The Parable of the Sower

¹ That same day Jesus left the house and was sitting by the sea. ² A large crowd gathered around him. So he stepped into a boat and sat down, while all the people stood on the shore. ³ He told them many things in parables, saying: “Listen, a sower went out to sow. ⁴ As he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it. ⁵ Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil. Immediately the seed sprang up, because the soil was not deep. ⁶ But when the sun rose, the seed was scorched. Because it had no root, it withered away. ⁷ Other seed fell among thorns. The thorns grew up and choked it. ⁸ But some seed fell on good ground and produced grain: some one hundred times, some sixty, and some thirty times more than was sown. ⁹ Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear.”

¹⁰ The disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?”

¹¹ He answered them, “To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but it has not been given to them. ¹² For whoever has will be given even more, and he will have an abundance. But whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. ¹³ This is why I speak to them in parables, because even though they see, they do not see; and even though they hear, they do not hear or understand. ¹⁴ In them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled which says,

¹⁶ “But blessed are your eyes because they see and your ears because they hear. ¹⁷ Amen I tell you: Many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you are seeing, but they did not see it. They longed to hear what you are hearing, but they did not hear it.

¹⁸ “So listen carefully to the parable of the sower. ¹⁹ When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the Evil One comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the seed that was sown along the path. ²⁰ The seed that was sown on rocky ground is the person who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, ²¹ yet he is not deeply rooted and does not endure. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he immediately falls away. ²² The seed that was sown among the thorns is the one who hears the word, but the worry of this world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it produces no fruit. ²³ But the seed that was sown on the good ground is the one who continues to hear and understand the word. Indeed he continues to produce fruit: some a hundred, some sixty, and some thirty times more than was sown.”