The Parable of the Sower

1And He began to teach again by the sea. And such a very large crowd gathered to Him that He got into a boat in the sea and sat down; and the whole crowd was by the sea on the land. 2And He was teaching them many things in parables, and was saying to them in His teaching, 3“Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow; 4and it happened that as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up. 5And other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil. 6And after the sun rose, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. 7And other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no [†]crop. 8And other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they were yielding a [†]crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.” 9And He was saying, “He who has ears to hear, [†]let him hear.”

10And when He was alone, [†]His followers, along with the twelve, began asking Him about the parables. 11And He was saying to them, “To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but to those who are outside, everything comes in parables, 12so that WHILE SEEING, THEY MAY SEE AND NOT PERCEIVE, AND WHILE HEARING, THEY MAY HEAR AND NOT UNDERSTAND, LEST THEY RETURN AND BE FORGIVEN.”

The Parable of the Sower Explained

13And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand all the parables? 14The sower sows the word. 15And these are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown: when they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them. 16And in a similar way, these are the ones being sown on the rocky places: those who, when hearing the word, immediately receive it with joy; 17and they have no root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they [†]fall away. 18And others are those being sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, 19but the worries of the [†]world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for anything else enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 20And those are the ones which were sown on the good soil: they who hear the word and accept it and are bearing fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.”

21And He was saying to them, “Is a lamp brought to be put under a [†]basket or under a bed? Is it not to be put on the lampstand? 22For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light. 23If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” 24And He was saying to them, “Beware what you listen to. [†]By your standard of measure it will be measured to you, and more will be given to you. 25For whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.”

The Parable of the Seed

26And He was saying, “The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil; 27and he sleeps and rises, night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows—how, he himself does not know. 28The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. 29But when the grain [†]is ripe, he immediately [†]puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

30And He was saying, “How shall we compare the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it? 31It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is [†]smallest of all the seeds that are upon the soil, 32yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes [†]largest of all the garden plants and forms large branches; so that THE BIRDS OF THE [†]AIR can NEST UNDER ITS SHADE.”

33And with many such parables He was speaking the word to them, as they were able to hear it; 34and He was not speaking to them without a parable; but He was explaining everything privately to His own disciples.

Jesus Calms a Storm

35And on that day, when evening came, He said to them, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36[†]And leaving the crowd, they took Him along with them in the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him. 37And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat so that the boat was already filling up. 38And Jesus Himself was in the stern, sleeping on the cushion; and they got Him up and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” 39And He woke up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Silence! Be still.” And the wind died down and [†]it became [†]perfectly calm. 40And He said to them, “Why are you so cowardly? Do you still have no faith?” 41And they became [†]very afraid and were saying to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”