4 Again he began to teach by the seaside. A great multitude was gathered to him, so that he entered into a boat in the sea, and sat down. All the multitude were on the land by the sea. ² He taught them many things in parables, and told them in his teaching, ³ “Listen! Behold, the farmer went out to sow, ⁴ and as he sowed, some seed fell by the road, and the birds^[a] came and devoured it. ⁵ Others fell on the rocky ground, where it had little soil, and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of soil. ⁶ When the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. ⁷ Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. ⁸ Others fell into the good ground, and yielded fruit, growing up and increasing. Some produced thirty times, some sixty times, and some one hundred times as much.” ⁹ He said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear.”