Chapter Text
4:1 And He began to teach again by the sea. And such a very large crowd gathered to Him that He got into a boat in the sea and sat down; and the whole crowd was by the sea on the land.
4:2 And He was teaching them many things in parables, and was saying to them in His teaching,
4:3 “Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow;
4:4 and it happened that as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up.
4:5 And other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil.
4:6 And after the sun rose, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.
4:7 And other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.
4:8 And other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they were yielding a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.”
4:9 And He was saying, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
4:10 And when He was alone, His followers, along with the twelve, began asking Him about the parables.
4:11 And He was saying to them, “To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but to those who are outside, everything comes in parables,
4:12 so that while seeing, they may see and not perceive, and while hearing, they may hear and not understand, lest they return and be forgiven.”
4:13 And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand all the parables?
4:14 The sower sows the word.
4:15 And these are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown: when they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them.
4:16 And in a similar way, these are the ones being sown on the rocky places: those who, when hearing the word, immediately receive it with joy;
4:17 and they have no root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away.
4:18 And others are those being sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word,
4:19 but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for anything else enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
4:20 And those are the ones which were sown on the good soil: they who hear the word and accept it and are bearing fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.”
4:21 And He was saying to them, “Is a lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed? Is it not to be put on the lampstand?
4:22 For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light.
4:23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”
4:24 And He was saying to them, “Beware what you listen to. By your standard of measure it will be measured to you, and more will be given to you.
4:25 For whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.”
4:26 And He was saying, “The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil;
4:27 and he sleeps and rises, night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows—how, he himself does not know.
4:28 The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head.
4:29 But when the grain is ripe, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
4:30 And He was saying, “How shall we compare the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it?
4:31 It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is smallest of all the seeds that are upon the soil,
4:32 yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes largest of all the garden plants and forms large branches; so that the birds of the air can nest under its shade.”
4:33 And with many such parables He was speaking the word to them, as they were able to hear it;
4:34 and He was not speaking to them without a parable; but He was explaining everything privately to His own disciples.
4:35 And on that day, when evening came, He said to them, “Let us go over to the other side.”
4:36 And leaving the crowd, they took Him along with them in the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him.
4:37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat so that the boat was already filling up.
4:38 And Jesus Himself was in the stern, sleeping on the cushion; and they got Him up and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?”
4:39 And He woke up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Silence! Be still.” And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm.
4:40 And He said to them, “Why are you so cowardly? Do you still have no faith?”
4:41 And they became very afraid and were saying to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”