Open English Translation MARK Chapter 4

4 [ref]Again Yeshua started teaching by the edge of the lake. A huge crowd gathered around him, but he had boarded a boat that was floating in the water, and all the people were there on the land. 2 From there, he taught them many different things in parables, including this one: 3 “Listen. Once there was a farmer who went to spread some seed. 4 As he spread it, some landed on the path, and the birds came and fed on it. 5 Some landed on a rocky part without a lot of soil, and it quickly sprouted in the warm, shallow soil, 6 but when the sun came up, it dried out because the roots weren’t deep, and so it just withered up. 7 Some of the seed landed in a thistle patch, and the thistles grew and choked it out, so the plants never bore a crop. 8 But some seed landed in fertile soil and it bore a harvest—some of it multiplying thirty times, some sixty, and some a hundred times.”

9 Then Yeshua added, “Anyone who wants to understand, let them consider it.”

10 And when the crowd had left, the twelve apprentices asked him about the parables. 11 And he told them, “You’ve been given understanding about God’s kingdom, but for others, they’ll get it in parables

12 [ref]so that when they look they might see but not perceive,

and when they listen, they might hear but not understand,

otherwise they might turn from their sins and be forgiven.”

13 Then Yeshua said to them, “If you didn’t understand this parable, how will you understand any others? 14 The person spreading seed is spreading the good message, 15 and there are some along the path where the good message is being spread, who hear, but Satan turns up immediately and snatches the message from them. 16 Similarly, there’s some seed that falls onto rocky places where the people who hear the good message happily accept it, 17 but don’t make strong roots—just temporary changes. So when they get mocked or attacked about accepting the good message, they quickly stumble. 18 Others are the ones where the seed was spread among the thistles. They heard the good message, 19 but contemporary topics, or the lure of money, or the appetite for other things, choke their good intentions and the message becomes unfruitful in them. 20 But lastly, the seed that landed on the good soil represents the people who hear the good message, accept it, and are fruitful thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times over.”

21 [ref]And Yeshua told them, “Obviously no one goes and gets a lamp, and then puts it under a basket or under the bed, but rather they place it somewhere higher on a stand. 22 [ref]You see, nothing is hidden that won’t eventually be disclosed, and there’s no secret that won’t eventually be revealed. 23 Anyone who wants to understand must listen carefully.”

24 [ref]And he continued, “Take care what you listen to. Because how much you judge others, so too will judgement be handed out to you, and even more. 25 [ref]Anyone who has faith will be given a reward, but if you have none, even the little you have will be taken away.”

26 And then, “God’s kingdom is like a person throwing some seed onto the ground. 27 Whether the person sleeps at night or stays up night and day, the seed will sprout and grow either way, and they don’t know how it does it. 28 The earth is designed to multiply the seed: first a sprout appears, then a bigger plant, and then the full head of grain. 29 [ref]Then when it’s ripe, the harvester is sent in because it’s ready for harvest.”

30 Again he said, “What could we liken God’s kingdom to? Or what parable could we explain it with? 31 It’s like planting a mustard seed in the ground—a very small seed. 32 But when it’s planted and grows up, it forms a large bush with many branches so that birds can rest in its shade.”

33 And so as much as they could handle it, Yeshua shared the good message with them via many similar word pictures. 34 He never spoke without these illustrations, but he explained all of them to his close followers.

35 It was already becoming evening on that day, so Yeshua said to his apprentices, “Let’s all go across to the other shore.” 36 So they left the crowd behind and got into the boat with him. 37 Out in the lake a big storm came up with strong winds, and the waves started breaking across the boat and filling it. 38 But Yeshua slept on in the back, sleeping on a cushion. They woke him and cried, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re all about to drown?”

39 Now awake, Yeshua scolded the wind and waves, “Quieten down! Stop that!” Then the wind died down and the water became very calm. 40 And turning back to them he asked, “Why were you all so afraid? Don’t you have any faith yet?”

41 But now they were very afraid again and asked each other, “Who could this man be that both the wind and waves obey him?”