Mark 4

Parable of the Sower and Soils

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.2 And He was teaching them many things in parables, and was saying to them in His teaching,3 "Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow;4 as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up.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.6 And after the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.7 Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.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."9 And He was saying, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

10 As soon as He was alone, His followers, along with the twelve, began asking Him about the parables.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,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."

Explanation

13 And He *said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand all the parables?14 The sower sows the word.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.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;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.18 And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word,19 but the worries of the tworld, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.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."

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?22 For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light.23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear."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.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."

Parable of the Seed

26 And He was saying, "The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil;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.28 The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head.29 But when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come."

Parable of the Mustard Seed

30 And He said, "How shall we tpicture the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it?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,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 tAIR can NEST UNDER ITS SHADE."

33 With many such parables He was speaking the word to them, so far as they were able to hear it;34 and He did not speak to them without a parable; but He was explaining everything privately to His own disciples.

Jesus Stills the Sea

35 On that day, when evening came, He *said to them, "Let us go over to the other side."36 Leaving the crowd, they *took Him along with them in the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him.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.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?"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.40 And He said to them, "Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?"41 They became very much afraid and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?"

Mark 5

The Gerasene Demoniac

1 They came to the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gerasenes.2 When He got out of the boat, immediately a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit met Him,3 and he had his dwelling among the tombs. And no one was able to bind him anymore, even with a chain;4 because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him and the shackles broken in pieces, and no one was strong enough to subdue him.5 Constantly, night and day, he was screaming among the tombs and in the mountains, and gashing himself with stones.6 Seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran up and bowed down before Him;7 and shouting with a loud voice, he *said, "What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God, do not torment me!"8 For He had been saying to him, "Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!"9 And He was asking him, "What is your name?" And he *said to Him, "My name is Legion; for we are many."10 And he began to implore Him earnestly not to send them out of the country.11 Now there was a large herd of swine feeding nearby on the mountain.12  The demons implored Him, saying, "Send us into the swine so that we may enter them."13 Jesus gave them permission. And coming out, the unclean spirits entered the swine; and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea, about two thousand of them; and they were drowned in the sea.

14 Their herdsmen ran away and reported it in the city and in the country. And the people came to see what it was that had happened.15 They *came to Jesus and *observed the man who had been demon-possessed sitting down, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the "legion"; and they became frightened.16 Those who had seen it described to them how it had happened to the demon-possessed man, and all about the swine.17 And they began to implore Him to leave their region.18 As He was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed was imploring Him that he might accompany Him.19 And He did not let him, but He *said to him, "Go home to your people and report to them twhat great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you."20 And he went away and began to proclaim in Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed.

Miracles and Healing

21 When Jesus had crossed over again in the boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around Him; and so He stayed by the seashore.22 One of the synagogue officials named Jairus *came up, and on seeing Him, *fell at His feet23 and *implored Him earnestly, saying, "My little daughter is at the point of death; please come and lay Your hands on her, so that she will get well and live."24 And He went off with him; and a large crowd was following Him and pressing in on Him.

25 A woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years,26 and had endured much at the hands of many physicians, and had spent all that she had and was not helped at all, but rather had grown worse-27 after hearing about Jesus, she came up in the crowd behind Him and touched His cloak.28 For she thought, "If I just touch His garments, I will get well."29 Immediately the flow of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction.30 Immediately Jesus, perceiving in Himself that the power proceeding from Him had gone forth, turned around in the crowd and said, "Who touched My garments?"31 And His disciples said to Him, "You see the crowd pressing in on You, and You say, 'Who touched Me?'"32 And He looked around to see the woman who had done this.33 But the woman fearing and trembling, aware of what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth.34 And He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your affliction."

35 While He was still speaking, they *came from the house of the synagogue official, saying, "Your daughter has died; why trouble the Teacher anymore?"36 But Jesus, overhearing what was being spoken, *said to the synagogue official, "Do not be afraid any longer, only believe."37 And He allowed no one to accompany Him, except Peter and James and John the brother of James.38 They *came to the house of the synagogue official; and He *saw a commotion, and people loudly weeping and wailing.39 And entering in, He *said to them, "Why make a commotion and weep? The child has not died, but is asleep."40 They began laughing at Him. But putting them all out, He *took along the child's father and mother and His own companions, and *entered the room where the child was.41 Taking the child by the hand, He *said to her, "Talitha kum!" (which translated means, "Little girl, I say to you, get up!").42 Immediately the girl got up and began to walk, for she was twelve years old. And immediately they were completely astounded.43 And He gave them strict orders that no one should know about this, and He said that something should be given her to eat.

