Mark 4
The full text of Mark 4 in the Trinity Bible Version — clear modern English, translated from the original Greek. Free to read.
1 Again he began to teach beside the sea. Such a huge crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat on the water and sat down, while the whole crowd was on the shore facing the sea.
2 He taught them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them:
3 Listen! A sower went out to sow.
4 As he was sowing, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.
5 Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it didn't have much soil. It sprang up quickly because the soil wasn't deep,
6 When the sun rose, the seedlings were scorched, and because they had no root, they withered.
7 Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it produced no grain.
8 Other seed fell on good soil. It sprouted, grew, and kept yielding a crop, bearing thirty, sixty, even a hundred times over.
9 And he said, "Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear."
10 When he was alone, those around him along with the Twelve asked him about the parables.
11 And he said to them, "To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but to those outside, everything comes in parables,
12 so that 'they may look and look but never see, and listen and listen but never understand; otherwise they might turn back and be forgiven.'"
13 And he said to them, "You don't grasp this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?"
14 The sower sows the word.
15 These are the ones along the path where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan comes at once and takes away the word that was sown in them.
16 In the same way, others are like seed sown on rocky places: as soon as they hear the word, they receive it with joy.
17 but they have no root in themselves and last only a short time; then when hardship or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly stumble.
18 Others are the ones sown among the thorns. These are the ones who hear the word,
19 But the cares of this age, the deceit of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it bears no fruit.
20 And these are the ones sown on good soil: they hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit—some thirty times, some sixty, some a hundred.
21 He also said to them, "A lamp isn't brought in to be put under a basket or under a bed, is it? No—it's put on a stand.
22 For nothing is hidden except to be made known, and nothing concealed except to come to light.
23 If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear.
24 And he said to them, "Watch what you hear. The measure you measure with will be measured to you—and more will be added to you."
25 For whoever has, it will be given to him; and whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.
26 He also said, "The kingdom of God is like a man who scatters seed on the ground.
27 He sleeps and rises, night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows—he does not know how.
28 All by itself the soil produces a crop—first the blade, then the head, then the full grain in the head.
29 But as soon as the grain is ripe, he sends in the sickle, because the harvest has come.
30 And he said, "How shall we picture the kingdom of God, or in what parable shall we set it?
31 It is like a mustard seed, which, when it is sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on the ground,
32 Yet once it is sown, it grows up and becomes the largest of all the garden plants, and puts out branches so big that the birds of the sky can nest in its shade.
33 With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it.
34 He did not speak to them without a parable, but privately he explained everything to his own disciples.
35 That day, when evening came, he said to them, "Let's cross over to the other side."
36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him.
37 A fierce squall of wind came up, and the waves were breaking over the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped.
38 He was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. They woke him and said, "Teacher, don't you care that we're perishing?"
39 He woke up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Be silent! Be still!"a Then the wind dropped, and there was a great calm.
40 He said to them, "Why are you so afraid? Do you have no faith yet?"
41 They were filled with great awe and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"
Translation notes (23)
- Mark 4:7a This can also be translated, 'yielded no fruit.' The Greek word karpos here, in an agricultural context, refers to grain or a crop.
- Mark 4:8a The Greek literally says, 'one thirty, and one sixty, and one a hundred.' The basis of comparison, which is per seed sown, is implied.
- Mark 4:11a Greek mystērion: hidden divine counsel now being disclosed. Some translations render 'secret.' Matt 13:11 and Luke 8:10 have the plural 'mysteries'; Mark uniquely has the singular.
- Mark 4:12a Quotation of Isaiah 6:9–10. Mark's ἵνα ('so that') is most naturally telic — purpose, not mere result — and is harsher than Matthew's ὅτι ('because') in Matt 13:13. The repeated participle + cognate verb (βλέποντες βλέπωσιν, ἀκούοντες ἀκούωσιν) reflects a Semitic intensive ('look and look,' 'listen and listen'), not concession.
- Mark 4:12b 'turn back' renders ἐπιστρέφω, which echoes Hebrew שׁוּב ('return, repent') in Isa 6:10.
- Mark 4:12c The Greek aphethē autois is an impersonal passive construction, literally meaning 'it be forgiven them.' This is likely a 'divine passive,' where God is understood to be the one doing the forgiving. Matthew 13:15 clarifies this with 'their sins,' but Mark's brevity is preserved here.
- Mark 4:15a Some manuscripts read 'in their hearts' (compare Luke 8:12), which is likely a harmonization, meaning it was changed to match a similar passage.
- Mark 4:17a Greek skandalizontai: 'are tripped up' or 'are caused to stumble.' The same verb describes John the Baptist's potential offense in Matt 11:6; it does not by itself mean permanent apostasy.
- Mark 4:17b The Greek word proskairoi means 'lasting for a season' or 'temporary.'
- Mark 4:19a The Greek literally says 'of the age' (aiōnos); this is traditionally rendered as 'of this world' or 'of this life.'
- Mark 4:19b This can also be translated as 'the lure of riches.' The Greek word apatē can mean 'deception' or 'allurement.'
- Mark 4:20a The Greek word paradechontai means 'accept,' 'receive,' or 'welcome.' It suggests a stronger action than merely hearing, implying that one embraces the word as their own.
- Mark 4:21a The Greek word modios refers to a dry measure container, which held about 8.75 liters. Translating it as 'basket' conveys the idea of a household vessel used for covering.
- Mark 4:21b The Greek literally says 'does a lamp come,' which is an idiom meaning an object is being brought in.
- Mark 4:22a The Greek construction ean mē...hina is unusual. The translation 'except to' captures the purpose-clause meaning of hina, indicating that the hiding exists for the sake of disclosure.
- Mark 4:24a Some manuscripts (A K Γ Δ Θ f¹ f¹³ 𝔐) add the phrase 'to you who hear' at the end of this verse, but it is absent in the earliest witnesses (ℵ B C L W).
- Mark 4:24b This can also be translated as 'Watch out what you hear.' The Greek word blepete carries a warning edge, meaning 'see to it,' and is used elsewhere in Mark (8:15; 13:5).
- Mark 4:26a This can also be translated as 'throws seed on the soil.' The Greek word ballō generally means 'throw' or 'put.' The Greek construction hōs plus the aorist subjunctive form balē signals a hypothetical or generic case, meaning 'as if a man were to scatter.'
- Mark 4:29a This can also be translated as 'permits' or 'yields itself.' The Greek verb paradoi means that the grain has reached the point of allowing harvest.
- Mark 4:38a The Greek word apollymetha means 'we are perishing,' 'being destroyed,' or 'being lost.' Mark uses this verb root elsewhere with a broader meaning than just physical drowning (for example, in Mark 8:35).
- Mark 4:39a The Greek words are siōpa pephimōso. The second imperative verb is the perfect passive form of phimōō, which means 'to muzzle.' This is the same verb Jesus uses to silence a demon in Mark 1:25, and its force here is 'be muzzled and stay muzzled.'
- Mark 4:40a Or 'Why are you such cowards?' — δειλοί is the sharper Greek term for fear (cf. Rev 21:8), distinct from φοβέομαι used of the disciples in the next verse.
- Mark 4:41a The Greek literally says 'they feared a great fear,' which is a Semitic-style way of intensifying the meaning. In Mark's Gospel, this phrase conveys reverent awe at a divine act, not just mere terror.
About this translation
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