New International Reader s Version - NIrV - 1996
Mark 4
1
Again Jesus began to teach by the Sea of Galilee. The crowd that gathered around him was very large. So he got into a boat. He sat down in it out on the lake. All the people were along the shore at the water's edge.
Reference
5
Some seed fell on rocky places, where there wasn't much soil. The plants came up quickly, because the soil wasn't deep.
Reference
7
Other seed fell among thorns. The thorns grew up and crowded out the plants. So the plants did not bear grain.
Reference
8
Still other seed fell on good soil. It grew up and produced a crop 30, 60, or even 100 times more than the farmer planted."
Reference
Good
Mark 4:20
Matthew 13:8
Parallel theme
John 15:5
Colossians 1:6
Genesis 26:12
Acts 17:11
Jeremiah 23:29
10
Later Jesus was alone. The Twelve asked him about the stories. So did the others around him.
Reference
Parallel theme
Mark 4:34
11
He told them, "The secret of God's kingdom has been given to you. But to outsiders everything is told by using stories.
Reference
Kingdom
Luke 8:10
Parallel theme
Matthew 11:25
Colossians 4:5
1 Thessalonians 4:12
Ephesians 1:9
1 Timothy 3:7
Matthew 13:16
Matthew 16:17
References God
1 John 5:20
2 Corinthians 4:6
12
In that way, " 'They will see but never know what they are seeing. They will hear but never understand. Otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!' " --(Isaiah 6:9,10)
Reference
Parallel theme
Isaiah 44:18
Jeremiah 5:21
Deuteronomy 29:4
Luke 8:10
2 Timothy 2:25
Hebrews 6:6
Ezekiel 12:2
Sin
Acts 3:19
13
Then Jesus said to them, "Don't you understand this story? Then how will you understand any stories of this kind?
Reference
15
What is seed scattered on a path like? The message is planted. The people hear the message. Then Satan comes. He takes away the message that was planted in them.
Reference
16
And what is seed scattered on rocky places like? The people hear the message. At once they receive it with joy.
Reference
17
But they have no roots. So they last only a short time. They quickly fall away from the faith when trouble or suffering comes because of the message.
Reference
18
And what is seed scattered among thorns like? The people hear the message.
Reference
Parallel theme
Luke 8:14
19
But then the worries of this life come to them. Wealth comes with its false promises. The people also long for other things. All of those are the kinds of things that crowd out the message. They keep it from producing fruit.
Reference
20
And what is seed scattered on good soil like? The people hear the message. They accept it. They produce a good crop 30, 60, or even 100 times more than the farmer planted."
Reference
Good
Colossians 1:10
Mark 4:8
Parallel theme
2 Peter 1:8
Genesis 26:12
John 15:16
1 Thessalonians 4:1
Philippians 1:11
Word
Luke 8:15
Matthew 13:23
Romans 7:4
21
Jesus said to them, "Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a large bowl or a bed? Don't you put it on its stand?
Reference
22
What is hidden is meant to be seen. And what is put out of sight is meant to be brought out into the open.
Reference
24
"Think carefully about what you hear," he said. "As you give, so you will receive. In fact, you will receive even more.
Reference
25
If you have something, you will be given more. If you have nothing, even what you have will be taken away from you."
Reference
26
Jesus also said, "Here is what God's kingdom is like. A farmer scatters seed on the ground.
Reference
Kingdom
Matthew 13:24
Parallel theme
Luke 8:5
James 3:18
Isaiah 32:20
Proverbs 11:18
Ecclesiastes 11:4
Ecclesiastes 11:6
John 12:24
References God
Luke 8:11
27
Night and day the seed comes up and grows. It happens whether the farmer sleeps or gets up. He doesn't know how it happens.
Reference
28
All by itself the soil produces grain. First the stalk comes up. Then the head appears. Finally, the full grain appears in the head.
Reference
29
Before long the grain ripens. So the farmer cuts it down, because the harvest is ready."
Reference
30
Again Jesus said, "What can we say God's kingdom is like? What story can we use to explain it?
32
But when you plant the seed, it grows. It becomes the largest of all garden plants. Its branches are so big that birds can rest in its shade."
Reference
33
Using many stories like those, Jesus spoke the word to them. He told them as much as they could understand.
Reference
Parallel theme
John 16:12
34
He did not say anything to them without using a story. But when he was alone with his disciples, he explained everything.
Reference
35
When evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, "Let's go over to the other side of the lake."
Reference
Parallel theme
Matthew 8:18
Luke 8:25
Luke 8:22
Matthew 14:22
Mark 8:13
John 6:25
John 6:17
John 6:1
36
They left the crowd behind. And they took him along in a boat, just as he was. There were also other boats with him.
Reference
38
Jesus was in the back, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him up. They said, "Teacher! Don't you care if we drown?"
Reference
39
He got up and ordered the wind to stop. He said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down. And it was completely calm.
Reference
40
He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Don't you have any faith at all yet?"
Reference
Faith
Luke 8:25
Matthew 8:26
Matthew 16:8
Matthew 14:31
Matthew 6:30
Parallel theme
Isaiah 43:2
Isaiah 42:3
Summary of Mark 4
Mark 4 opens with Jesus teaching beside the Sea of Galilee, where such a large crowd gathers that He enters a boat and teaches the people from the water while they remain along the shore.
