Mark 4:16-39

16 And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: when they hear the word, they immediately receive it with joy.
17 But they have no root, and endure only for a while; then, when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away.
18 And others are those sown among the thorns: these are the ones who hear the word,
19 but the cares of the world, and the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it yields nothing.
20 And these are the ones sown on the good soil: they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold."
21 He said to them, "Is a lamp brought in to be put under the bushel basket, or under the bed, and not on the lampstand?
22 For there is nothing hidden, except to be disclosed; nor is anything secret, except to come to light.
23 Let anyone with ears to hear listen!"
24 And he said to them, "Pay attention to what you hear; the measure you give will be the measure you get, and still more will be given you.
25 For to those who have, more will be given; and from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away."
26 He also said, "The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground,
27 and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how.
28 The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head.
29 But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come."
30 He also said, "With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it?
31 It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth;
32 yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth 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 except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.
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 behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him.
37 A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped.
38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?"
39 He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm.

Footnotes 1

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.