4Again Jesus began to teach by the Sea of Galilee. The crowd that gathered around him was very large. So he got into a boat. He sat down in it out on the lake. All the people were along the shore at the water’s edge. ²He taught them many things by using stories.

In his teaching he said, ³“Listen! A farmer went out to plant his seed. ⁴He scattered the seed on the ground. Some fell on a path. Birds came and ate it up. ⁵Some seed fell on rocky places, where there wasn’t much soil. The plants came up quickly, because the soil wasn’t deep. ⁶When the sun came up, it burned the plants. They dried up because they had no roots. ⁷Other seed fell among thorns. The thorns grew up and crowded out the plants. So the plants did not bear grain. ⁸Still other seed fell on good soil. It grew up and produced a crop 30, 60, or even 100 times more than the farmer planted.”

⁹Then Jesus said, “Those who have ears should listen.”

¹⁰Later Jesus was alone. The Twelve asked him about the stories. So did the others around him. ¹¹He told them, “The secret of God’s kingdom has been given to you. But to outsiders everything is told by using stories. ¹²In that way,

“ ‘They will see but never know what they are seeing.

They will hear but never understand.

Otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!’ ”

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