Mark 4:1-9 ▼

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!|