A Story About a Farmer Sowing Seed^(A)

13 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. ² A large crowd gathered around him. So he got into a boat and sat down. All the people stayed on the shore. ³ Then Jesus used stories to teach them many things. He told them this story:

“A farmer went out to sow seed. ⁴ While he was scattering the seed, some of it fell by the road. The birds came and ate all that seed. ⁵ Other seed fell on rocky ground, where there was not enough dirt. It grew very fast there, because the soil was not deep. ⁶ But when the sun rose, it burned the plants. The plants died because they did not have deep roots. ⁷ Some other seed fell among thorny weeds. The weeds grew and stopped the good plants from growing. ⁸ But some of the seed fell on good ground. There it grew and made grain. Some plants made 100 times more grain, some 60 times more, and some 30 times more. ⁹ You people who hear me, listen!”

A Story About a Farmer Sowing Seed^(A)

⁴ A large crowd came together. People came to Jesus from every town, and he told them this story:

⁵ “A farmer went out to sow seed. While he was scattering the seed, some of it fell beside the road. People walked on the seed, and the birds ate it all. ⁶ Other seed fell on rock. It began to grow but then died because it had no water. ⁷ Some other seed fell among thorny weeds. This seed grew, but later the weeds stopped the plants from growing. ⁸ The rest of the seed fell on good ground. This seed grew and made 100 times more grain.”

Jesus finished the story. Then he called out, “You people who hear me, listen!”