Mark 4:10 Cross References - Moffatt

¹⁰ When he was by himself his adherents and the twelve asked him about the parable,

¹⁰ Then the disciples came up and said to him, "Why do you speak in parables?" ¹¹ He replied, "Because it is granted you to understand the open secrets of the Realm of heaven, but it is not granted to these people. ¹² For he who has, to him shall more be given and richly given, but whoever has not, from him shall be taken even what he has. ¹³ This is why I speak to them in parables, because for all their seeing they do not see and for all their hearing they do not hear or understand. ¹⁴ In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled: You will hear and hear but never understand, you will see and see but never perceive. ¹⁵ For the heart of this people is obtuse, their ears are heavy of hearing, their eyes they have closed, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they understand with their heart and turn again, and I cure them. ¹⁶ But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears, for they hear! ¹⁷ I tell you truly, many prophets and good men have longed to see what you see, but they have not seen it; and to hear what you hear, but they have not heard it.

³⁶ Then he left the crowds and went indoors. And his disciples came up to him saying, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field."

³⁴ he never spoke to them except by way of parable, but in private he explained everything to his own disciples.

¹⁷ Now when he went indoors away from the crowd, his disciples asked him the meaning of this parabolic saying.

⁹ The disciples questioned him about the meaning of the parable; ¹⁰ so he said, "It is granted you to understand the open secrets of the Reign of God, but the others get it in parables, so that for all their seeing they may not see, and for all their hearing they may not understand. ¹¹ This is what the parable means. The seed is the word of God. ¹² Those 'on the road' are people who hear; but then the devil comes and carries off the word from their heart, that they may not believe and be saved. ¹³ Those 'on the rock' are people who on hearing the word welcome it with enthusiasm, but they have no root; they believe for a while and fall away in the hour of trial. ¹⁴ As for the seed that fell among thorns, that means people who hear but who go and get choked with worries and money and the pleasures of life, so that they never ripen. ¹⁵ As for the seed in the good soil, that means those who hear and hold fast the word in a good and sound heart and so bear fruit stedfastly.