Mark 4
The Parable of the Sower
1Again he
began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd
gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat
in it on the sea, and the whole crowd was beside the sea
on the land.
2And
he was teaching them many things in parables, and in his
teaching he said to them:
3"Listen!
A sower went out to sow.
4And as
he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds
came and devoured it.
5Other
seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much
soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no
depth of soil.
6And when the sun rose it was scorched, and
since it had no root, it withered away.
7Other
seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and
choked it, and it yielded no grain.
8And
other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain,
growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and
sixtyfold and a hundredfold."
9And he said,
"He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
The Purpose of the Parables
10And when
he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him
about the parables.
11And he said to them,
"To you has been
given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those
outside everything is in parables,
12so
that
"they may indeed see but not perceive,
and may indeed hear but not understand,
lest they should turn and be forgiven."
13And he
said to them, "Do you not understand this parable?
How then will you understand all the parables?
14The
sower sows the word.
15And
these are the ones along the path, where the word is
sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes
away the word that is sown in them.
16And
these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who,
when they hear the word, immediately receive it with
joy. 17And
they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while;
then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account
of the word, immediately they fall away.[a]
18And
others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those
who hear the word,
19but
the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches
and the desires for other things enter in and choke the
word, and it proves unfruitful.
20But
those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who
hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold
and sixtyfold and a hundredfold."
Footnotes:
-
Mark
4:17 Or stumble
