⁴As a large crowd was gathering, and people were coming to Jesus from every town, he said in a parable,^w ⁵“A sower went out to sow his seed. As he sowed, some seed fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds of the sky devoured it. ⁶Other seed fell on the rock; when it grew up, it withered away, since it lacked moisture. ⁷Other seed fell among thorns; the thorns grew up with it and choked it. ⁸Still other seed fell on good ground; when it grew up, it produced fruit: a hundred times what was sown.”^x As he said this, he called out, “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen.”^y

WHY JESUS USED PARABLES

⁹Then his disciples asked him, “What does this parable mean?”^z ¹⁰So he said, “The secrets of the kingdom of God have been given for you^aa to know, but to the rest it is in parables, so that

Looking they may not see,

and hearing they may not understand.^A^ab

THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER EXPLAINED

¹¹“This is the meaning of the parable:^a The seed is the word of God.^b ¹²The seed along the path are those who have heard and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. ¹³And the seed on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy. Having no root, these believe for a while and fall away in a time of testing.^c

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Cross references

w Mt 13:3–9; Mk 4:3–9
x Gn 26:12
y Mt 11:15; Lk 13:34
z Mt 13:10–11; Mk 4:10–11
aa Mt 19:11
A Is 6:9
ab Is 6:9
a Mt 13:18–23; Mk 4:13–20
b Lk 8:21; 11:28; Ac 18:11; Jms 1:21; 1Pt 1:23
c Ezk 33:31–32; Gl 1:6