Parable of the Sower and Soils

4 Again Jesus began to teach beside the sea [of Galilee]. And a very large crowd gathered around Him, so He got into a boat [anchoring it a short distance out] on the sea and sat down; and the whole crowd was by the sea on the shore.^{(A) 2} And He taught them many things in parables, and in His teaching He said to them, ³ “Listen! A sower went out to sow seed; ⁴ and as he was sowing, some seed fell by the road, and the birds came and ate it up. ⁵ Other seed fell on rocks where there was not much soil; and immediately a plant sprang up ^[a]because the soil had no depth. ⁶ And when the sun came up, the plant was scorched; and because it had no root, it dried up and withered away. ⁷ Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. ⁸ And other seed fell into good soil, and as the plants grew and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundred times [as much as had been sown].” ⁹ And He said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear and heed My words.”

¹⁰ As soon as He was alone, those who were around Him, together with the twelve [disciples], began asking Him about [the interpretation of] the parables. ¹¹ He said to them, “The mystery of the kingdom of God has been given to you [who have teachable hearts], but those who are outside [the unbelievers, the spiritually blind] get everything in parables, ¹² so that they will continually look but not see, and they will continually hear but not understand, otherwise they might turn [from their rejection of the truth] and be forgiven.”^(B)

Explanation

¹³ Then He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand and grasp the meaning of all the parables?^{(C) 14} The sower sows the word [of God, the good news regarding the way of salvation]. ¹⁵ These [in the first group] are the ones along the road where the word is sown; but when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them. ¹⁶ In a similar way these [in the second group] are the ones on whom seed was sown on rocky ground, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy [but accept it only superficially]; ¹⁷ and they have no real root in themselves, so they endure only for a little while; then, when trouble or persecution comes because of the word, immediately they [are offended and displeased at being associated with Me and] stumble and fall away. ¹⁸ And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, ¹⁹ but the worries and cares of the world [the distractions of this age with its worldly pleasures], and the deceitfulness [and the false security or glamour] of wealth [or fame], and the passionate desires for all the other things creep in and choke out the word, and it becomes unfruitful. ²⁰ And those [in the last group] are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word [of God, the good news regarding the way of salvation] and accept it and bear fruit—thirty, sixty, and a hundred times as much [as was sown].”

²¹ He said to them, “A lamp is not brought in to be put under a basket or under a bed, is it? Is it not [brought in] to be put on the lampstand?^{(D) 22} For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been kept secret, but that it would come to light [that is, things are hidden only temporarily, until the appropriate time comes for them to be known].^{(E) 23} If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear and heed My words.” ²⁴ Then He said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear. By your own standard of measurement [that is, to the extent that you study spiritual truth and apply godly wisdom] it will be measured to you [and you will be given even greater ability to respond]—and more will be given to you besides. ²⁵ For ^[b]whoever has [a teachable heart], to him more [understanding] will be given; and whoever does not have [a yearning for truth], even what he has will be taken away from him.”^(F)

Parable of the Seed

²⁶ Then He said, “The kingdom of God is like a man who throws seed on the ground; ²⁷ and he goes to bed at night and gets up every day, and [in the meantime] the seed sprouts and grows; how [it does this], he does not know. ²⁸ The earth produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head [of grain], then the mature grain in the head. ²⁹ But when the crop ripens, he immediately puts in the sickle [to reap], because [the time for] the harvest has come.”

Parable of the Mustard Seed

³⁰ And He said, “How shall we ^[c]picture the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use to illustrate and explain it?^{(G) 31} It is like a mustard seed, which, when it is sown on the ground, even though it is ^[d]smaller than all the [other] seeds that are [sown] on the soil, ³² yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden herbs; and it puts out large branches, so that the birds of the sky are able to make nests and live under its shade.”^(H)

³³ With many such parables, Jesus spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear and understand it; ³⁴ and He did not say anything to them without [using] a parable; He did, however, explain everything privately to His own disciples.

Jesus Stills the Sea

³⁵ On that [same] day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us go over to the other side [of the Sea of Galilee].” ³⁶ So leaving the crowd, they took Him with them, just as He was, in the boat. And other boats were with Him.^{(I) 37} And a ^[e]fierce windstorm began to blow, and waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was already being swamped. ³⁸ But Jesus was in the stern, asleep [with His head] on the [sailor’s leather] cushion. And they woke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are about to die?” ³⁹ And He got up and [sternly] rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still (muzzled)!” And the wind died down [as if it had grown weary] and there was [at once] a great calm [a perfect peacefulness]. ⁴⁰ Jesus said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith and confidence [in Me]?” ⁴¹ They were filled with great fear, and said to each other, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”