Mark 4:1–9

¹AND it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret,

²And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets.

³And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon’s, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship.

¹³And he went forth again by the sea side; and all the multitude resorted unto him, and he taught them.

⁴¶ And when much people were gathered together, and were come to him out of every city, he spake by a parable:

⁵A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it.

⁶And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture.

⁷And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it.

⁸And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

⁹And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be?

¹⁰And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.

⁷But Jesus withdrew himself with his disciples to the sea: and a great multitude from Galilee followed him, and from Judæa,

¹THE same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side.

²And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.

³And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;

⁴And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:

⁵Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:

⁶And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

⁷And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:

⁸But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.

⁹Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

¹⁰And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?

¹¹He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

¹²For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.

¹³Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

¹⁴And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:

¹⁵For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

²³And he called them unto him, and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan?

¹¹And 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:

³⁴All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them:

³⁵That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.

¹⁰And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?

³And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;

⁴I will incline mine ear to a parable: I will open my dark saying upon the harp.

²I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old:

¹⁶Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.

¹⁷If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.

³⁸¶ And he said unto them in his doctrine, Beware of the scribes, which love to go in long clothing, and love salutations in the marketplaces,

³³And with many such parables spake he the word unto them, as they were able to hear it.

³⁴But without a parable spake he not unto them: and when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples.

²⁸And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine:

¹⁹¶ The high priest then asked Jesus of his disciples, and of his doctrine.

⁶I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.

⁷So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.

⁸Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.

⁹For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.

⁵Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?

³⁵Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.

³⁶And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.

³⁷And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth.

³⁸I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours.

¹NOW therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers giveth you.

⁵A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it.

⁶And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture.

⁷And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it.

⁸And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

²⁶¶ And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground;

²⁷And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how.

²⁸For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.

²⁹But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.

²⁶But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.

¹⁴¶ But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judæa, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:

⁶In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.

¹THEREFORE we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.

²For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward;

³How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;

²³¶ Give ye ear, and hear my voice; hearken, and hear my speech.

²⁴Doth the plowman plow all day to sow? doth he open and break the clods of his ground?

²⁵When he hath made plain the face thereof, doth he not cast abroad the fitches, and scatter the cummin, and cast in the principal wheat and the appointed barley and the rie in their place?

²⁶For his God doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach him.

¹²¶ Hearken unto me, ye stouthearted, that are far from righteousness:

³¶ Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, which are borne by me from the belly, which are carried from the womb:

¹HO, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

²Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.

¹⁴¶ The sower soweth the word.

²³If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.

⁹And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

¹⁴¶ And when he had called all the people unto him, he said unto them, Hearken unto me every one of you, and understand:

¹⁵There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man.

²⁴¶ Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:

³And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;

²⁴¶ Hearken unto me now therefore, O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth.

³²Now therefore hearken unto me, O ye children: for blessed are they that keep my ways.

¹¹Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord.

¹⁰Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father’s house;

¹¹He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

²⁹He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

⁷He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

¹⁹When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.

¹⁵And 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.

⁴And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:

¹²Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.

¹¹And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away.

⁵A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it.

²⁶A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

⁶And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture.

¹²¶ Shall horses run upon the rock? will one plow there with oxen? for ye have turned judgment into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into hemlock:

¹⁹And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:

¹²Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.

¹³They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.

¹⁶And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness;

¹⁷And 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.

²⁰But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;

⁵Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:

⁶And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

¹¹For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.

⁵¶ Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord.

⁶For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.

⁷Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is.

⁸For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.

⁸And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live.

¹⁰And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

⁷Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.

¹⁷That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,

⁴For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.

¹²These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;

³And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

⁴The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.

¹³Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God.

¹⁴They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing;

¹⁵To shew that the Lord is upright: he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.

¹⁶They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.

⁶Look not upon me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me: my mother’s children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept.

³¶ For thus saith the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.

¹⁴And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.

¹⁵Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

¹⁶For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

¹⁷And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

¹⁸Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;

⁹But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.

¹⁰For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

¹⁵And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.

³⁴¶ And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.

⁷And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it.

¹⁸And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word,

¹⁹And 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.

²²He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.

⁷And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:

⁵I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

⁶Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth:

¹²Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the Lord blessed him.

²⁰And 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.

¹WHEREFORE laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings,

²As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:

³If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

¹¹These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

²⁹Is not my word like as a fire? saith the Lord; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?

⁸But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.

¹LET us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.

²For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.

¹CRY aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.

¹⁹Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:

²⁰For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

²¹Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.

²²But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

¹²But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

¹³Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

¹⁹And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

²⁰For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.

²¹But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

¹⁷If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.

¹⁵But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.

⁸And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

²³But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

¹¹Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.

²³If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.

²⁴And 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.

¹⁵He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

²²He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

¹⁸Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have.

¹⁴¶ And when he had called all the people unto him, he said unto them, Hearken unto me every one of you, and understand:

¹⁵There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man.

¹³He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

⁶He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

⁹Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

¹⁰¶ And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand:

³Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow: