| 章 |
| 4:1 |
He began to teach again by the sea. And such a very large crowd gathered to Him that He got into a boat in the sea and sat down; and the whole crowd was by the sea on the land.
|
| 4:2 |
And He was teaching them many things in parables, and was saying to them in His teaching,
|
| 4:3 |
"Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow;
|
| 4:4 |
as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up.
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| 4:5 |
"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.
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| 4:6 |
"And after the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.
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| 4:7 |
"Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.
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| 4:8 |
"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."
|
| 4:9 |
And He was saying, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
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| 4:10 |
As soon as He was alone, His followers, along with the twelve, began asking Him about the parables.
|
| 4:11 |
And He was saying to them, "To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but those who are outside get everything in parables,
|
| 4:12 |
so that while seeing, they may see and not perceive, and while hearing, they may hear and not understand, otherwise they might return and be forgiven."
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| 4:13 |
And He said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand all the parables?
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| 4:14 |
"The sower sows the word.
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| 4:15 |
"These are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown; and when they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them.
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| 4:16 |
"In a similar way these are the ones on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy;
|
| 4:17 |
and they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away.
|
| 4:18 |
"And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word,
|
| 4:19 |
but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
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| 4:20 |
"And those are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold."
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| 4:21 |
And He was saying to them, "A lamp is not brought to be put under a basket, is it, or under a bed? Is it not brought to be put on the lampstand?
|
| 4:22 |
"For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light.
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| 4:23 |
"If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear."
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| 4:24 |
And He was saying to them, "Take care what you listen to. By your standard of measure it will be measured to you; and more will be given you besides.
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| 4:25 |
"For whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him."
|
| 4:26 |
And He was saying, "The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil;
|
| 4:27 |
and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows--how, he himself does not know.
|
| 4:28 |
"The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head.
|
| 4:29 |
"But when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come."
|
| 4:30 |
And He said, "How shall we picture the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it?
|
| 4:31 |
"It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is smaller than all the seeds that are upon the soil,
|
| 4:32 |
yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and forms large branches; so that the birds of the air can nest under its shade."
|
| 4:33 |
With many such parables He was speaking the word to them, so far as they were able to hear it;
|
| 4:34 |
and He did not speak to them without a parable; but He was explaining everything privately to His own disciples.
|
| 4:35 |
On that day, when evening came, He said to them, "Let us go over to the other side."
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| 4:36 |
Leaving the crowd, they took Him along with them in the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him.
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| 4:37 |
And there arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up.
|
| 4:38 |
Jesus Himself 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?"
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| 4:39 |
And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Hush, be still." And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm.
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| 4:40 |
And He said to them, "Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?"
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| 4:41 |
They became very much afraid and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?"
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