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The Parable of the Sower

^1 (C1)And He began to teach again ^(C2)by the sea. And such a very large crowd gathered to Him that ^(C3)He got into a boat in the sea and sat down; and the whole crowd was by the sea on the land.² And He was teaching them many things in ^(C1)parables, and was saying to them in His teaching,³ "Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow;⁴ and it happened that as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up.⁵ "And 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.⁶ "And after the sun rose, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.⁷ "And other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no ^(F1)crop.⁸ "And other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they were yielding a ^(F1)crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold."⁹ And He was saying, "^(C1)He who has ears to hear, ^(F1)let him hear."

¹⁰ And when He was alone, ^(F1)His followers, along with the twelve, began asking Him about the parables.¹¹ And He was saying to them, "To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but to ^(C1)those who are outside, everything comes ^(C2)in parables,¹² so that ^(C1)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

^13 (C1)And He ^(*)said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand all the parables?¹⁴ "The sower sows the word.¹⁵ "And these are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown: when they hear, immediately ^(C1)Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them.¹⁶ "And 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;¹⁷ and they have no root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they ^(F1)fall away.¹⁸ "And others are those being sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word,¹⁹ but the worries of ^(C1)the ^(F1)world, and the ^(C2)deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for anything else enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.²⁰ "And those are the ones which were sown on the good soil: they who hear the word and accept it and ^(C1)are bearing fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold."

²¹ And He was saying to them, "^(C1)Is a lamp brought to be put under a ^(F1)basket or under a bed? Is it not to be put on the lampstand?²² "^(C1)For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light.²³ "^(C1)If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear."²⁴ And He was saying to them, "Beware what you listen to. ^(F1)(C1)By your standard of measure it will be measured to you, and more will be given to you.²⁵ "^(C1)For 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

²⁶ And He was saying, "The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil;²⁷ and he sleeps and rises, night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows—how, he himself does not know.²⁸ "The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head.²⁹ "But when the grain ^(F1)is ripe, he immediately ^(F2)(C1)puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come."

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

^30 (C1)And He was saying, "How shall we ^(C2)compare the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it?³¹ "It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is ^(F1)smallest of all the seeds that are upon the soil,³² yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes ^(F1)largest of all the garden plants and forms large branches; so that ^(C1)THE BIRDS OF THE ^(F2)AIR can NEST UNDER ITS SHADE."

³³ And with many such parables He was speaking the word to them, as they were able to hear it;³⁴ and He was not speaking to them ^(C1)without a parable; but He was ^(C2)explaining everything privately to His own disciples.

Jesus Calms a Storm

^35 (C1)And on that day, when evening came, He ^(*)said to them, "Let us go over to the other side."^36 (F1)And leaving the crowd, they ^(*)took Him along with them ^(C1)in the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him.³⁷ And a great windstorm ^(*)arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat so that the boat was already filling up.³⁸ And 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?"³⁹ And He woke up and ^(C1)rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Silence! Be still." And the wind died down and ^(F1)it became ^(F2)perfectly calm.⁴⁰ And He said to them, "Why are you so cowardly? ^(C1)Do you still have no faith?"⁴¹ And they became ^(F1)very afraid and were saying to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?"