Mark 2-4

New King James Version

Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralytic^(A)

2 And again ^(B)He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house. ^2 [a]Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to them. ³ Then they came to Him, bringing a ^(C)paralytic who was carried by four men. ⁴ And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.

⁵ When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”

⁶ And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, ⁷ “Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? ^(D)Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

⁸ But immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, “Why do you reason about these things in your hearts? ^9 (E)Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise, take up your bed and walk’? ¹⁰ But that you may know that the Son of Man has ^[b]power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralytic, ¹¹ “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” ¹² Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and ^(F)glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”

Matthew the Tax Collector^(G)

^13 (H)Then He went out again by the sea; and all the multitude came to Him, and He taught them. ^14 (I)As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, ^(J)“Follow Me.” So he arose and ^(K)followed Him.

^15 (L)Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi’s house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him. ¹⁶ And when the scribes ^[c]and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, “How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?”

¹⁷ When Jesus heard it, He said to them, ^(M)“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, ^[d]to repentance.”

Jesus Is Questioned About Fasting^(N)

^18 (O)The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were fasting. Then they came and said to Him, “Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?”

¹⁹ And Jesus said to them, “Can the ^[e]friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast. ²⁰ But the days will come when the bridegroom will be ^(P)taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days. ²¹ No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; or else the new piece pulls away from the old, and the tear is made worse. ²² And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins.”

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath^(Q)

^23 (R)Now it happened that He went through the grainfields on the Sabbath; and as they went His disciples began ^(S)to pluck the heads of grain. ²⁴ And the Pharisees said to Him, “Look, why do they do what is ^(T)not lawful on the Sabbath?”

²⁵ But He said to them, “Have you never read ^(U)what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and those with him: ²⁶ how he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the showbread, ^(V)which is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and also gave some to those who were with him?”

²⁷ And He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the ^(W)Sabbath. ²⁸ Therefore ^(X)the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.”

Healing on the Sabbath^(Y)

3 And ^(Z)He entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a withered hand. ² So they ^(AA)watched Him closely, whether He would ^(AB)heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might ^[f]accuse Him. ³ And He said to the man who had the withered hand, ^[g]“Step forward.” ⁴ Then He said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they kept silent. ⁵ And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the ^(AC)hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored ^[h]as whole as the other. ^6 (AD)Then the Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with ^(AE)the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him.

A Great Multitude Follows Jesus^(AF)

⁷ But Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea. And a great multitude from Galilee followed Him, ^(AG)and from Judea ⁸ and Jerusalem and Idumea and beyond the Jordan; and those from Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they heard how ^(AH)many things He was doing, came to Him. ⁹ So He told His disciples that a small boat should be kept ready for Him because of the multitude, lest they should crush Him. ¹⁰ For He healed ^(AI)many, so that as many as had afflictions pressed about Him to ^(AJ)touch Him. ^11 (AK)And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw Him, fell down before Him and cried out, saying, ^(AL)“You are the Son of God.” ¹² But ^(AM)He sternly warned them that they should not make Him known.

The Twelve Apostles^(AN)

^13 (AO)And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him. ¹⁴ Then He appointed twelve, ^[i]that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, ¹⁵ and to have ^[j]power ^[k]to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons: ^16 [l]Simon, ^(AP)to whom He gave the name Peter; ¹⁷ James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom He gave the name Boanerges, that is, “Sons of Thunder”; ¹⁸ Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Cananite; ¹⁹ and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him. And they went into a house.

A House Divided Cannot Stand^(AQ)

²⁰ Then the multitude came together again, ^(AR)so that they could not so much as eat bread. ²¹ But when His ^(AS)own people heard about this, they went out to lay hold of Him, ^(AT)for they said, “He is out of His mind.”

²² And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, ^(AU)“He has Beelzebub,” and, “By the ^(AV)ruler of the demons He casts out demons.”

^23 (AW)So He called them to Himself and said to them in parables: “How can Satan cast out Satan? ²⁴ If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. ²⁵ And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. ²⁶ And if Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end. ^27 (AX)No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. And then he will plunder his house.

The Unpardonable Sin^(AY)

^28 (AZ)“Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; ²⁹ but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation”— ³⁰ because they ^(BA)said, “He has an unclean spirit.”

Jesus’ Mother and Brothers Send for Him^(BB)

^31 (BC)Then His brothers and His mother came, and standing outside they sent to Him, calling Him. ³² And a multitude was sitting around Him; and they said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers ^[m]are outside seeking You.”

³³ But He answered them, saying, “Who is My mother, or My brothers?” ³⁴ And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! ³⁵ For whoever does the ^(BD)will of God is My brother and My sister and mother.”

The Parable of the Sower^(BE)

4 And ^(BF)again He began to teach by the sea. And a great multitude was gathered to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat in it on the sea; and the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea. ² Then He taught them many things by parables, ^(BG)and said to them in His teaching:

³ “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. ⁴ And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds ^[n]of the air came and devoured it. ⁵ Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth. ⁶ But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away. ⁷ And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no ^[o]crop. ⁸ But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”

⁹ And He said ^[p]to them, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

The Purpose of Parables^(BH)

^10 (BI)But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable. ¹¹ And He said to them, “To you it has been given to ^(BJ)know the ^[q]mystery of the kingdom of God; but to ^(BK)those who are outside, all things come in parables, ¹² so that

The Parable of the Sower Explained^(BM)

¹³ And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? ^14 (BN)The sower sows the word. ¹⁵ And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts. ¹⁶ These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; ¹⁷ and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word’s sake, immediately they stumble. ¹⁸ Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, ¹⁹ and the ^(BO)cares of this world, ^(BP)the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. ²⁰ But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, ^[r]accept it, and bear ^(BQ)fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”

Light Under a Basket^(BR)

^21 (BS)Also He said to them, “Is a lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed? Is it not to be set on a lampstand? ^22 (BT)For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light. ^23 (BU)If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”

²⁴ Then He said to them, “Take heed what you hear. ^(BV)With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given. ^25 (BW)For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”

The Parable of the Growing Seed

²⁶ And He said, ^(BX)“The kingdom of God is as if a man should ^[s]scatter seed on the ground, ²⁷ and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and ^(BY)grow, he himself does not know how. ²⁸ For the earth ^(BZ)yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. ²⁹ But when the grain ripens, immediately ^(CA)he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

The Parable of the Mustard Seed^(CB)

³⁰ Then He said, ^(CC)“To what shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what parable shall we picture it? ³¹ It is like a mustard seed which, when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on earth; ³² but when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out large branches, so that the birds of the air may nest under its shade.”

Jesus’ Use of Parables

^33 (CD)And with many such parables He spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it. ³⁴ But without a parable He did not speak to them. And when they were alone, ^(CE)He explained all things to His disciples.

Wind and Wave Obey Jesus^(CF)

^35 (CG)On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.” ³⁶ Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him. ³⁷ And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. ³⁸ But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, ^(CH)“Teacher, ^(CI)do You not care that we are perishing?”

³⁹ Then He arose and ^(CJ)rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ^(CK)“Peace,^[t] be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. ⁴⁰ But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? ^(CL)How^[u] is it that you have no faith?” ⁴¹ And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!”