World English Bible · Under Rome
Mark 4
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Again he began to teach by the seaside. A great multitude was gathered to him, so that he entered into a boat in the sea and sat down. All were on the land by the sea. He taught them many things , and told them in his teaching, "Listen! Behold, the farmer went out to sow. As he sowed, some fell by the road, and the birds came and devoured it. Others fell on the rocky ground, where it had little soil, and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of soil. When the sun had , it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. Others fell among the , and the grew up and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. Others fell into the good ground and yielded fruit, growing up and increasing. Some produced thirty times, some sixty times, and some one hundred times as much." He said, "Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear." When he was alone, those who were around him with the twelve asked him about the . He said to them, "To you is given of Kingdom, but to those who are outside, all things are done , that 'seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand, lest perhaps they should turn again, and their should be forgiven them.'" He said to them, "Don't you understand this ? How will you understand all of the ? The farmer sows the word. The ones by the road are the ones where the word is sown; and when they have heard, immediately comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them. These in the same way are those who are sown on the rocky places, who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with joy. They have no root in themselves, but are short-lived. When or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they stumble. Others are those who are sown among the . These are those who have heard the word, and the cares of this age, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. Those which were sown on the good ground are those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit, some thirty times, some sixty times, and some one hundred times." He said to them, "Is a lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed? Isn't it put on a stand? For there is nothing hidden except that it should be , neither was anything made secret but that it should come to . If any man has ears to hear, let him hear." He said to them, "Take heed what you hear. With whatever measure you measure, it will be measured to you; and more will be given to you who hear. For whoever has, to him more will be given; and he who doesn't have, even that which he has will be taken away from him." He said, " Kingdom is as if a man should cast on the earth, and should sleep and rise night and day, and the should spring up and grow, though he doesn't know how. For the earth bears fruit by itself: first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the fruit is ripe, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come." He said, "How will we liken Kingdom? Or with what will we illustrate it? It's like a grain of mustard , which, when it is sown in the earth, though it is less than all the seeds that are on the earth, yet when it is sown, grows up and becomes greater than all the herbs, and puts out great , so that the birds of can lodge under its shadow." With many such he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it. Without he didn't speak to them; but privately to his own he explained everything. On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, "Let's go over to the other side." Leaving , they took him with them, even as he was, in the boat. Other small boats were also with him. A big wind storm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so much that the boat was already filled. He himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and asked him, "Teacher, don't you care that we are dying?" He awoke and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" The wind ceased and there was a great calm. He said to them, "Why are you so afraid? How is it that you have no ?" They were greatly afraid and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea him?"
A public domain modern English translation, free to read and share. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · Under Rome, 63 BC to AD 100 ›
Judea as a client kingdom and then a province. Roads, garrisons, taxes, crucifixion, and a common Greek language that let a message travel the empire faster than any before it.
- Rome
- The republic tears itself apart in civil war and comes out as an empire under Augustus. What follows is two centuries of relative peace across the whole Mediterranean, enforced by legions and paid for by taxes, with safe roads and safe sea lanes. Every one of Paul's journeys depends on that.
- Judea
- Governed first through Herod the Great, a client king of enormous ability and enormous brutality who rebuilds the temple into one of the wonders of the ancient world, then directly by Roman prefects. Crucifixion is the standard penalty for sedition and is used often and publicly.
- The wider world
- Greek is spoken from Spain to Syria, which means a letter written in Corinth can be read in Rome without translation. Jewish communities already exist in most major cities, which is where the first Christian preaching lands. Mystery religions, imperial cult, and philosophy all compete in the same marketplace.
- Further afield
- The Han dynasty rules China and trades silk westward along routes that touch the Roman world at second hand. In Britain the Roman conquest begins within a decade of the crucifixion.