Mark 6

Teaching at Nazareth

1 Jesus went out from there and *came into His hometown; and His disciples *followed Him.2 When the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue; and the many listeners were astonished, saying, "Where did this man get these things, and what is this wisdom given to Him, and such miracles as these performed by His hands?3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Are not His sisters here with us?" And they took offense at Him.4 Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and among his own relatives and in his own household."5 And He could do no miracle there except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them.

6 And He wondered at their unbelief.
And He was going around the villages teaching.

The Twelve Sent Out

7 And He *summoned the twelve and began to send them out in pairs, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits;8 and He instructed them that they should take nothing for their journey, except a mere staff-no bread, no bag, no money in their belt-9 but to wear sandals; and He added, "Do not put on two ttunics."10 And He said to them, "Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave town.11 Any place that does not receive you or listen to you, as you go out from there, shake the dust off the soles of your feet for a testimony against them."12 They went out and preached that men should repent.13 And they were casting out many demons and were anointing with oil many sick people and healing them.

John's Fate Recalled

14 And King Herod heard of it, for His name had become well known; and people were saying, "John the Baptist has risen from the dead, and that is why these miraculous powers are at work in Him."15 But others were saying, "He is Elijah." And others were saying, " He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old. "16 But when Herod heard of it, he kept saying, "John, whom I beheaded, has risen!"

17 For Herod himself had sent and had John arrested and bound in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, because he had married her.18 For John had been saying to Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife."19 Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death and could not do so; 20 for Herod was afraid of John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. And when he heard him, he was very perplexed; but he used to enjoy listening to him.21 A strategic day came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his lords and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee;22 and when the daughter of Herodias herself came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests; and the king said to the girl, "Ask me for whatever you want and I will give it to you."23 And he swore to her, "Whatever you ask of me, I will give it to you; up to half of my kingdom."24 And she went out and said to her mother, "What shall I ask for?" And she said, "The head of John the Baptist."25 Immediately she came in a hurry to the king and asked, saying, "I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter."26 And although the king was very sorry, yet because of his oaths and because of his dinner guests, he was unwilling to refuse her.27 Immediately the king sent an executioner and commanded him to bring back his head. And he went and had him beheaded in the prison,28 and brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother.29 When his disciples heard about this, they came and took away his body and laid it in a tomb.

30 The apostles *gathered together with Jesus; and they reported to Him all that they had done and taught.31 And He *said to them, "Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while." (For there were many people coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.)32 They went away in the boat to a secluded place by themselves.

Five Thousand Fed

33  The people saw them going, and many recognized them and ran there together on foot from all the cities, and got there ahead of them.34 When Jesus went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and He felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things.35 When it was already quite late, His disciples came to Him and said, "This place is desolate and it is already quite late;36 send them away so that they may go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat."37 But He answered them, "You give them something to eat!" And they *said to Him, "Shall we go and spend two hundred tdenarii on bread and give them something to eat?"38 And He *said to them, "How many loaves do you have? Go look!" And when they found out, they *said, "Five, and two fish."39 And He commanded them all to sit down by groups on the green grass.40 They sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties.41 And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food and broke the loaves and He kept giving them to the disciples to set before them; and He divided up the two fish among them all.42 They all ate and were satisfied,43 and they picked up twelve full baskets of the broken pieces, and also of the fish.44 There were five thousand men who ate the loaves.

Jesus Walks on the Water

45 Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side to Bethsaida, while He Himself was sending the crowd away.46 After bidding them farewell, He left for the mountain to pray.

47 When it was evening, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and He was alone on the land.48 Seeing them straining at the oars, for the wind was against them, at about the fourth watch of the night He *came to them, walking on the sea; and He intended to pass by them.49 But when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed that it was a ghost, and cried out;50 for they all saw Him and were terrified. But immediately He spoke with them and *said to them, "Take courage; it is I, do not be afraid."51 Then He got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped; and they were utterly astonished,52 for they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their heart was hardened.

Healing at Gennesaret

53 When they had crossed over they came to land at Gennesaret, and moored to the shore.54 When they got out of the boat, immediately the people recognized Him,55 and ran about that whole country and began to carry here and there on their pallets those who were sick, to the place they heard He was.56 Wherever He entered villages, or cities, or countryside, they were laying the sick in the market places, and imploring Him that they might just touch the fringe of His cloak; and as many as touched it were being cured.