Mark 4:10-23 (Gospel)
- 10
- But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable.
- 11
- And He said to them, “To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables,
- 12
- so that ‘Seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand; lest they should turn, and their sins be forgiven them.’”
- 13
- And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?
- 14
- The sower sows the word.
- 15
- And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts.
- 16
- These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness;
- 17
- and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word’s sake, immediately they stumble.
- 18
- Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word,
- 19
- and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
- 20
- But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”
- 21
- Also He said to them, “Is a lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed? Is it not to be set on a lampstand?
- 22
- For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light.
- 23
- If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”