Jesus teaches through a series of parables, beginning with the Parable of the Sower, in which seed falls on four different types of ground, representing four different responses to God's word.
Some people hear the message but immediately lose it, some receive it enthusiastically but abandon it when difficulties arise, some allow worries, wealth, and competing desires to choke it, while others receive the word deeply and produce abundant spiritual fruit.
Jesus emphasizes that hearing God's word is not enough by itself, because genuine hearing requires understanding, acceptance, perseverance, and fruitful action.
When His disciples ask about the meaning of the parables, Jesus explains that the mystery of God's kingdom is being revealed to those who respond to Him, while people who remain resistant may hear His words without truly understanding their significance.
Jesus then compares God's truth to a lamp, explaining that something brought into the light should not remain hidden, and He warns His listeners to pay careful attention because spiritual understanding increases when people faithfully respond to what they have already received.
The next parable compares God's kingdom to seed growing gradually in the ground, emphasizing that God's work develops according to its own mysterious process even when human beings cannot see or fully understand how the growth occurs.
Jesus then compares God's kingdom to a mustard seed, using something remarkably small to illustrate how God's kingdom can begin in an apparently insignificant way and eventually become remarkably large and influential.
These agricultural images emphasize that the kingdom may appear small at first, but its growth is real, progressive, and ultimately far greater than its beginning suggests.
The chapter ends with Jesus and His disciples crossing the Sea of Galilee in a boat when a violent storm suddenly arises, filling the boat with water while Jesus sleeps peacefully in the stern.
The frightened disciples wake Jesus and ask whether He cares that they are about to drown, revealing that their immediate crisis has caused them to forget the authority they have already seen Him demonstrate.
Jesus rises, rebukes the wind, and commands the sea to become still, after which the storm immediately stops and complete calm replaces the dangerous conditions.
The disciples are then filled with a deeper kind of fear and ask one another who Jesus really is, because even the wind and the sea obey His command.
Mark 4 therefore moves from hearing God's word to understanding it, from receiving the kingdom to bearing fruit, and finally from witnessing Jesus' teaching authority to confronting His authority over creation itself.
The central message is that God's kingdom grows according to God's purposes, but people must respond to God's word with genuine faith and perseverance rather than allowing distraction, difficulty, or worldly concerns to prevent spiritual fruitfulness.
Mark 4 ultimately presents Jesus as the authoritative teacher who reveals the mystery and growth of God's kingdom through simple but powerful parables, while the calming of the storm provides a dramatic demonstration that the One announcing God's kingdom also possesses extraordinary authority over the natural world.
Jesus teaches through a series of parables, beginning with the Parable of the Sower, in which seed falls on four different types of ground, representing four different responses to God's word.
Some people hear the message but immediately lose it, some receive it enthusiastically but abandon it when difficulties arise, some allow worries, wealth, and competing desires to choke it, while others receive the word deeply and produce abundant spiritual fruit.
Jesus emphasizes that hearing God's word is not enough by itself, because genuine hearing requires understanding, acceptance, perseverance, and fruitful action.
When His disciples ask about the meaning of the parables, Jesus explains that the mystery of God's kingdom is being revealed to those who respond to Him, while people who remain resistant may hear His words without truly understanding their significance.
Jesus then compares God's truth to a lamp, explaining that something brought into the light should not remain hidden, and He warns His listeners to pay careful attention because spiritual understanding increases when people faithfully respond to what they have already received.
The next parable compares God's kingdom to seed growing gradually in the ground, emphasizing that God's work develops according to its own mysterious process even when human beings cannot see or fully understand how the growth occurs.
Jesus then compares God's kingdom to a mustard seed, using something remarkably small to illustrate how God's kingdom can begin in an apparently insignificant way and eventually become remarkably large and influential.
These agricultural images emphasize that the kingdom may appear small at first, but its growth is real, progressive, and ultimately far greater than its beginning suggests.
The chapter ends with Jesus and His disciples crossing the Sea of Galilee in a boat when a violent storm suddenly arises, filling the boat with water while Jesus sleeps peacefully in the stern.
The frightened disciples wake Jesus and ask whether He cares that they are about to drown, revealing that their immediate crisis has caused them to forget the authority they have already seen Him demonstrate.
Jesus rises, rebukes the wind, and commands the sea to become still, after which the storm immediately stops and complete calm replaces the dangerous conditions.
The disciples are then filled with a deeper kind of fear and ask one another who Jesus really is, because even the wind and the sea obey His command.
Mark 4 therefore moves from hearing God's word to understanding it, from receiving the kingdom to bearing fruit, and finally from witnessing Jesus' teaching authority to confronting His authority over creation itself.
The central message is that God's kingdom grows according to God's purposes, but people must respond to God's word with genuine faith and perseverance rather than allowing distraction, difficulty, or worldly concerns to prevent spiritual fruitfulness.
Mark 4 ultimately presents Jesus as the authoritative teacher who reveals the mystery and growth of God's kingdom through simple but powerful parables, while the calming of the storm provides a dramatic demonstration that the One announcing God's kingdom also possesses extraordinary authority over the natural world.