The Parable of the Sower

13 On that day Jesus went out of the house and[a] was sitting by the sea.[b] And large crowds gathered close around him, so that he got into a boat to sit down, and all the crowd was standing on the shore. And he spoke many things to them in parables, saying, “Behold, the sower went out to sow, and while he was sowing, some seed[c] fell on the side of the path, and the birds came and[d] devoured it. And other seed fell on the rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up at once because it did not have any depth of soil. But when[e] the sun rose it was scorched, and because it did not have enough root, it withered. And other seed fell among the thorn plants, and the thorn plants came up and choked it. But other seed fell on the good soil and produced grain,[f] this one a hundred times as much and this one sixty and this one thirty.

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 13:1 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“went out”) has been translated as a finite verb
  2. Matthew 13:1 That is, the Sea of Galilee
  3. Matthew 13:4 Literally “some of which”
  4. Matthew 13:4 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“came”) has been translated as a finite verb
  5. Matthew 13:6 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the temporal genitive absolute participle (“rose”)
  6. Matthew 13:8 Literally “fruit,” describing here the grain harvested from the healthy plants; in contemporary English this would more naturally be expressed by terms like “grain” or “crop”

The Parable of the Sower(A)(B)(C)

13 That same day Jesus went out of the house(D) and sat by the lake. Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat(E) and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred,(F) sixty or thirty times what was sown.

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Parable of the Farmer Scattering Seed

13 Later that same day Jesus left the house and sat beside the lake. A large crowd soon gathered around him, so he got into a boat. Then he sat there and taught as the people stood on the shore. He told many stories in the form of parables, such as this one:

“Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seeds. As he scattered them across his field, some seeds fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate them. Other seeds fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seeds sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow. But the plants soon wilted under the hot sun, and since they didn’t have deep roots, they died. Other seeds fell among thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants. Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted!

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