Mark 4 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.

He started teaching again by the lake. Such a huge crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the water, while the entire crowd stayed on shore facing the lake.

He taught them many things using stories with hidden meaning. In his teaching he said to them:

"Listen! A farmer went out to scatter seed.

As he scattered it, some seed fell on the path, and birds came and ate it up.

Some fell on rocky ground where the soil was thin. It sprouted quickly because the soil had no depth.

But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they dried up because they had no roots.

Some seed fell among thornbushes. The thorns grew up and choked the plants, and they produced nothing.

But some seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew, and produced a crop — some thirty times, some sixty times, some a hundred times what was planted.

Then he said, "Whoever has ears to hear — really listen!"

When he was alone, the people around him along with the twelve asked him about the stories.

He told them, "You've been given the secret of God's kingdom. But for those on the outside, everything comes in stories with hidden meaning,

so that 'they look and look but don't see, and hear and hear but don't understand — otherwise they might turn around and have their failures released.'"

Then he said to them, "You don't understand this story? Then how will you understand any of the stories?

The farmer scatters the word.

Some people are like the seed on the path — when they hear the message, the Adversary immediately comes and snatches away what was planted in them.

And some are like the seed on rocky ground — when they hear the message, they immediately grab onto it with excitement.

But they have no roots in themselves. They only last for a while. Then when trouble or persecution comes because of the message, they immediately fall apart.

And some are like the seed among the thornbushes — they hear the message,

but the worries of this life, the seduction of wealth, and cravings for everything else crowd in and choke the message, and it produces nothing.

But some are like seed on good soil — they hear the message, take it in, and produce a crop: some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was planted."

He said to them, "Does anyone bring in a lamp just to put it under a basket or under the bed? No — you put it on a stand.

Nothing is hidden that won't eventually come to light, and nothing is secret that won't eventually come out in the open.

If anyone has ears to hear — really listen!"

Then he told them, "Pay attention to what you're hearing. The measure you use will be measured back to you — and then some.

Whoever has will be given more, and whoever doesn't have — even what they have will be taken from them."

He also said, "This is what God's kingdom is like: A man scatters seed on the ground.

He goes to sleep at night, gets up in the morning, and the seed sprouts and grows — though he has no idea how.

The soil produces a crop all by itself — first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head.

But when the grain is ripe, he immediately puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come."

He also said, "What can we compare God's kingdom to? What story should we use to explain it?

It's like a mustard seed — the smallest seed you'd plant in the ground.

But once planted, it grows up and becomes the biggest of all the garden plants, with branches so large that birds can nest in its shade."

He spoke the message to them using many stories like these — as much as they could take in.

He didn't say anything to the crowds without a story. But when he was alone with his own followers, he explained everything.

That same day, when evening came, he said to them, "Let's cross to the other side."

So they left the crowd behind and took him along in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with them too.

A massive windstorm kicked up, and the waves were crashing over the boat so that it was already filling with water.

But Jesus was in the back of the boat, sleeping on a cushion. They woke him up and said, "Teacher! Don't you care that we're going to die?!"

He got up, spoke directly to the wind, and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" The wind died down, and everything became completely calm.

He said to them, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still not have any trust?"

They were absolutely terrified and kept saying to each other, "Who IS this? Even the wind and the waves do what he says!"