The Parable of the Sower

4:1–12pp—Mt 13:1–15; Lk 8:4–10
4:13–20pp—Mt 13:18–23; Lk 8:11–15

4 Again Jesus began to teach by the lake.s The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water’s edge. 2 He taught them many things by parables,t and in his teaching said: 3 “Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed.u 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.”v

9 Then Jesus said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”w