Matthew 13:1–15

The Parable of the Sower

13That same day Jesus left the house and went to the lakeside, where he sat down to teach. ^2*The crowd that gathered round him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it, while the crowd stood on the shore. ³He used parables to tell them many things.

“Once there was a man who went out to sow corn. ⁴As he scattered the seed in the field, some of it fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. ⁵Some of it fell on rocky ground, where there was little soil. The seeds soon sprouted, because the soil wasn’t deep. ⁶But when the sun came up, it burnt the young plants; and because the roots had not grown deep enough, the plants soon dried up. ⁷Some of the seed fell among thorn bushes, which grew up and choked the plants. ⁸But some seeds fell in good soil, and the plants produced corn; some produced a hundred grains, others sixty, and others thirty.”

⁹And Jesus concluded, “Listen, then, if you have ears!”

The Purpose of the Parables

¹⁰Then the disciples came to Jesus and asked him, “Why do you use parables when you talk to the people?”

¹¹Jesus answered, “The knowledge about the secrets of the Kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. ^12*For the person who has something will be given more, so that he will have more than enough; but the person who has nothing will have taken away from him even the little he has. ¹³The reason I use parables in talking to them is that they look, but do not see, and they listen, but do not hear or understand. ^14*So the prophecy of Isaiah applies to them:

‘This people will listen and listen, but not understand;

they will look and look, but not see,

^15*because their minds are dull,

and they have stopped up their ears

and have closed their eyes.

Otherwise, their eyes would see,

their ears would hear,

their minds would understand,

and they would turn to me, says God,

and I would heal them.’