Jesus Teaches in Parables

13 On that day Jesus had gone out of (A)the house and was sitting (B)by the sea. And large crowds gathered to Him, so (C)He got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd was standing on the beach.

And He told them many things in (D)parables, saying, “Behold, the sower went out to sow; and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up. Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and they sprang up immediately, because they had no depth of soil. But after the sun rose, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. Others fell [a]among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out. But others fell on the good soil and yielded a crop, some a (E)hundred, some sixty, and some thirty times as much. (F)The one who has ears, [b]let him hear.”

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 13:7 Lit upon
  2. Matthew 13:9 Or hear! Or listen!

A Harvest Story

13 1-3 At about that same time Jesus left the house and sat on the beach. In no time at all a crowd gathered along the shoreline, forcing him to get into a boat. Using the boat as a pulpit, he addressed his congregation, telling stories.

3-8 “What do you make of this? A farmer planted seed. As he scattered the seed, some of it fell on the road, and birds ate it. Some fell in the gravel; it sprouted quickly but didn’t put down roots, so when the sun came up it withered just as quickly. Some fell in the weeds; as it came up, it was strangled by the weeds. Some fell on good earth, and produced a harvest beyond his wildest dreams.

“Are you listening to this? Really listening?”

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