Mark 4 — ULB
4Verse 1Again he began to teach beside the sea, and a large crowd gathered around him. He stepped into a boat that was on the sea, and he sat down in it. The whole crowd was on the shore beside the sea.Verse 2He taught them many things in parables, and in his teaching, this is what he said to them.Verse 3“Listen, the farmer went out to sow his seed.Verse 4As he sowed, some seed fell on the road, and the birds came and devoured it.Verse 5Other seed fell on the rocky ground, where it did not have much soil. Immediately it sprang up, because it did not have deep soil.Verse 6But when the sun rose, the plants were scorched, and because they had no root, they dried up.Verse 7Other seed fell among the thorn plants. The thorn plants grew up and choked it, and it did not produce a crop.Verse 8Other seed fell into good soil and it produced a crop growing up and increasing thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times.”Verse 9Then he said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear!”Verse 10When Jesus was alone, those who were close to him and with the twelve asked him about the parables.Verse 11He said to them, “To you is given the mystery of the kingdom of God. But to those outside everything is in parables,Verse 12so that when they look, yes they look, but do not see,
and so that when they hear, yes they hear, but do not understand,
or else they would turn and God would forgive them.”Verse 13Then he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the other parables?Verse 14The farmer who sows his seed is the one who sows the word.Verse 15These are the ones that fall beside the road, where the word was sown, but when they hear it, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.Verse 16These are the ones that are sown on rocky ground, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy.Verse 17They have no root in themselves, but endure for a short time. Then tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, and immediately they stumble.Verse 18The others are the ones that were sown among the thorns. They hear the word,Verse 19but the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires of other things enter in and choke the word, and it does not produce a crop.Verse 20Then those that were sown in the good soil are the ones who hear the word and receive it, and they produce crops—thirty, sixty, or a hundred times what was sown.”Verse 21Jesus said to them, “Do you bring a lamp inside the house to put it under a basket, or under the bed? You bring it in and you put it on a lampstand.Verse 22For nothing is hidden that will not be known, and nothing is secret that will not come out into the open.Verse 23If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!”Verse 24He said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear, for the measure you use will be measured to you, and more will be added to you.Verse 25Because whoever has, to him will be given more, and whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken.”Verse 26He also said, “The kingdom of God is like a man who sows his seed on the ground.Verse 27He sleeps at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how.Verse 28The earth bears grain by itself: First the blade, then the ear, then the mature grain in the ear.Verse 29When the crop is ripe, he immediately sends in the sickle because the harvest has come.”Verse 30Again he said, “To what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use to explain it?Verse 31It is like a mustard seed which, when it is sown, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth.Verse 32Yet, when it is sown, it grows and becomes greater than all the garden plants, and it forms large branches, so that the birds of heaven can make their nests in its shade.”Verse 33With many parables like this he spoke the word to them, as much as they were able to understand,Verse 34and he did not speak to them without a parable. But when he was alone, he explained everything to his own disciples.Verse 35On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go over to the other side.”Verse 36So they left the crowd, taking Jesus with them, just as he was, in the boat. There were other boats going along with him.Verse 37Just then a violent windstorm arose and the waves were breaking into the boat so that the boat was almost full of water.Verse 38But Jesus himself was in the stern, asleep on a cushion. They woke him up, saying, “Teacher, do you not care that we are about to die?”Verse 39He got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.Verse 40Then he said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still not have faith?”Verse 41They were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, because even the wind and the sea obey him?”
and so that when they hear, yes they hear, but do not understand,
or else they would turn and God would forgive them.”Verse 13Then he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the other parables?Verse 14The farmer who sows his seed is the one who sows the word.Verse 15These are the ones that fall beside the road, where the word was sown, but when they hear it, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.Verse 16These are the ones that are sown on rocky ground, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy.Verse 17They have no root in themselves, but endure for a short time. Then tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, and immediately they stumble.Verse 18The others are the ones that were sown among the thorns. They hear the word,Verse 19but the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires of other things enter in and choke the word, and it does not produce a crop.Verse 20Then those that were sown in the good soil are the ones who hear the word and receive it, and they produce crops—thirty, sixty, or a hundred times what was sown.”Verse 21Jesus said to them, “Do you bring a lamp inside the house to put it under a basket, or under the bed? You bring it in and you put it on a lampstand.Verse 22For nothing is hidden that will not be known, and nothing is secret that will not come out into the open.Verse 23If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!”Verse 24He said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear, for the measure you use will be measured to you, and more will be added to you.Verse 25Because whoever has, to him will be given more, and whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken.”Verse 26He also said, “The kingdom of God is like a man who sows his seed on the ground.Verse 27He sleeps at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how.Verse 28The earth bears grain by itself: First the blade, then the ear, then the mature grain in the ear.Verse 29When the crop is ripe, he immediately sends in the sickle because the harvest has come.”Verse 30Again he said, “To what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use to explain it?Verse 31It is like a mustard seed which, when it is sown, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth.Verse 32Yet, when it is sown, it grows and becomes greater than all the garden plants, and it forms large branches, so that the birds of heaven can make their nests in its shade.”Verse 33With many parables like this he spoke the word to them, as much as they were able to understand,Verse 34and he did not speak to them without a parable. But when he was alone, he explained everything to his own disciples.Verse 35On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go over to the other side.”Verse 36So they left the crowd, taking Jesus with them, just as he was, in the boat. There were other boats going along with him.Verse 37Just then a violent windstorm arose and the waves were breaking into the boat so that the boat was almost full of water.Verse 38But Jesus himself was in the stern, asleep on a cushion. They woke him up, saying, “Teacher, do you not care that we are about to die?”Verse 39He got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.Verse 40Then he said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still not have faith?”Verse 41They were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, because even the wind and the sea obey him?”