The Parable of the Sower

4 Again ^(A)he began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him, ^(B)so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. ² And ^(C)he was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: ³ “Listen! Behold, ^(D)a sower went out to sow. ⁴ And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. ⁵ Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. ⁶ And ^(E)when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, ^(F)it withered away. ⁷ Other seed fell among ^(G)thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. ⁸ And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and ^(H)a hundredfold.” ⁹ And he said, ^(I)“He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

The Purpose of the Parables

¹⁰ And ^(J)when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. ¹¹ And he said to them, ^(K)“To you has been given ^(L)the secret of the kingdom of God, but for ^(M)those outside everything is in parables, ^12 (N)so that

^13 (Q)And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? ^14 (R)The sower sows ^(S)the word. ¹⁵ And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. ¹⁶ And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it ^(T)with joy. ¹⁷ And they have no root in themselves, but ^(U)endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately ^(V)they fall away.^{[a] 18} And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, ¹⁹ but ^(W)the cares of ^(X)the world and ^(Y)the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. ²⁰ But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and ^(Z)bear fruit, ^(AA)thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”

The Parable of the Sower Explained

^18 (A)“Hear then the parable of the sower: ¹⁹ When anyone hears the word of ^(B)the kingdom and ^(C)does not understand it, ^(D)the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. ²⁰ As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately ^(E)receives it with joy, ²¹ yet he has no root in himself, but ^(F)endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately ^(G)he falls away.^{[a] 22} As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but ^(H)the cares of ^(I)the world and ^(J)the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. ²³ As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and ^(K)understands it. He indeed ^(L)bears fruit and yields, in one case ^(M)a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”

The Parable of the Sower

^4 (A)And when a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable, ^5 (B)“A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. ⁶ And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, ^(C)it withered away, because it had no moisture. ⁷ And some fell among ^(D)thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. ⁸ And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded ^(E)a hundredfold.” As he said these things, he called out, ^(F)“He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

The Purpose of the Parables

⁹ And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, ¹⁰ he said, ^(G)“To you it has been given to know ^(H)the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so ^(I)that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’ ^11 (J)Now the parable is this: The seed is ^(K)the word of God. ¹² The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not ^(L)believe and be saved. ¹³ And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it ^(M)with joy. But these have no root; they ^(N)believe for a while, and in time of testing ^(O)fall away. ¹⁴ And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but ^(P)as they go on their way they are choked by the ^(Q)cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. ¹⁵ As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and ^(R)bear fruit ^(S)with patience.