Lectionary Calendar
Tuesday, April 29th, 2025
the Second Week after Easter
Attention!
Take your personal ministry to the Next Level by helping StudyLight build churches and supporting pastors in Uganda.
Click here to join the effort!

Read the Bible

Contemporary English Version

Mark 4:4

While the farmer was scattering the seed, some of it fell along the road and was eaten by birds.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Jesus, the Christ;   Jesus Continued;   Minister, Christian;   Perseverance;   Sermon;   Sower;   Word of God;   The Topic Concordance - Bearing Fruit;   Word of God;  

Dictionaries:

- Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Apocalyptic;   Christ, Christology;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Allegory;   Mark, the Gospel of;   Sower;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Animals;   Discourse;   Doctrines;   Ear (2);   Field;   Fowl;   Husbandman ;   Nature and Natural Phenomena;   Parable;   Physical ;   Premeditation;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Chief parables and miracles in the bible;   Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types - Fell;   Fowl;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Jesus of Nazareth;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Birds;   Fowl;   Mark, the Gospel According to;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - New Testament;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
As he sowed, some seed fell along the path,
King James Version (1611)
And it came to passe as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the foules of the aire came, & deuoured it vp.
King James Version
And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up.
English Standard Version
And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it.
New American Standard Bible
as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up.
New Century Version
While he was planting, some seed fell by the road, and the birds came and ate it up.
Amplified Bible
and as he was sowing, some seed fell by the road, and the birds came and ate it up.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up.
Legacy Standard Bible
and it happened that as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up.
Berean Standard Bible
And as he was sowing, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it.
Complete Jewish Bible
As he sowed, some seed fell alongside the path; and the birds came and ate it up.
Darby Translation
And it came to pass as he sowed, one fell by the wayside, and the birds came and devoured it.
Easy-to-Read Version
While he was scattering the seed, some of it fell by the road. The birds came and ate all that seed.
Geneva Bible (1587)
And it came to passe as he sowed, that some fell by the way side, and the foules of the heauen came, and deuoured it vp.
George Lamsa Translation
And when he had sown, some fell on the roadside, and the fowls came and ate it.
Good News Translation
As he scattered the seed in the field, some of it fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.
Lexham English Bible
And it happened that while he was sowing, some seed fell on the side of the path, and the birds came and devoured it.
Literal Translation
And as he sowed, it happened that one indeed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the heaven came and devoured it.
American Standard Version
and it came to pass, as he sowed, some seed fell by the way side, and the birds came and devoured it.
Bible in Basic English
And while he was doing it, some was dropped by the wayside, and the birds came and took it for food.
Hebrew Names Version
and it happened, as he sowed, some seed fell by the road, and the birds came and devoured it.
International Standard Version
As he was sowing, some seeds fell along the path, and birds came and ate them up.
Etheridge Translation
and as he sowed, some fell by the way-side, [fn] and the fowl came and devoured it.
Murdock Translation
And as he sowed, some [fn] fell on the side of the path; and a bird came, and devoured it.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And it fortuned as he sowed, that some fell by the way syde, and the fowles of the ayre came, and deuoured it vp.
English Revised Version
and it came to pass, as he sowed, some seed fell by the way side, and the birds came and devoured it.
World English Bible
and it happened, as he sowed, some seed fell by the road, and the birds came and devoured it.
Wesley's New Testament (1755)
And as he sowed, some fell by the way-side, and the birds of the air came and devoured it.
Weymouth's New Testament
As he sows, some of the seed falls by the way-side, and the birds come and peck it up.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And the while he sowith, summe seed felde aboute the weie, and briddis of heuene camen, and eeten it.
Update Bible Version
and it came to pass, as he sowed, some [seed] fell by the wayside, and the birds came and devoured it.
Webster's Bible Translation
And it came to pass as he sowed, some fell by the way-side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it.
New English Translation
And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it.
New King James Version
And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air [fn] came and devoured it.
New Living Translation
As he scattered it across his field, some of the seed fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate it.
New Life Bible
As he planted the seed, some fell by the side of the road. Birds came and ate them.
New Revised Standard
And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And it came to pass, as he sowed, some, indeed, fell by the pathway, and the birds came, and devoured it;
Douay-Rheims Bible
And whilst he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the birds of the air came and ate it up.
Revised Standard Version
And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it.
Tyndale New Testament (1525)
And it fortuned as he sowed that some fell by the waye syde and the fowles of the ayre came and devoured it vp.
Young's Literal Translation
and it came to pass, in the sowing, some fell by the way, and the fowls of the heaven did come and devour it;
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
& it happened whyle he was sowinge, that some fell by the waye syde. Then came the foules vnder the heauen, and ate it vp.
Mace New Testament (1729)
some of the seed happened to fall by the wayside, which the birds light upon, and devoured.
Simplified Cowboy Version
As he planted, some of the seeds fell on the road, and the birds ate it all up.

