³ Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: ^(A)“Behold, a sower went out to sow.

² Then He taught them many things by parables, ^(A)and said to them in His teaching:

³ “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. ⁴ And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds ^[a]of the air came and devoured it. ⁵ Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth. ⁶ But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away. ⁷ And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no ^[b]crop. ⁸ But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”

⁹ And He said ^[c]to them, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

The Parable of the Sower Explained^(A)

¹³ And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?

Prophecy and the Parables

^34 (A)All these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables; and without a parable He did not speak to them, ³⁵ that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:

⁵ “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it. ⁶ Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture. ⁷ And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. ⁸ But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded ^[a]a crop a hundredfold.” When He had said these things He cried, ^(A)“He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

Jesus’ Use of Parables

^33 (A)And with many such parables He spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it.

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth^(A)

⁵³ Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these parables, that He departed from there.

The Purpose of Parables^(A)

¹⁰ And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?”

¹¹ He answered and said to them, “Because ^(B)it has been given to you to know the ^[a]mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. ^12 (C)For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. ¹³ Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.

Nathan’s Parable and David’s Confession

12 Then the Lord sent Nathan to David. And ^(A)he came to him, and ^(B)said to him: “There were two men in one city, one rich and the other poor. ² The rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds. ³ But the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb which he had bought and nourished; and it grew up together with him and with his children. It ate of his own food and drank from his own cup and lay in his bosom; and it was like a daughter to him. ⁴ And a traveler came to the rich man, who refused to take from his own flock and from his own herd to prepare one for the wayfaring man 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 So David’s anger was greatly aroused against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this ^[a]shall surely die! ⁶ And he shall restore ^(C)fourfold for the lamb, because he did this thing and because he had no pity.”

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