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!”