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

¹ That same day Jesus went out of the house and seated himself by the seaside; ² but, as great crowds gathered to him, he entered a boat and sat down, while all the crowd stood on the beach.

³ He spoke at some length to them in parables, saying: "A sower went out to sow, ⁴ and as he sowed some seeds fell on the road and the birds came and ate them up. ⁵ Some other seeds fell on stony soil where they had not much earth, and shot up at once because they had no depth of soil; ⁶ but when the sun rose they got scorched and withered away because they had no root. ⁷ Some other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. ⁸ Some other seeds fell on good soil and bore a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirtyfold. ⁹ He who has an ear, let him listen to this."

¹ Once more he proceeded to teach by the seaside, and a crowd gathered round him greater than ever, so he entered a boat on the sea and sat down, while all the crowd stayed on shore. ² He gave them many lessons in parables, and said to them in the course of his teaching: ³ "Listen, a sower went out to sow, ⁴ and as he sowed it chanced that some seed fell on the road, and the birds came and ate it up; ⁵ some other seed fell on stony soil where it had not much earth, and it shot up at once because it had no depth of earth, ⁶ but when the sun rose it got scorched and withered away, because it had no root; ⁷ some other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked it, so it bore no crop; ⁸ some other seed fell on good soil and bore a crop that sprang up and grew, yielding at the rate of thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold." ⁹ He added, "Anyone who has ears to hear, let him listen to this."

⁴ As a large crowd was gathering and as people were resorting to him from town after town, he addressed them in a parable. ⁵ "A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the road and was trampled down, and the wild birds ate it up; ⁶ some other seed dropped on the rock, but it withered away when it sprang up because it had no moisture; ⁷ some other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up along with it and choked it; ⁸ some other seed fell on sound soil, and springing up bore a crop, a hundredfold." When he said this he called out, "He who has an ear, let him listen to this."