Matthew 13:1-13

The Parable of the Sower

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.

9 Whoever has ears, let them hear.”

10 The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?”

11 He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.

12 Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.

13 This is why I speak to them in parables: “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.

Cross References

• 1. ver 36; Matthew 9:28
• 2. Luke 5:3
• 3. Genesis 26:12
• 4. S Matthew 11:15
• 5. S Matthew 3:2
• 6. Matthew 11:25; Matthew 16:17; Matthew 19:11; John 6:65; 1 Corinthians 2:10,14; Colossians 1:27; 1 John 2:20,27
• 7. S Matthew 25:29; Luke 19:26
• 8. Deuteronomy 29:4; Jeremiah 5:21; Ezekiel 12:2