Mark 4:1-20

Parable of the soils

4 Jesus began to teach beside the lake again. Such a large crowd gathered that he climbed into a boat there on the lake. He sat in the boat while the whole crowd was nearby on the shore. ² He said many things to them in parables. While teaching them, he said, ³ “Listen to this! A farmer went out to scatter seed. ⁴  As he was scattering seed, some fell on the path; and the birds came and ate it. ⁵  Other seed fell on rocky ground where the soil was shallow. They sprouted immediately because the soil wasn’t deep. ⁶  When the sun came up, it scorched the plants; and they dried up because they had no roots. ⁷  Other seed fell among thorny plants. The thorny plants grew and choked the seeds, and they produced nothing. ⁸  Other seed fell into good soil and bore fruit. Upon growing and increasing, the seed produced in one case a yield of thirty to one, in another case a yield of sixty to one, and in another case a yield of one hundred to one.” ⁹ He said, “Whoever has ears to listen should pay attention!”

Jesus explains his parable

¹⁰ When they were alone, the people around Jesus, along with the Twelve, asked him about the parables. ¹¹ He said to them, “The secret of God’s kingdom has been given to you, but to those who are outside everything comes in parables. ¹² This is so that they can look and see but have no insight, and they can hear but not understand. Otherwise, they might turn their lives around and be forgiven.
¹³ “Don’t you understand this parable? Then how will you understand all the parables? ¹⁴  The farmer scatters the word. ¹⁵  This is the meaning of the seed that fell on the path: When the word is scattered and people hear it, right away Satan comes and steals the word that was planted in them. ¹⁶  Here’s the meaning of the seed that fell on rocky ground: When people hear the word, they immediately receive it joyfully. ¹⁷  Because they have no roots, they last for only a little while. When they experience distress or abuse because of the word, they immediately fall away. ¹⁸  Others are like the seed scattered among the thorny plants. These are the ones who have heard the word; ¹⁹  but the worries of this life, the false appeal of wealth, and the desire for more things break in and choke the word, and it bears no fruit. ²⁰  The seed scattered on good soil are those who hear the word and embrace it. They bear fruit, in one case a yield of thirty to one, in another case sixty to one, and in another case one hundred to one.”

Common English Bible (CEB), used with permissionCopyright © 2011 by Common English Bible