The Parable about a Farmer^(A)

4 Then Jesus^[a] began to teach again beside the sea. Such a large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it,^[b] while the entire crowd remained beside the sea on the shore. ² He began teaching them many things in parables. While he was teaching them he said, ³ “Listen! A farmer went out to sow. ⁴ As he was sowing, some seeds fell along the path, and birds came and ate them up. ⁵ Others fell on stony ground, where they didn’t have a lot of soil. They sprouted at once, because the soil wasn’t deep. ⁶ But when the sun came up, they were scorched. Since they didn’t have any roots, they dried up. ⁷ Others fell among thorn bushes, and the thorn bushes came up and choked them out, and they didn’t produce anything. ⁸ But others fell on good soil and produced a crop. They grew up, increased in size, and produced 30, 60, or 100 times what was sown.”^{[c] 9} He added, “Let the person who has ears to hear, listen!”

The Parable about a Farmer^(A)

⁴ Now while a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus^[a] from every city, he said in a parable: ⁵ “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was sowing, some seeds fell along the path, were trampled on, and birds from the sky ate them up. ⁶ Others fell on stony ground, and as soon as they came up, they dried up because they had no moisture. ⁷ Others fell among thorn bushes, and the thorn bushes grew with them and choked them. ⁸ But others fell on good soil, and when they came up, they produced 100 times as much as was planted.” As he said this, he called out, “Let the person who has ears to hear, listen!”

The Purpose of the Parables^(B)

⁹ Then his disciples began to ask him what this parable meant. ¹⁰ So he said, “You have been given knowledge about the secrets of the kingdom of God. But to others they are given^[b] in parables, so that

Jesus Explains the Parable about the Farmer^(C)

¹¹ “Now this is what the parable means. The seed is God’s word. ¹² The ones on the path are the people who listen, but then the Devil comes and takes the word away from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. ¹³ The ones on the stony ground are the people who joyfully welcome the word when they hear it. But since they don’t have any roots, they believe for a while, but in a time of testing they fall away. ¹⁴ The ones that fell among the thorn bushes are the people who listen, but as they go on their way they are choked by the worries, wealth, and pleasures of life, and their fruit doesn’t mature. ¹⁵ But the ones on the good soil are the people who hear the word but also hold on to it with good and honest hearts, producing a crop through endurance.”

A Light under a Bowl^(D)

¹⁶ “No one lights a lamp and hides it under a bowl or puts it under a bed. Instead, he puts it on a lamp stand so that those who come in will see the light. ¹⁷ There is nothing hidden that won’t be revealed, and there is nothing secret that won’t become known and come to light. ¹⁸ So pay attention to how you listen, because to the one who has something, more will be given. However, from the one who doesn’t have, even what he thinks he has will be taken away from him.”