Matthew 13:1-9 - The Parable Of The Sower

¹ On that [same] day, Jesus went out of the house and sat down on the shore of the lake [i.e., Lake Galilee]. ² Great crowds gathered around Him so that He went and sat down in a boat [just off shore], while the crowd stood on the beach.

³ And He spoke many things to them in parables [i.e., brief stories to illustrate His teaching], saying, "Once a farmer went out [to his field] to plant grain. ⁴ And some of the seed he sowed [i.e., scattering it by hand] landed along the side of the road and birds came and ate it. ⁵ And other seed fell on rocky ground where there was not much soil and immediately it sprouted up because the soil was so shallow. ⁶ But when the sun came up these tender sprouts were scorched and, since they had such tiny roots, they [quickly] withered away. ⁷ And other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and [eventually] choked out the tender sprouts. ⁸ And [still] other seed fell onto fertile soil, where some of it produced a crop of one hundred, some sixty and some thirty times [as much as was planted]. ⁹ The person who has ears to hear with ought to listen [to this] carefully."

¹ Jesus again began teaching along the shore of the lake [of Galilee]. A huge crowd gathered around Him so that He had to sit in a boat out in the lake [to speak to them], while all the crowd stood on the shore. ² He taught the people many things using parables [to illustrate His lessons]. In His teaching He said to them, ³ "Listen carefully A farmer went out to plant seed, ⁴ and it happened, as he sowed [i.e., scattering the seed by hand], some of it fell by the side of the road and birds came and ate it. ⁵ And some seed fell on rocky ground where there was not much soil, and immediately it sprouted up because the soil was so shallow. ⁶ But when the sun came up the newly sprouted plants were scorched, and because they had no roots, [soon] withered away. ⁷ And other seeds fell among thorns which grew up and choked them so that they yielded no crop. ⁸ Then other seeds fell into fertile soil, and growing up to maturity, they yielded an ever increasing crop. They produced thirty, sixty and even a hundred times [as much as was planted]." ⁹ And Jesus said, "Whoever has ears to hear with ought to listen [to this] carefully."

⁴ Then when a large crowd assembled and people from every town were coming to Jesus, He told them this parable [i.e., a brief story to illustrate His teaching]: ⁵ A farmer went out [to his field] to plant grain. And as he sowed [i.e., scattering seeds by hand], some of it landed along side of the road; it was stepped on by people and [eventually] birds of the sky came and ate it. ⁶ And other [seed] fell on rocky ground and as soon as it started to grow, it [quickly] withered away, because it had no moisture. ⁷ And other [seed] fell among thorns, which grew up with it and [eventually] choked out [the tender sprouts]. ⁸ And [still] other [seed] fell into fertile soil; it grew and produced a crop of one hundred times [as much as was planted]. As He said these things, He called out, "The person who has ears to hear with ought to listen [to this] carefully."