³ And ^(A)he told them many things in parables, saying: ^(B)“A sower went out to sow.

² And ^(A)he was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: ³ “Listen! Behold, ^(B)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 ^(C)when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, ^(D)it withered away. ⁷ Other seed fell among ^(E)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 ^(F)a hundredfold.” ⁹ And he said, ^(G)“He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

^13 (A)And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?

Prophecy and Parables

^34 (A)All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable. ³⁵ This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet:^[a]

^5 (A)“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, ^(B)it withered away, because it had no moisture. ⁷ And some fell among ^(C)thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. ⁸ And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded ^(D)a hundredfold.” As he said these things, he called out, ^(E)“He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

^33 (A)With many such parables he spoke ^(B)the word to them, ^(C)as they were able to hear it.

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

⁵³ And when Jesus had finished these parables, he went away from there,

The Purpose of the Parables

¹⁰ Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” ¹¹ And he answered them, ^(A)“To you it has been given to know ^(B)the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. ^12 (C)For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, ^(D)even what he has will be taken away. ¹³ This is why I speak to them in parables, because ^(E)seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, ^(F)nor do they understand.

Nathan Rebukes David

12 And the Lord sent ^(A)Nathan to David. He came to him and said to him, ^(B)“There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor. ² The rich man had very many flocks and herds, ³ but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. And he brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children. It used to eat of his morsel and drink from his cup and lie in his arms,^[a] and it was like a daughter to him. ⁴ Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was unwilling to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the guest who had come to him, but he took the poor man's lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.” ⁵ Then David's anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, ^(C)“As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die, ⁶ and he shall restore the lamb ^(D)fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.”

⁷ Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ^(E)‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul.