Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the seedlings, and they yielded no crop.
Parallel translations
- WEB Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.
- KJV And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.
- NKJV And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.
- NASB Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.
- NLT Other seed fell among thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants so they produced no grain.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Some seed falls among thorns that choke it so it bears no fruit. It matters because it pictures a heart where competing concerns smother the word.
Overview
The thorns grow alongside the seed and strangle its growth. This represents hearers in whom worldly cares and desires crowd out the word. Jesus warns that good beginnings can be rendered fruitless when rival affections are allowed to dominate the heart, a danger every believer must guard against.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Jer 4:3For this is what the LORD says to the men of Judah and Jerusalem: “Break up your unplowed ground, and do not sow among the thorns.
- Luke 8:14The seeds that fell among the thorns are those who hear, but as they go on their way, they are choked by the worries, riches, and pleasures of this life, and their fruit does not mature.
- Gen 3:17–18And to Adam He said: “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat, cursed is the ground because of you; through toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.
- 1 Jn 2:15–16Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
- Luke 8:7Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the seedlings.
- Matt 13:22The seed sown among the thorns is the one who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
- Luke 21:34But watch yourselves, or your hearts will be weighed down by dissipation, drunkenness, and the worries of life—and that day will spring upon you suddenly like a snare.
- Matt 13:7Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the seedlings.
- Mark 4:18–19Others are like the seeds sown among the thorns. They hear the word,
- Luke 12:15And He said to them, “Watch out! Guard yourselves against every form of greed, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
- 1 Tim 6:9–10Those who want to be rich, however, fall into temptation and become ensnared by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Mark drives urgently to the cross, showing Jesus the Son of God as the suffering Servant who 'came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'
How Mark 4:7 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.