Mark 4:11-27

¹¹He said to them, “To you is given the mystery of God’s Kingdom, but to those who are outside, all things are done in parables,

¹²that ‘seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand, lest perhaps they should turn again, and their sins should be forgiven them.’”

¹³He said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How will you understand all of the parables?

¹⁴The farmer sows the word.

¹⁵The ones by the road are the ones where the word is sown; and when they have heard, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them.

¹⁶These in the same way are those who are sown on the rocky places, who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with joy.

¹⁷They have no root in themselves, but are short-lived. When oppression or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they stumble.

¹⁸Others are those who are sown amongst the thorns. These are those who have heard the word,

¹⁹and the cares of this age, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

²⁰Those which were sown on the good ground are those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit, some thirty times, some sixty times, and some one hundred times.”

²¹He said to them, “Is a lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed? Isn’t it put on a stand?

²²For there is nothing hidden except that it should be made known, neither was anything made secret but that it should come to light.

²³If any man has ears to hear, let him hear.”

²⁴He said to them, “Take heed what you hear. With whatever measure you measure, it will be measured to you; and more will be given to you who hear.

²⁵For whoever has, to him more will be given; and he who doesn’t have, even that which he has will be taken away from him.”

²⁶He said, “God’s Kingdom is as if a man should cast seed on the earth,

²⁷and should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should spring up and grow, though he doesn’t know how.