Mark 4:1-12 ▼

1 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.

2 He began teaching them many things in parables. While he was teaching them he said,

3 |Listen! A farmer went out to sow.

4 As he was sowing, some seeds fell along the path, and birds came and ate them up.

5 Others fell on stony ground, where they didn't have a lot of soil. They sprouted at once, because the soil wasn't deep.

6 But when the sun came up, they were scorched. Since they didn't have any roots, they dried up.

7 Others fell among thorn bushes, and the thorn bushes came up and choked them out, and they didn't produce anything.

8 But others fell on good soil and produced a crop. They grew up, increased in size, and produced 30, 60, or 100 times what was sown.|

9 He added, |Let the person who has ears to hear, listen!|

10 When he was alone with the Twelve and those around him, they began to ask him about the parables.

11 He told them, |The secret about the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside, everything comes in parables

12 so that 'they may see clearly but not perceive, and they may hear clearly but not understand, otherwise they might turn around and be forgiven.'|