1
That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake.
2
Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore.
3
Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed.
4
As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.
5
Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow.
6
But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.
7
Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants.
8
Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.