1 The words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin,

Jeremiah’s Call and Commission

⁴ Now the word of the Lord came to me saying,

⁶ Then I said, ‘Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.’ ⁷ But the Lord said to me,

⁹ Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth; and the Lord said to me,

The Parable of the Sower

13 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the lake. ² Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. ³ And he told them many things in parables, saying: ‘Listen! A sower went out to sow. ⁴ And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. ⁵ Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. ⁶ But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. ⁷ Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. ⁸ Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. ⁹ Let anyone with ears^[a] listen!’