Mark 4:1–12

¹Once again Jesus began to teach beside the sea, and such a large crowd gathered around Him that He got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people crowded along the shore.

²And He taught them many things in parables, and in His teaching He said, ³“Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. ⁴And as he was sowing, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it.

⁵Some fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly because the soil was shallow. ⁶But when the sun rose, the seedlings were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.

⁷Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the seedlings, and they yielded no crop.

⁸Still other seed fell on good soil, where it sprouted, grew up, and produced a crop — one bearing thirtyfold, another sixtyfold, and another a hundredfold.”

⁹Then Jesus said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

¹⁰As soon as Jesus was alone with the Twelve and those around Him, they asked Him about the parable.

¹¹He replied, “The mystery of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to those on the outside everything is expressed in parables, ¹²so that,

‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving,

and ever hearing but never understanding;

otherwise they might turn

and be forgiven.’^a”