³⁶ Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that ^(A)sower and ^(B)reaper ^(C)may rejoice together. ³⁷ For here the saying holds true, ^(D)‘One sows and another reaps.’ ³⁸ I sent you to reap ^(E)that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, ^(F)and you have entered into their labor.”

The Parable of the Sower

13 That same day Jesus went out of the house ^(A)and sat beside the sea. ² And great crowds gathered about him, ^(B)so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. ³ And ^(C)he told them many things in parables, saying: ^(D)“A sower went out to sow. ⁴ And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. ⁵ Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, ⁶ but ^(E)when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, ^(F)they withered away. ⁷ Other seeds fell among ^(G)thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. ⁸ Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some ^(H)a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. ^9 (I)He who has ears,^[a] let him hear.”

The Purpose of the Parables

¹⁰ Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?”

The Parable of the Sower Explained

^18 (A)“Hear then the parable of the sower: