!" and he said to the waves, "Be still!" The wind died down, and there was a great calm.

4:40   Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Why are you frightened? Do you still have no faith?"

4:41   But they were terribly afraid and began to say to one another, "Who is this man? Even the wind and the waves obey him!"

CHAPTER ENDS