Mark Chapter 4

|Jesus returned to teaching again on the seashore, but the crowd was so overwhelming that he turned a boat into a makeshift pulpit while the people pressed to the shoreline. |He taught them many things, using parables. During one of His lessons, He said, "Listen. A farmer went out to sow a crop. As he sowed, some seed was scattered on the path, and birds came and ate it up. Some fell on stony ground, which lacked deep soil. It grew quickly, but once the sun was out, it was scorched and withered away, as its roots were too shallow. Some was scattered among weeds, which choked it, and it didn't produce fruit. But some seed fell upon good soil and produced a great deal of fruit, thirty, sixty, even one-hundred times the original investment." Then Jesus said to them, "let any man who has ears hear."

Privately a few along with the twelve Apostles asked Jesus about the parable. | |- |11 |And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables: |He said to them, "You have been granted insight into the secrets of the Kingdom of God, but to others these things are done in parables, | |- |12 |That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them. |that they may see but not perceive and hear but not understand; otherwise they might convert, and then their sins would be forgiven." |This verse, and the one preceding, is one of the earliest statements concerning the predestination and unconditional election of believers. |- |13 |And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables? |Then He asked them, "Don't you understand this parable? If not, how will you understand any other parables? | |- |14 |The sower soweth the word. |"The farmer plants the Truth. | |- |15 |And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts. |"As for the people who are on the roadside, where the seeds are scattered, Satan comes as soon they have heard the truth, and takes it from their hearts. | |- |16 |And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; |"Likewise with those planted on the stony ground: when they hear the Truth, they receive It with joy, | |- |17 |And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended. |"But they have little deep-down understanding of It, so they endure in the Truth only briefly. Afterward, when they must face oppression persecution for the sake of the Truth, all at once they have doubts about It. |"Root in themselves" made clearer for modern English readers. |- |18 |And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word, |"Then there are those planted among the thorns. They hear the word, | |- |19 |And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful. |"But because of worldly concerns, the deceit of wealth, and other desires, the Truth is suffocated and cannot bear fruit." |The "deceit of wealth" is not the having of wealth but the trusting in wealth as a primary sustainer. |- |20 |And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred. |"Finally are those planted in good ground. They hear the Truth, accept It, and produce good fruit in their turn, sometimes thirty, sixty, or even one hundred times more." | |- |21 |And he said unto them, Is a candle brought to be put under a bushel, or under a bed? and not to be set on a candlestick? |Then he asked them, "Do we light candles only to hide them under a bushel basket or a bed, rather than to place them on candlesticks? |The word rendered "bushel" is the Roman modius, the largest dry measure in use throughout the Roman Empire. |- |22 |For there is nothing hid, which shall not be manifested; neither was any thing kept secret, but that it should come abroad. |"Nothing is hidden which will not be brought to light. Likewise any secret kept will soon become known. | |- |23 |If any man have ears to hear, let him hear. |"If a man is willing to listen, let him hear the Truth." | |- |24 |And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given. |Then he said to them, "Be careful of what you listen to. Whichever measure you apply, you shall be measured accordingly, and those of you who listen will be given more." | |- |25 |For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath. |"He who has will be given, while he doesn't will see that little which he has taken from him." | |- |26 |And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; |"The kingdom of God is the same way. If someone sows seed on the ground, |This parable is omitted by the Apostles and by Luke in their Gospels. |- |27 |And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. |"And goes to sleep and waits several days, plants will spring from the seeds, though he doesn't know how. |This is similar to the prediction by the Coase theorem that an efficient level of activity occurs in the free market (in the absence of transaction costs). |- |28 |For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. |"Because it is the earth that brings forth the fruit: first a blade, then an ear of corn, then the corn itself." | |- |29 |But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come. |"And when the fruit has been produced, he brings out the sickle and harvests his produce." | |- |30 |And he said, Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or with what comparison shall we compare it? |Then he said, "What will we say God's kingdom is like? What sort of metaphor will we use? |Actually the Greek uses the word parable, which is a metaphorical story. |- |31 |It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth: |It's like a single mustard seed, which is smaller than all other seeds on earth when placed in the ground, | |- |32 |But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it. |But once planted, it grows larger than all the other herbs and grows large branches, so the birds can shelter under its shadow." | |- |33 |And with many such parables spake he the word unto them, as they were able to hear it. |He used many parables like this one to preach God's word in a way that they could understand. |Make clear that it's God's word, and that 'hear' means 'understand' in this context. |- |34 |But without a parable spake he not unto them: and when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples. |But He never used parables when speaking to His own men. He explained everything to His own students. |The Greek ιδιος means "one's own." |- |35 |And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side. |Later that day, around sunset, He said to them: "Let's cross over to the opposite shore." |Modernized word choices. |- |36 |And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships. |They dismissed the crowd, and then cast off in the boat where Jesus had been preaching, with Jesus still on board. Some other boats also went with them. |'even as he was' needs some explanation for the modern reader. |- |37 |And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. |Suddenly a fierce storm came, with strong winds. Waves started to break over the boat, so that it began to fill with water. |Such squalls occur frequently on Lake Tiberias even today. |- |38 |And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? |Jesus was sleeping on a cushion in the stern of the boat. They woke him saying, "Master, don't you care that we'll capsize and drown?" | |- |39 |And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. |He got up and chided the wind, and said to the sea: "Silence, be still!" The wind then stopped, and there was complete calm. |- |40 |And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? |He asked them, "Why are you so afraid? Why haven't you any faith?" | |- |41 |And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him? |Filled with awe, they asked each other: "What kind of Man is He, such that even the wind and sea obey Him?