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Again Yeshua began to teach by the lake, but the crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat on the lake and sat there, while the crowd remained on shore at the water’s edge. He taught them many things in parables. In the course of his teaching, he said to them: “Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he sowed, some seed fell alongside the path; and the birds came and ate it up. Other seed fell on rocky patches where there was not much soil. It sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow; but when the sun rose, the young plants were scorched; and since their roots were not deep, they dried up. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked it; so that it yielded no grain. But other seed fell into rich soil and produced grain; it sprouted, and grew, and yielded a crop — thirty, sixty, even a hundred times what was sown.” And he concluded, “Whoever has ears to hear with, let him hear!”

10 When Yeshua was alone, the people around him with the Twelve asked him about the parables. 11 He answered them, “To you the secret of the Kingdom of God has been given; but to those outside, everything is in parables, 12 so that

they may be always looking but never seeing;
always listening but never understanding.
Otherwise, they might turn and be forgiven!”[a]

13 Then Yeshua said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How will you be able to understand any parable? 14 The sower sows the message. 15 Those alongside the path where the message is sown are people who no sooner hear it than the Adversary comes and takes away the message sown in them. 16 Likewise, those receiving seed on rocky patches are people who hear the message and joyfully accept it at once; 17 but they have no root in themselves. So they hold out for a while, but as soon as some trouble or persecution arises on account of the message, they immediately fall away. 18 Others are those sown among thorns — they hear the message; 19 but the worries of the world, the deceitful glamor of wealth and all the other kinds of desires push in and choke the message; so that it produces nothing. 20 But those sown on rich soil hear the message, accept it and bear fruit — thirty, sixty or a hundredfold.”

21 He said to them, “A lamp isn’t brought in to be put under a bowl or under the bed, is it? Wouldn’t you put it on a lampstand? 22 Indeed, nothing is hidden, except to be disclosed; and nothing is covered up, except to come out into the open. 23 Those who have ears to hear with, let them hear!”

24 He also said to them, “Pay attention to what you are hearing! The measure with which you measure out will be used to measure to you — and more besides! 25 For anyone who has something will be given more; but from anyone who has nothing, even what he does have will be taken away.”

26 And he said, “The Kingdom of God is like a man who scatters seed on the ground. 27 Nights he sleeps, days he’s awake; and meanwhile the seeds sprout and grow — how, he doesn’t know. 28 By itself the soil produces a crop — first the stalk, then the head, and finally the full grain in the head. 29 But as soon as the crop is ready, the man comes with his sickle, because it’s harvest-time.”

30 Yeshua also said, “With what can we compare the Kingdom of God? What illustration should we use to describe it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which, when planted, is the smallest of all the seeds in the field; 32 but after it has been planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all the plants, with such big branches that the birds flying about can build nests in its shade.”

33 With many parables like these he spoke the message to them, to the extent that they were capable of hearing it. 34 He did not say a thing to them without using a parable; when he was alone with his own talmidim he explained everything to them.

35 That day, when evening had come, Yeshua said to them, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.” 36 So, leaving the crowd behind, they took him just as he was, in the boat; and there were other boats with him. 37 A furious windstorm arose, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was close to being swamped. 38 But he was in the stern on a cushion, asleep. They woke him and said to him, “Rabbi, doesn’t it matter to you that we’re about to be killed?” 39 He awoke, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” The wind subsided, and there was a dead calm. 40 He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you no trust even now?” 41 But they were terrified and asked each other, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the waves obey him?”

Footnotes

  1. Mark 4:12 Isaiah 6:9–10

The Parable of the Sower(A)(B)

Again Jesus began to teach by the lake.(C) The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water’s edge. He taught them many things by parables,(D) and in his teaching said: “Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed.(E) As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.”(F)

Then Jesus said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”(G)

10 When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. 11 He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God(H) has been given to you. But to those on the outside(I) everything is said in parables 12 so that,

“‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving,
    and ever hearing but never understanding;
otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!’[a](J)

13 Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? 14 The farmer sows the word.(K) 15 Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan(L) comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. 16 Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 17 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 18 Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19 but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth(M) and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. 20 Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.”

A Lamp on a Stand

21 He said to them, “Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don’t you put it on its stand?(N) 22 For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open.(O) 23 If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear.”(P)

24 “Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more.(Q) 25 Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.”(R)

The Parable of the Growing Seed

26 He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like.(S) A man scatters seed on the ground. 27 Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. 28 All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. 29 As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”(T)

The Parable of the Mustard Seed(U)

30 Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like,(V) or what parable shall we use to describe it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. 32 Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.”

33 With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand.(W) 34 He did not say anything to them without using a parable.(X) But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.

Jesus Calms the Storm(Y)

35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat.(Z) There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”

39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”(AA)

41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

Footnotes

  1. Mark 4:12 Isaiah 6:9,10