The Parable of the Sower^(A)

4 And ^(B)again He began to teach by the sea. And a great multitude was gathered to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat in it on the sea; and the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea. ² Then He taught them many things by parables, ^(C)and said to them in His teaching:

³ “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. ⁴ And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds ^[a]of the air came and devoured it. ⁵ Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth. ⁶ But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away. ⁷ And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no ^[b]crop. ⁸ But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”

⁹ And He said ^[c]to them, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

The Purpose of Parables^(D)

^10 (E)But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable. ¹¹ And He said to them, “To you it has been given to ^(F)know the ^[d]mystery of the kingdom of God; but to ^(G)those who are outside, all things come in parables, ¹² so that

The Parable of the Sower Explained^(I)

¹³ And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? ^14 (J)The sower sows the word. ¹⁵ And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts. ¹⁶ These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; ¹⁷ and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word’s sake, immediately they stumble. ¹⁸ Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, ¹⁹ and the ^(K)cares of this world, ^(L)the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. ²⁰ But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, ^[e]accept it, and bear ^(M)fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”

Four Fishermen Called as Disciples^(A)

^16 (B)And as He walked by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. ¹⁷ Then Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become ^(C)fishers of men.” ^18 (D)They immediately left their nets and followed Him.

^14 (A)As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, ^(B)“Follow Me.” So he arose and ^(C)followed Him.

Feeding the Five Thousand^(A)

^30 (B)Then the apostles gathered to Jesus and told Him all things, both what they had done and what they had taught. ^31 (C)And He said to them, “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” For ^(D)there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat. ^32 (E)So they departed to a deserted place in the boat by themselves.

³³ But ^[a]the multitudes saw them departing, and many ^(F)knew Him and ran there on foot from all the cities. They arrived before them and came together to Him. ^34 (G)And Jesus, when He came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them, because they were like ^(H)sheep not having a shepherd. So ^(I)He began to teach them many things. ^35 (J)When the day was now far spent, His disciples came to Him and said, “This is a deserted place, and already the hour is late. ³⁶ Send them away, that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy themselves ^[b]bread; for they have nothing to eat.”

³⁷ But He answered and said to them, “You give them something to eat.”

And they said to Him, ^(K)“Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give them something to eat?”

³⁸ But He said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.”

And when they found out they said, ^(L)“Five, and two fish.”

³⁹ Then He ^(M)commanded them to make them all sit down in groups on the green grass. ⁴⁰ So they sat down in ranks, in hundreds and in fifties. ⁴¹ And when He had taken the five loaves and the two fish, He ^(N)looked up to heaven, ^(O)blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and the two fish He divided among them all. ⁴² So they all ate and were filled. ⁴³ And they took up twelve baskets full of fragments and of the fish. ⁴⁴ Now those who had eaten the loaves were ^[c]about five thousand men.

⁴⁷ Now when evening came, the boat was in the middle of the sea; and He was alone on the land. ⁴⁸ Then He saw them straining at rowing, for the wind was against them. Now about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea, and ^(A)would have passed them by. ⁴⁹ And when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed it was a ^(B)ghost, and cried out; ⁵⁰ for they all saw Him and were troubled. But immediately He talked with them and said to them, ^(C)“Be^[a] of good cheer! It is I; do not be ^(D)afraid.” ⁵¹ Then He went up into the boat to them, and the wind ^(E)ceased. And they were greatly ^(F)amazed in themselves beyond measure, and marveled. ⁵² For ^(G)they had not understood about the loaves, because their ^(H)heart was hardened.