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Again Jesus began teaching by the lake. A great crowd gathered around him, so he sat down in a boat near the shore. All the people stayed on the shore close to the water.
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Jesus taught them many things, using stories. He said,
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"Listen! A farmer went out to plant his seed.
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While he was planting, some seed fell by the road, and the birds came and ate it up.
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Some seed fell on rocky ground where there wasn't much dirt. That seed grew very fast, because the ground was not deep.
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But when the sun rose, the plants dried up because they did not have deep roots.
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Some other seed fell among thorny weeds, which grew and choked the good plants. So those plants did not produce a crop.
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Some other seed fell on good ground and began to grow. It got taller and produced a crop. Some plants made thirty times more, some made sixty times more, and some made a hundred times more."
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Then Jesus said, "You people who can hear me, listen!"