Mk 4:21-34
Parable of the Lamp. 21e He said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be placed under a bushel basket or under a bed, and not to be placed on a lampstand?f 22For there is nothing hidden except to be made visible; nothing is secret except to come to light.g 23Anyone who has ears to hear ought to hear.” 24He also told them, “Take care what you hear. The measure with which you measure will be measured out to you, and still more will be given to you.h 25To the one who has, more will be given; from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”i
Seed Grows of Itself. 26He said, “This is how it is with the kingdom of God;* it is as if a man were to scatter seedj on the land 27and would sleep and rise night and day and the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how. 28Of its own accord the land yields fruit, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. 29And when the grain is ripe, he wields the sickle at once, for the harvest has come.”
The Mustard Seed. 30k He said, “To what shall we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use for it? 31It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth. 32* But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade.” 33With many such parablesl he spoke the word to them as they were able to understand it. 34Without parables he did not speak to them, but to his own disciples he explained everything in private.