Mark 4:1-12

11He began to teach again 2by the sea. And such a very large crowd gathered to Him that 3He got into a boat in the sea and sat down; and the whole crowd was by the sea on the land. 2And He was teaching them many things in 4parables, and was saying to them in His teaching, 3“Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow; 4as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up. 5Other 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. 6And after the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. 7Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. 8Other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.” 9And He was saying, “5He who has ears to hear, 6let him hear.”

10As soon as He was alone, 7His followers, along with the twelve, began asking Him about the parables. 11And He was saying to them, “To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but 8those who are outside get everything 9in parables, 12so that 10while seeing, they may see and not perceive, and while hearing, they may hear and not understand, otherwise they might return and be forgiven.”