The Parable of the Sower

13 On that day Jesus went out of the house and was sitting by the sea.(A) Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat down, while the whole crowd stood on the shore.(B)

Then he told them many things in parables,(C) 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.(D) Let anyone who has ears[a] listen.”(E)

Why Jesus Used Parables

10 Then the disciples(F) came up and asked him, “Why are you speaking to them in parables?” (G)

11 He answered, “Because the secrets of the kingdom of heaven have been given for you to know,(H) but it has not been given to them. 12 For whoever has, more will be given to him, and he will have more than enough; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.(I) 13 That is why I speak to them in parables, because looking they do not see,(J) and hearing they do not listen or understand.(K) 14 Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled in them, which says:

You will listen and listen,
but never understand;
you will look and look,
but never perceive.(L)
15 For this people’s heart has grown callous;
their ears are hard of hearing,
and they have shut their eyes;
otherwise they might see with their eyes,
and hear with their ears, and
understand with their hearts,
and turn back—
and I would heal them.[b](M)

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Footnotes

  1. 13:9 Other mss add to hear
  2. 13:14–15 Is 6:9–10

The Parable of the Sower(A)(B)(C)

13 That same day Jesus went out of the house(D) and sat by the lake. Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat(E) 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,(F) sixty or thirty times what was sown. Whoever has ears, let them hear.”(G)

10 The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?”

11 He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven(H) has been given to you,(I) but not to them. 12 Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.(J) 13 This is why I speak to them in parables:

“Though seeing, they do not see;
    though hearing, they do not hear or understand.(K)

14 In them is fulfilled(L) the prophecy of Isaiah:

“‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
    you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
15 For this people’s heart has become calloused;
    they hardly hear with their ears,
    and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
    hear with their ears,
    understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.’[a](M)

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 13:15 Isaiah 6:9,10 (see Septuagint)

The Parable of the Sower

As a large crowd was gathering, and people were coming to Jesus from every town, he said in a parable,(A) “A sower went out to sow his seed. As he sowed, some seed fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds of the sky devoured it. Other seed fell on the rock; when it grew up, it withered away, since it lacked moisture. Other seed fell among thorns; the thorns grew up with it and choked it. Still other seed fell on good ground; when it grew up, it produced fruit: a hundred times what was sown.”(B) As he said this, he called out, “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen.”(C)

Why Jesus Used Parables

Then his disciples asked him, “What does this parable mean?” (D) 10 So he said, “The secrets of the kingdom of God have been given for you(E) to know, but to the rest it is in parables, so that

Looking they may not see,
and hearing they may not understand.[a](F)

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Footnotes

  1. 8:10 Is 6:9

While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.”

When he said this, he called out, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”(A)

His disciples asked him what this parable meant. 10 He said, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you,(B) but to others I speak in parables, so that,

“‘though seeing, they may not see;
    though hearing, they may not understand.’[a](C)

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Footnotes

  1. Luke 8:10 Isaiah 6:9