Parallel Bible results for "mark 4"

Mark 4

The Message Bible MSG

1 He went back to teaching by the sea. A crowd built up to such a great size that he had to get into an offshore boat, using the boat as a pulpit as the people pushed to the water's edge.

2 He taught by using stories, many stories.

3 "Listen. What do you make of this? A farmer planted seed.

4 As he scattered the seed, some of it fell on the road and birds ate it.

5 Some fell in the gravel; it sprouted quickly but didn't put down roots,

6 so when the sun came up it withered just as quickly.

7 Some fell in the weeds; as it came up, it was strangled among the weeds and nothing came of it.

8 Some fell on good earth and came up with a flourish, producing a harvest exceeding his wildest dreams.

9 "Are you listening to this? Really listening?"

10 When they were off by themselves, those who were close to him, along with the Twelve, asked about the stories.

11 He told them, "You've been given insight into God's kingdom - you know how it works. But to those who can't see it yet, everything comes in stories, creating readiness, nudging them toward receptive insight.

12 These are people - Whose eyes are open but don't see a thing, Whose ears are open but don't understand a word, Who avoid making an about-face and getting forgiven."

13 He continued, "Do you see how this story works? All my stories work this way.

14 "The farmer plants the Word.

15 Some people are like the seed that falls on the hardened soil of the road. No sooner do they hear the Word than Satan snatches away what has been planted in them.

16 "And some are like the seed that lands in the gravel. When they first hear the Word, they respond with great enthusiasm.

17 But there is such shallow soil of character that when the emotions wear off and some difficulty arrives, there is nothing to show for it.

18 "The seed cast in the weeds represents the ones who hear the kingdom news

19 but are overwhelmed with worries about all the things they have to do and all the things they want to get. The stress strangles what they heard, and nothing comes of it.

20 "But the seed planted in the good earth represents those who hear the Word, embrace it, and produce a harvest beyond their wildest dreams."

21 Jesus went on: "Does anyone bring a lamp home and put it under a washtub or beneath the bed? Don't you put it up on a table or on the mantel?

22 We're not keeping secrets, we're telling them; we're not hiding things, we're bringing them out into the open.

23 "Are you listening to this? Really listening?

24 "Listen carefully to what I am saying - and be wary of the shrewd advice that tells you how to get ahead in the world on your own. Giving, not getting, is the way.

25 Generosity begets generosity. Stinginess impoverishes."

26 Then Jesus said, "God's kingdom is like seed thrown on a field by a man

27 who then goes to bed and forgets about it. The seed sprouts and grows - he has no idea how it happens.

28 The earth does it all without his help: first a green stem of grass, then a bud, then the ripened grain.

29 When the grain is fully formed, he reaps - harvest time!

30 "How can we picture God's kingdom? What kind of story can we use?

31 It's like a pine nut. When it lands on the ground it is quite small as seeds go,

32 yet once it is planted it grows into a huge pine tree with thick branches. Eagles nest in it."

33 With many stories like these, he presented his message to them, fitting the stories to their experience and maturity.

34 He was never without a story when he spoke. When he was alone with his disciples, he went over everything, sorting out the tangles, untying the knots.

35 Late that day he said to them, "Let's go across to the other side."

36 They took him in the boat as he was. Other boats came along.

37 A huge storm came up. Waves poured into the boat, threatening to sink it.

38 And Jesus was in the stern, head on a pillow, sleeping! They roused him, saying, "Teacher, is it nothing to you that we're going down?"

39 Awake now, he told the wind to pipe down and said to the sea, "Quiet! Settle down!" The wind ran out of breath; the sea became smooth as glass.

40 Jesus reprimanded the disciples: "Why are you such cowards? Don't you have any faith at all?"

41 They were in absolute awe, staggered. "Who is this, anyway?" they asked. "Wind and sea at his beck and call!"

English Standard Version ESV

1 Again he began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land.

2 And he was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them:

3 “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow.

4 And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it.

5 Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil.

6 And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away.

7 Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain.

8 And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold. ”

9 And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear. ”

10 And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables.

11 And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables,

12 so that“they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven. ”

13 And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?

14 The sower sows the word.

15 And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them.

16 And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy.

17 And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away.

18 And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word,

19 but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.

20 But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold. ”

21 And he said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand?

22 For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light.

23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear. ”

24 And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you.

25 For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. ”

26 And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground.

27 He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how.

28 The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.

29 But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come. ”

30 And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it?

31 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth,

32 yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade. ”

33 With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it.

34 He did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything.

35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side. ”

36 And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him.

37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling.

38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing? ”

39 And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still! ”And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

40 He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith? ”

41 And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him? ”