^13:2And such a large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat to sit while¹ the whole crowd stood on the shore. ^13:3He² told them many things in parables,³ saying: “Listen!⁴ A sower went out to sow.⁵^13:4And as he sowed, some seeds⁶ fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. ^13:5Other⁷ seeds fell on rocky ground⁸ where they did not have much soil. They sprang up quickly because the soil was not deep.⁹^13:6But when the sun came up, they were scorched, and because they did not have sufficient root, they withered. ^13:7Other seeds fell among the thorns,¹⁰ and they grew up and choked them.¹¹^13:8But other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundred times as much, some sixty, and some thirty. ^13:9The one who has ears had better listen!”¹²

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Footnotes

1 Grk “and all the crowd.” The clause in this phrase, although coordinate in terms of grammar, is logically subordinate to the previous clause.
2 Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
3 Though parables can contain a variety of figures of speech (cf. the remainder of chapter 13), many times they are simply stories that attempt to teach spiritual truth (which is unknown to the hearers) by using a comparison with something known to the hearers. In general, parables usually advance a single idea, though there may be many parts and characters in a single parable and subordinate ideas may expand the main idea further. The beauty of using the parable as a teaching device is that it draws the listener into the story, elicits an evaluation, and demands a response.
4 Grk “Behold.”
5 A sower went out to sow. The background for this well-known parable, drawn from a typical scene in the Palestinian countryside, is a field through which a well-worn path runs. Sowing would occur in late fall or early winter (October to December) in the rainy season, looking for sprouting in April or May and a June harvest. The use of seed as a figure for God’s giving life has OT roots (Isa 55:10–11). The point of the parable of the sower is to illustrate the various responses to the message of the kingdom of God.
6 In Matthew’s version of this parable, plural pronouns are used to refer to the seed in v. 4 (ἅ … αὐτά [ha … auta]), although the collective singular is used in v. 5 and following (indicated by the singular verbs like ἔπεσεν [epesen]). For the sake of consistency in English, plural pronouns referring to the seed are used in the translation throughout the Matthean account. In both Mark and Luke the collective singular is used consistently throughout (cf. Mark 4:1–9; Luke 8:4–8).
7 Here and in vv. 7 and 8 δέ (de) has not been translated.
8 The rocky ground in Palestine would be a limestone base lying right under the soil.
9 Grk “it did not have enough depth of earth.”
10 Palestinian weeds like these thorns could grow up to six feet in height and have a major root system.
11 That is, crowded out the good plants.
12 The translation “had better listen!” captures the force of the third person imperative more effectively than the traditional “let him hear,” which sounds more like a permissive than an imperative to the modern English reader. This was Jesus’ common expression to listen and heed carefully (cf. Matt 11:15, 13:43; Mark 4:9, 23; Luke 8:8, 14:35).

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear.”

NIVNew International Version (2011)

Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat 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, sixty or thirty times what was sown. Whoever has ears, let them hear.”

CSBChristian Standard Bible

Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat down, while the whole crowd stood on the shore.

Then he told them many things in parables, saying, “Consider the sower who went out to sow. As he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seed fell on rocky ground where it didn’t have much soil, and it grew up quickly since the soil wasn’t deep. But when the sun came up, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it. Still other seed fell on good ground and produced fruit: some a hundred, some sixty, and some thirty times what was sown. Let anyone who has ears listen.”

NLTNew Living Translation

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! Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.”

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

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 fell on the side of the path, and the birds came and 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 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, this one a hundred times as much and this one sixty and this one thirty. The one who has ears, let him hear!”

KJV 1900King James Version

And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore. And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

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