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The Blue Letter Bible

Mark 4 :: English Standard Version (ESV)

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The Parable of the Sower

(Mat 13:1–9; Luk 8:4–8 )

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Unchecked Copy Box Mar 4:1

Unchecked Copy BoxMar 4:1 - Again 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.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mar 4:2

Unchecked Copy BoxMar 4:2 - And he was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them:

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Unchecked Copy Box Mar 4:3

Unchecked Copy BoxMar 4:3 - “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mar 4:4

Unchecked Copy BoxMar 4:4 - And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mar 4:5

Unchecked Copy BoxMar 4:5 - Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mar 4:6

Unchecked Copy BoxMar 4:6 - And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mar 4:7

Unchecked Copy BoxMar 4:7 - Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mar 4:8

Unchecked Copy BoxMar 4:8 - And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Mar 4:9

Unchecked Copy BoxMar 4:9 - And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

The Purpose of the Parables

(Mat 13:10–17; Luk 8:9, 10 )

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Unchecked Copy Box Mar 4:10

Unchecked Copy BoxMar 4:10 - And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mar 4:11

Unchecked Copy BoxMar 4:11 - And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables,

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Unchecked Copy Box Mar 4:12

Unchecked Copy BoxMar 4:12 - so that
“‘they may indeed see but not perceive,
and may indeed hear but not understand,
lest they should turn and be forgiven.’”
(Mat 13:18–23; Luk 8:11–15 )

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Unchecked Copy Box Mar 4:13

Unchecked Copy BoxMar 4:13 - And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?

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Unchecked Copy Box Mar 4:14

Unchecked Copy BoxMar 4:14 - The sower sows the word.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mar 4:15

Unchecked Copy BoxMar 4:15 - And 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.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mar 4:16

Unchecked Copy BoxMar 4:16 - And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mar 4:17

Unchecked Copy BoxMar 4:17 - And 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.[fn]

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Unchecked Copy Box Mar 4:18

Unchecked Copy BoxMar 4:18 - And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word,

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Unchecked Copy Box Mar 4:19

Unchecked Copy BoxMar 4:19 - but 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.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mar 4:20

Unchecked Copy BoxMar 4:20 - But 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.”

A Lamp Under a Basket

(Luk 8:16–18 )

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Unchecked Copy Box Mar 4:21

Unchecked Copy BoxMar 4:21 - And he said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand?

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Unchecked Copy Box Mar 4:22

Unchecked Copy BoxMar 4:22 - For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mar 4:23

Unchecked Copy BoxMar 4:23 - If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Mar 4:24

Unchecked Copy BoxMar 4:24 - And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mar 4:25

Unchecked Copy BoxMar 4:25 - For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

The Parable of the Seed Growing

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Unchecked Copy Box Mar 4:26

Unchecked Copy BoxMar 4:26 - And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mar 4:27

Unchecked Copy BoxMar 4:27 - He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mar 4:28

Unchecked Copy BoxMar 4:28 - The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mar 4:29

Unchecked Copy BoxMar 4:29 - But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

(Mat 13:31, 32; Luk 13:18, 19 )

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Unchecked Copy Box Mar 4:30

Unchecked Copy BoxMar 4:30 - And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it?

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Unchecked Copy Box Mar 4:31

Unchecked Copy BoxMar 4:31 - It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth,

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Unchecked Copy Box Mar 4:32

Unchecked Copy BoxMar 4:32 - yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Mar 4:33

Unchecked Copy BoxMar 4:33 - With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mar 4:34

Unchecked Copy BoxMar 4:34 - He did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything.

Jesus Calms a Storm

(Mat 8:23–27; Luk 8:22–25 )

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Unchecked Copy Box Mar 4:35

Unchecked Copy BoxMar 4:35 - On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Mar 4:36

Unchecked Copy BoxMar 4:36 - And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mar 4:37

Unchecked Copy BoxMar 4:37 - And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mar 4:38

Unchecked Copy BoxMar 4:38 - But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”

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Unchecked Copy Box Mar 4:39

Unchecked Copy BoxMar 4:39 - And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

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Unchecked Copy Box Mar 4:40

Unchecked Copy BoxMar 4:40 - He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?”

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Unchecked Copy Box Mar 4:41

Unchecked Copy BoxMar 4:41 - And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Books and Bibles, a Publishing Ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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Mark Chapter 4 — Additional Translations:

King James Version New King James Version New Living Translation New International Version Christian Standard Bible New American Standard Bible 2020 New American Standard Bible 1995 Legacy Standard Bible Amplified Bible New English Translation Revised Standard Version American Standard Version Young's Literal Translation Darby Translation Webster's Bible Hebrew Names Version Latin Vulgate Morphological Greek New Testament Textus Receptus Smith Van Dyck Arabic Bible Open New Arabic Version Reina Valera 1909 Reina-Valera 1960 Bible in Basic English Chinese Traditional Union Espanol Moderno Korean Holy Bible Louis Segond German Luther Russian Synodal Translation Sagradas Escrituras