The Bible in Basic English BBE
          
          
            New International Version NIV
          
            
              1 On that day Jesus went out of the house and was seated by the seaside.
            
            
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That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake.            
            
              2 And great numbers of people came together to him, so that he got into a boat; and the people took up their position by the sea.
            
            
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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 And he gave them teaching in the form of a story, saying, A man went out to put seed in the earth;
            
            
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Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed.            
            
              4 And while he did so, some seeds were dropped by the wayside, and the birds came and took them for food:
            
            
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As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.            
            
              5 And some of the seed went among the stones, where it had not much earth, and straight away it came up because the earth was not deep:
            
            
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Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow.            
            
              6 And when the sun was high, it was burned; and because it had no root it became dry and dead.
            
            
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But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.            
            
              7 And some seeds went among thorns, and the thorns came up and they had no room for growth:
            
            
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Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants.            
            
              8 And some, falling on good earth, gave fruit, some a hundred, some sixty, some thirty times as much.
            
            
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Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.            
            
              9 He who has ears, let him give ear.
            
            
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Whoever has ears, let them hear.”            
          
            
              The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.
            
            
              Scripture quoted by permission.  Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.  NIV®.  Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011  by Biblica.  All rights reserved worldwide.