Mark 4:1-12
The Parable of the Sower
1 Again a he began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him b 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 c he was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: 3 “Listen! d 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 e when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root f it withered away. 7 Other seed fell among g 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 h a hundredfold.” 9 And he said, i “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”The Purpose of the Parables
10 And j when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. 11 And he said to them, k “To you has been given l the secret of the kingdom of God, but for m those outside everything is in parables, 12 n so that “they o may indeed see but not perceive,and may indeed hear but not understand,
lest they p should turn and be forgiven.”
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