The Parable about a Farmer^(A)

13 That day Jesus left the house and sat down beside the sea. ² Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat down, while the entire crowd stood on the shore. ³ Then he began to tell them many things in parables. He said, “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 Other seeds fell on stony ground, where they did not 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 did not have any roots, they dried up. ⁷ Other seeds fell among thorn bushes, and the thorn bushes grew higher and choked them out. ⁸ But other seeds fell on good soil and produced a crop, some 100, some 60, and some 30 times what was sown.^{[a] 9} Let the person who has ears^[b] listen!”