Bible Strands
Mark 4:29
And as soon as the grain is ripe, he swings the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jesus addresses his listeners while continuing the parable of the farmer, directly following his description of the earth’s automatic growth in Mark 4:28.
The words — εὐθὺς (euthus) = immediately, ἀποστέλλει (apostellei) = he sends. The text states the farmer immediately sends the sickle when the grain ripens, establishing the precise timing of the action.
The thread — Joel 3:13 pairs the swinging sickle with a ripe harvest, and Matthew 13:30 places the harvesters at the end of the crop cycle.
Why it lands — The passage describes a farmer’s prompt response to natural ripening, which frames the kingdom’s advancement around divine readiness rather than human delay.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.
Cross-references
- Joel 3:13 Swing the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, trample the grapes, for the winepress is full; the wine vats overflow because their wickedness is great.
- Isaiah 57:1 The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; devout men are taken away, while no one considers that the righteous are taken away from the presence of evil.
- Matthew 13:30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat into my barn.’”
- Matthew 13:40 As the weeds are collected and burned in the fire, so will it be at the end of the age.
- Job 5:26 You will come to the grave in full vigor, like a sheaf of grain gathered in season.
- Revelation 14:13 And I heard a voice from heaven telling me to write, “Blessed are the dead—those who die in the Lord from this moment on.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labors, for their deeds will follow them.”
- 2 Timothy 4:7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.