Mark · 41 verses
Mark 4
Every verse links to the people and places named in it, and to the passages readers connect it with.
The chapter
What happens here
Atlas's own reading, written from this chapter and nothing else, and published only once a person has approved it. Each scene names the verses it covers; the names inside it link to the people and places they name.
Jesus slept through a storm that was swamping the boat, then told the wind and sea to be quiet.
Seed in four sorts of soilvv. 1–20
Beside the sea, Jesus teaches from a boat because the crowd has become so large. His farmer scatters seed with wonderfully uneven results: birds take some, shallow soil loses some to the sun, thorns choke some, and good soil produces thirtyfold, sixtyfold, and a hundredfold. Then comes the curious turn: the parable is not merely a veil for the kingdom but, for those outside, a way of seeing without perceiving and hearing without understanding, “otherwise they might turn and be forgiven.” The Twelve and those around Jesus ask about it, and He explains that the seed is the word, while Satan, trouble, persecution, worries, wealth, and desire all have their several ways of interfering.
Lamps, measures, and a crop that grows in secretvv. 21–34
Jesus moves from seed on different soils to a lamp that would be a peculiar thing to hide under a basket or a bed. He speaks of what is hidden being disclosed, and of measures being measured back. Then comes the farmer who sleeps and wakes while the seed grows, though he knows not how: the earth produces stalk, head, and ripening grain all by itself, and the sickle arrives when the harvest is ready. The mustard seed is smaller still, yet grows into a plant with great branches where the birds nest. Jesus speaks in parables to the crowd, and privately explains everything to His own disciples.
The storm in the boatvv. 35–41
That evening Jesus and His disciples set out for the other side, with other boats accompanying them. A violent windstorm rises, waves break over the boat, and it is being swamped. Jesus, meanwhile, is in the stern asleep on the cushion, until the disciples wake Him with the question of whether He cares that they are perishing. He rebukes the wind and sea with two short commands, and the storm becomes perfectly calm. The disciples are left with a different sort of fear, asking one another who this can be, since even wind and sea obey Him.
The text
Read it
Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.
Mark 4:1Once again Jesus began to teach beside the sea, and such a large crowd gathered around Him that He got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people crowded along the shore.
Mark 4:2And He taught them many things in parables, and in His teaching He said,
Mark 4:3“Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed.
Mark 4:4And as he was sowing, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it.
Mark 4:5Some fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly because the soil was shallow.
Mark 4:6But when the sun rose, the seedlings were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.
Mark 4:7Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the seedlings, and they yielded no crop.
Mark 4:8Still other seed fell on good soil, where it sprouted, grew up, and produced a crop—one bearing thirtyfold, another sixtyfold, and another a hundredfold.”
Mark 4:9Then Jesus said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Mark 4:10As soon as Jesus was alone with the Twelve and those around Him, they asked Him about the parable.
Mark 4:11He replied, “The mystery of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to those on the outside everything is expressed in parables,
Mark 4:12so that, ‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven.’”
Mark 4:13Then Jesus said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand any of the parables?
Mark 4:14The farmer sows the word.
Mark 4:15Some are like the seeds along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.
Mark 4:16Some are like the seeds sown on rocky ground. They hear the word and at once receive it with joy.
Mark 4:17But they themselves have no root, and they remain for only a season. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.
Mark 4:18Others are like the seeds sown among the thorns. They hear the word,
Mark 4:19but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
Mark 4:20Still others are like the seeds sown on good soil. They hear the word, receive it, and produce a crop—thirtyfold, sixtyfold, or a hundredfold.”
Mark 4:21Jesus also said to them, “Does anyone bring in a lamp to put it under a basket or under a bed? Doesn’t he set it on a stand?
Mark 4:22For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be brought to light.
Mark 4:23If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Mark 4:24He went on to say, “Pay attention to what you hear. With the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and even more will be added to you.
Mark 4:25For whoever has will be given more. But whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”
Mark 4:26Jesus also said, “The kingdom of God is like a man who scatters seed on the ground.
Mark 4:27Night and day he sleeps and wakes, and the seed sprouts and grows, though he knows not how.
Mark 4:28All by itself the earth produces a crop—first the stalk, then the head, then grain that ripens within.
Mark 4:29And as soon as the grain is ripe, he swings the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
Mark 4:30Then He asked, “To what can we compare the kingdom of God? With what parable shall we present it?
Mark 4:31It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds sown upon the earth.
Mark 4:32But after it is planted, it grows to be the largest of all garden plants and puts forth great branches, so that the birds of the air nest in its shade.”
Mark 4:33With many such parables Jesus spoke the word to them, to the extent that they could understand.
Mark 4:34He did not tell them anything without using a parable. But privately He explained everything to His own disciples.
Mark 4:35When that evening came, He said to His disciples, “Let us cross to the other side.”
Mark 4:36After they had dismissed the crowd, they took Jesus with them, since He was already in the boat. And there were other boats with Him.
Mark 4:37Soon a violent windstorm came up, and the waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was being swamped.
Mark 4:38But Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on the cushion. So they woke Him and said, “Teacher, don’t You care that we are perishing?”
Mark 4:39Then Jesus got up and rebuked the wind and the sea. “Silence!” He commanded. “Be still!” And the wind died down, and it was perfectly calm.
Mark 4:40“Why are you so afraid?” He asked. “Do you still have no faith?”
Mark 4:41Overwhelmed with fear, they asked one another, “Who is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”
02 — Read alongside
Where this is echoed
Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 494 passages were voted onto 41 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.
- 12Isaiah 6:9–10And He replied: “Go and tell this people, ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’
- 24Hebrews 2:1We must pay closer attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.
- 24Luke 8:18Pay attention, therefore, to how you listen. Whoever has will be given more, but whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken away from him.”
- 12Isaiah 44:18They do not comprehend or discern, for He has shut their eyes so they cannot see and closed their minds so they cannot understand.
- 24Matthew 7:2For with the same judgment you pronounce, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
- 12Matthew 13:14–15In them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled: ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
- 12Jeremiah 5:21“Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear.
- 242 Corinthians 9:6Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.
- 39Psalms 107:29He calmed the storm to a whisper, and the waves of the sea were hushed.
- 24Acts 17:11Now the Bereans were more noble-minded than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if these teachings were true.
- 191 John 2:15–17Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
- 24John 10:27My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me.
- 12Deuteronomy 29:4Yet to this day the LORD has not given you a mind to understand, eyes to see, or ears to hear.
- 20Colossians 1:10so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,
- 191 Timothy 6:9–10Those who want to be rich, however, fall into temptation and become ensnared by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction.
- 24Proverbs 19:27If you cease to hear instruction, my son, you will stray from the words of knowledge.
Onward