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4:1  Again he began to teach by the sea, and a very large crowd gathered around him. So he got into a boat on the sea and sat down, while the whole crowd was by the sea on the shore.
4:2  He taught them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them,
4:3  “Listen! Consider the sower who went out to sow.
4:4  As he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it.
4:5  Other seed fell on rocky ground where it didn’t have much soil, and it grew up quickly, since the soil wasn’t deep.
4:6  When the sun came up, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away.
4:7  Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it didn’t produce fruit.
4:8  Still other seed fell on good ground and it grew up, producing fruit that increased thirty, sixty, and a hundred times.”
4:9  Then he said, “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen.”
4:10  When he was alone, those around him with the Twelve asked him about the parables.
4:11  He answered them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to those outside, everything comes in parables
4:12  so that they may indeed look, and yet not perceive; they may indeed listen, and yet not understand; otherwise, they might turn back and be forgiven.”
4:13  Then he said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand all of the parables?
4:14  The sower sows the word.
4:15  Some are like the word sown on the path. When they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word sown in them.
4:16  And others are like seed sown on rocky ground. When they hear the word, immediately they receive it with joy.
4:17  But they have no root; they are short-lived. When distress or persecution comes because of the word, they immediately fall away.
4:18  Others are like seed sown among thorns; these are the ones who hear the word,
4:19  but the worries of this age, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
4:20  And those like seed sown on good ground hear the word, welcome it, and produce fruit thirty, sixty, and a hundred times what was sown.”
4:21  He also said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket or under a bed? Isn’t it to be put on a lampstand?
4:22  For there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing concealed that will not be brought to light.
4:23  If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen.”
4:24  And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear. By the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and more will be added to you.
4:25  For whoever has, more will be given to him, and whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”
4:26  “The kingdom of God is like this,” he said. “A man scatters seed on the ground.
4:27  He sleeps and rises night and day; the seed sprouts and grows, although he doesn’t know how.
4:28  The soil produces a crop by itself—first the blade, then the head, and then the full grain on the head.
4:29  As soon as the crop is ready, he sends for the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
4:30  And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use to describe it?
4:31  It’s like a mustard seed that, when sown upon the soil, is the smallest of all the seeds on the ground.
4:32  And when sown, it comes up and grows taller than all the garden plants, and produces large branches, so that the birds of the sky can nest in its shade.”
4:33  He was speaking the word to them with many parables like these, as they were able to understand.
4:34  He did not speak to them without a parable. Privately, however, he explained everything to his own disciples.
4:35  On that day, when evening had come, he told them, “Let’s cross over to the other side of the sea.”
4:36  So they left the crowd and took him along since he was in the boat. And other boats were with him.
4:37  A great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking over the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped.
4:38  He was in the stern, sleeping on the cushion. So they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher! Don’t you care that we’re going to die?”
4:39  He got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Silence! Be still!” The wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
4:40  Then he said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
4:41  And they were terrified and asked one another, “Who then is this? Even the wind and the sea obey him!”