Mark 4:12
So that seeing they may see, and not perceive, and hearing they may hear, and not understand, lest they should turn, and the sins would be forgiven them.
A Conservative Version
In The King James Version
In Context
13And he says to them, Do ye not know this parable? And how will ye understand all the parables?
Cross References
Deuteronomy 29:4yet LORD has not given you a heart to know, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, to this day.
Isaiah 44:18They do not know, nor do they consider. For he has shut their eyes, that they cannot see, and their hearts, that they cannot understand.
Jeremiah 31:18I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself [saying], Thou have chastised me, and I was chastised as a calf unaccustomed [to the yoke]. Turn thou me back, and I shall be turned back, for thou are LORD my God.
Ezekiel 18:27Again, when a wicked man turns away from his wickedness that he has committed, and does that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive.
Luke 8:10And he said, To you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the others in parables, so that seeing they would not see, and hearing they would not understand.
Acts 3:19Repent ye therefore, and be converted in order to wipe away your sins, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.
Matthew Henry on Mark 4:2-21
The Parable of the Sower. 1 And he began again to teach by the sea side: and there was gathered unto him a great multitude, so that he entered into a ship, and sat in the sea; and the whole multitude was by the sea on the land. 2 And he taught them many things by parables, and said unto them in his doctrine, 3 Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow: 4 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. 5 And some fell on stony ground, where it had… Read the whole commentary →