Mark 4:1-12

Parable of the Sower and Soils

1 ¹He began to teach again ²by the sea. And such a very large crowd gathered to Him that ³He got into a boat in the sea and sat down; and the whole crowd was by the sea on the land.

2 And He was teaching them many things in ⁴parables, and was saying to them in His teaching,

3 "Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow;

4 as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up.

5 "Other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil.

6 "And after the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.

7 "Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.

8 "Other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold."

9 And He was saying, "⁵He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

10 As soon as He was alone, His followers *, along with the twelve, began asking Him about the parables.

11 And He was saying to them, "To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but ⁶those who are outside get everything ⁷in parables,

12 so that ⁸WHILE SEEING, THEY MAY SEE AND NOT PERCEIVE, AND WHILE HEARING, THEY MAY HEAR AND NOT UNDERSTAND, OTHERWISE THEY MIGHT RETURN AND BE FORGIVEN."

Cross References

• 1. Mark 4:1-12: {Matthew 13:1-15; Luke 8:4-10}
• 2. Mark 2:13; Mark 3:7
• 3. Luke 5:1-3
• 4. Matthew 13:3f; Mark 3:23; Mark 4:2f
• 5. Matthew 11:15; Mark 4:23; Rev 2:7, 11, 17, 29
• 6. 1 Corinthians 5:12; Colossians 4:5; 1 Thessalonians 4:12; 1 Timothy 3:7
• 7. Mark 3:23; Mark 4:2
• 8. Isaiah 6:9; Isaiah 43:8; Jeremiah 5:21; Ezekiel 12:2; Matthew 13:14; Luke 8:10; John 12:40; Romans 11:8

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "hear!;" or "listen!"
• [b]. Lit "those about Him"