Contextual Overview

1 The next time Jesus taught beside Lake Galilee, a big crowd gathered. It was so large that he had to sit in a boat out on the lake, while the people stood on the shore. 2 He used stories to teach them many things, and this is part of what he taught: 3 Now listen! A farmer went out to scatter seed in a field. 4 While the farmer was scattering the seed, some of it fell along the road and was eaten by birds. 5 Other seeds fell on thin, rocky ground and quickly started growing because the soil wasn't very deep. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched and dried up, because they did not have enough roots. 7 Some other seeds fell where thornbushes grew up and choked out the plants. So they did not produce any grain. 8 But a few seeds did fall on good ground where the plants grew and produced thirty or sixty or even a hundred times as much as was scattered. 9 Then Jesus said, "If you have ears, pay attention." 10 When Jesus was alone with the twelve apostles and some others, they asked him about these stories.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Mark 4:15, Genesis 15:11, Matthew 13:4, Matthew 13:19, Luke 8:5, Luke 8:12

Reciprocal: Mark 4:26 - as

Cross-References

Genesis 4:16
But Cain had to go far from the Lord and live in the Land of Wandering, which is east of Eden.
Genesis 4:17
Later, Cain and his wife had a son named Enoch. At the time Cain was building a town, and so he named it Enoch after his son.
Genesis 4:19
Lamech married Adah, then Zillah.
Genesis 4:20
Lamech and Adah had two sons, Jabal and Jubal. Their son Jabal was the first to live in tents and raise sheep and goats. Jubal was the first to play harps and flutes.
Genesis 15:17
Sometime after sunset, when it was very dark, a smoking cooking pot and a flaming fire went between the two halves of each animal.
Exodus 13:12
From then on, you must give him every first-born son from your families and every first-born male from your animals, because these belong to him.
Leviticus 9:24
The Lord sent fiery flames that burned up everything on the altar, and when everyone saw this, they shouted and fell to their knees to worship the Lord .
Numbers 16:35
Suddenly the Lord sent a fire that burned up the two hundred fifty men who had offered incense to him.
Numbers 18:12
For example, when the Israelites bring me the first batches of oil, wine, and grain, you can have the best parts of those gifts.
Numbers 18:17
However, all first-born cattle, sheep, and goats belong to me and cannot be bought back. Splatter their blood on the altar and send their fat up in smoke, so I can smell it and be pleased.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And it came to pass, as he sowed,.... Whilst he was preaching the, Gospel, casting about the precious seed of the word, he was laden with:

some fell by the way side; the common beaten path: the word was dispensed among some men comparable to it, on whom it lighted, but made no impression; there it lay, though not long, and was not inwardly received, and took no root, and consequently was of no effect:

and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up; the devils, who have their abode in the air, especially the prince of the posse of them; and the Syriac version reads it in the singular number, "and the fowl came"; that ravenous bird of prey, Satan, who goes about seeking what he may devour; and for this purpose attends where the word is preached, to hinder its usefulness as much as in him lies.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

See the parable of the sower explained in the notes at Matthew 13:1-9.

See the parable of the sower explained in the notes at Matthew 13:1-9.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Mark 4:4. The fowls — του ουρανου, of the air, is the common reading; but it should be omitted, on the authority of nine uncial MSS., upwards of one hundred others, and almost all the versions. Bengel and Griesbach have left it out of the text. It seems to have been inserted in Mark, from Luke 8:5.


 
adsfree-icon
Ads FreeProfile