Mark 4:1-5

New International Version

The Parable of the Sower^(A)(B)

4 Again Jesus began to teach by the lake.^(C) The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water’s edge. ² He taught them many things by parables,^(D) and in his teaching said: ³ “Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed.^{(E) 4} As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. ⁵ Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow.