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

¹ On that same day, after Jesus had left the house, he took his seat on the seashore; ² and such a great crowd gathered about him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the crowd stood on the beach.

³ Then he told them many truths in parables. "Behold," he said, "the sower went forth to sow; ⁴ and as he sowed, some seed fell by the roadside, and the birds came and ate it. ⁵ Some fell on rocky ground where there was not much earth. Now because it had no depth of soil, it sprang up at once; ⁶ but when the sun rose it was scorched, and withered away because it had no root. ⁷ Some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked it. ⁸ But some fell on good soil, and bore a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. ⁹ He who has ears, let him hear!"

¹ Afterwards Jesus began to teach by the seaside, and a vast multitude of people gathered about him, so that he went on board a boat on the sea, and sat there, while all the people stayed on shore, at the water's edge. ² Then he began teaching them in parables many things. In his teaching he said to them. ³ "Listen! the Sower once went out to sow, ⁴ and as he sowed, it happened that some seed fell on the road, and birds came and picked it up; ⁵ some other seed fell on stony soil, where it had not much earth; and it sprang up quickly because it had no depth of soil, ⁶ but when the sun rose it was scorched and withered away because it had no root. ⁷ Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked it, so that it yielded no crop. ⁸ But some seed fell into good soil and yielded a crop that sprang up and increased, yielding thirty, sixty, or a hundredfold. ⁹ "Any one who has ears to hear," he added, "let him listen to this."

⁴ As a great crowd was gathering, and men of town after town kept restoring to him, he spoke a parable to them. ⁵ "A sower went out to sow his seed, and as he sowed some fell by the wayside, and was trodden under foot, and the wild birds ate it up. ⁶ "Some other seed dropped on the rock, as soon as it grew it withered away, because it had no moisture. ⁷ "Another part fell among the thorns; and the thorns grew with it and choked it. ⁸ "But some fell on good soil, and grew up, and brought forth fruit, a hundredfold." When he said this, he called out, "Whoever has ears to hear with, let him listen."