Mark 4

1Again Jesus began to teach beside the lake. A very large crowd gathered around Him. So He got into a boat on the lake and sat down, while all the people stood on the shore.

2He taught them many things using teaching stories. He said:

3Listen! A farmer went out to plant seed.

4As he scattered the seed, some fell on the path. The birds came and ate it up.

5Some seed fell on rocky ground, where there was not much soil. The seed grew quickly, because the soil was not deep.

6But when the sun came up, the young plants were burned. They had no roots, so they dried up.

7Some seed fell among thorns. The thorns grew up and choked the plants, so they did not produce grain.

8But some seed fell on good soil. It grew up, became strong, and produced grain. Some plants made thirty times more, some sixty times more, and some a hundred times more.

9Then Jesus said: Anyone who has ears should listen!

10Later, when Jesus was alone, the twelve and the others around Him asked Him about the teaching stories.

11He told them: God has let you know the secret about His kingdom. But to those outside, everything is told in teaching stories,

12so that they may look and look but not see, and listen and listen but not understand. If they did, they might turn to God and be forgiven.

13Then Jesus said to them: Do you not understand this teaching story? Then how will you understand any of them?

14The farmer plants the word of God in people.

15Some people are like the seed on the path. As soon as they hear the word, Satan comes and takes away the word that was planted in them.

16Others are like the seed on rocky ground. They hear the word and are glad to accept it right away.

17But they have no root, so they last only a short time. When trouble or hard times come because of the word, they quickly give up.

18Others are like the seed planted among thorns. They hear the word,

19but the worries of this life, the love of money, and the desire for other things crowd in and choke the word, so it does not produce anything.

20But others are like the seed planted on good soil. They hear the word, accept it, and produce a good harvest — thirty, sixty, or a hundred times more.

21Then Jesus said to them: Do you bring in a lamp and put it under a bowl or under the bed? No, you put it on a lampstand.

22Everything that is hidden will be brought out into the open. Every secret will be made known.

23Anyone who has ears should listen!

24Then He said: Think carefully about what you hear. The way you treat others is the way God will treat you, and He will give you even more.

25The person who has something will be given more. But the person who has nothing will lose even the little he has.

26Jesus also said: God's kingdom is like a man who plants seed in the ground.

27Night and day, whether he is asleep or awake, the seed grows. He does not know how it happens.

28The soil makes the plant grow by itself. First the blade comes up, then the head, then the full grain in the head.

29As soon as the grain is ready, the man cuts it, because it is harvest time.

30Then Jesus said: What can we compare God's kingdom to? What teaching story can we use?

31It is like a mustard seed. It is the smallest of all seeds you plant in the ground.

32But after it is planted, it grows up and becomes bigger than all the garden plants. It grows large branches, so that the birds can rest in its shade.

33Jesus used many teaching stories like these to teach the people. He taught them as much as they could understand.

34He always used teaching stories when He spoke to them. But when He was alone with His disciples, He explained everything to them.

35That evening Jesus said to His disciples: Let us go across to the other side of the lake.

36They left the crowd and took Jesus along in the boat, just as He was. Other boats were with Him too.

37A strong wind began to blow. The waves came up into the boat, so that it was almost full of water.

38Jesus was in the back of the boat, sleeping on a pillow. The disciples woke Him up and said: Teacher, don't you care that we are going to drown?

39Jesus got up and ordered the wind to stop. He said to the waves: Be quiet! Be still! Then the wind stopped, and everything was perfectly calm.

40Jesus said to His disciples: Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?

41They were very afraid. They said to one another: Who is this man? Even the wind and the waves obey Him!