Mark 4:31-35
Mark 4:30-38 The Message (MSG)
“How can we picture God’s kingdom? What kind of story can we use? It’s like an acorn. When it lands on the ground it is quite small as seeds go, yet once it is planted it grows into a huge oak tree with thick branches. Eagles nest in it.” With many stories like these, he presented his message to them, fitting the stories to their experience and maturity. He was never without a story when he spoke. When he was alone with his disciples, he went over everything, sorting out the tangles, untying the knots. Late that day he said to them, “Let’s go across to the other side.” They took him in the boat as he was. Other boats came along. A huge storm came up. Waves poured into the boat, threatening to sink it. And Jesus was in the stern, head on a pillow, sleeping! They roused him, saying, “Teacher, is it nothing to you that we’re going down?”
Mark 4:31-35 King James Version (KJV)
It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth: but when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it. And with many such parables spake he the word unto them, as they were able to hear it. But without a parable spake he not unto them: and when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples. And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side.
Mark 4:31-35 New American Standard Bible - NASB 1995 (NASB1995)
It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is smaller than all the seeds that are upon the soil, yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and forms large branches; so that THE BIRDS OF THE AIR can NEST UNDER ITS SHADE.” With many such parables He was speaking the word to them, so far as they were able to hear it; and He did not speak to them without a parable; but He was explaining everything privately to His own disciples. On that day, when evening came, He *said to them, “Let us go over to the other side.”
Mark 4:31-35 New Century Version (NCV)
The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed, the smallest seed you plant in the ground. But when planted, this seed grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants. It produces large branches, and the wild birds can make nests in its shade.” Jesus used many stories like these to teach the crowd God’s message—as much as they could understand. He always used stories to teach them. But when he and his followers were alone, Jesus explained everything to them. That evening, Jesus said to his followers, “Let’s go across the lake.”
Mark 4:31-35 American Standard Version (ASV)
It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown upon the earth, though it be less than all the seeds that are upon the earth, yet when it is sown, groweth up, and becometh greater than all the herbs, and putteth out great branches; so that the birds of the heaven can lodge under the shadow thereof. And with many such parables spake he the word unto them, as they were able to hear it; and without a parable spake he not unto them: but privately to his own disciples he expounded all things. And on that day, when even was come, he saith unto them, Let us go over unto the other side.
Mark 4:31-35 New International Version (NIV)
It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.” With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything. That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.”
Mark 4:31-35 New King James Version (NKJV)
It is like a mustard seed which, when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on earth; 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.” And with many such parables He spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it. But without a parable He did not speak to them. And when they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples. On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.”
Mark 4:31-35 Amplified Bible (AMP)
It is like a mustard seed, which, when it is sown on the ground, even though it is smaller than all the [other] seeds that are [sown] on the soil, yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden herbs; and it puts out large branches, so that THE BIRDS OF THE SKY are able to MAKE NESTS and LIVE UNDER ITS SHADE.” [Ps 104:12; Ezek 17:23; 31:6] With many such parables, Jesus spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear and understand it; and He did not say anything to them without [using] a parable; He did, however, explain everything privately to His own disciples. On that [same] day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us go over to the other side [of the Sea of Galilee].”
Mark 4:31-35 New Living Translation (NLT)
It is like a mustard seed planted in the ground. It is the smallest of all seeds, but it becomes the largest of all garden plants; it grows long branches, and birds can make nests in its shade.” Jesus used many similar stories and illustrations to teach the people as much as they could understand. In fact, in his public ministry he never taught without using parables; but afterward, when he was alone with his disciples, he explained everything to them. As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.”
Mark 4:31-35 The Passion Translation (TPT)
It is like the mustard seed, the tiniest of all the seeds, yet when it springs up and grows, it becomes the largest plant in the garden, with so many large spreading branches, even birds can nest in its shade.” Jesus used many parables such as these as he taught the people, and they learned according to their ability to understand. He never spoke to them without using parables, but would wait until he was alone with his disciples to explain to them their meanings. That same day, after it grew dark, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross over to the other side of the lake.”
Mark 4:31-35 English Standard Version 2016 (ESV)
It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.” With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it. He did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything. On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.”