The Parable of the Sower

4 And again he began to teach beside the sea,[fn] and a very large crowd was gathered to him, so that he got into a boat and[fn] sat on the sea, and the whole crowd was at the sea on the land. 2 And he began to teach[fn] them many things in parables, and was saying to them in his teaching, 3 “Listen! Behold, the sower went out to sow. 4 And it happened that while he was sowing, some seed[fn] fell on the side of the path, and the birds came and devoured it. 5 And other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up at once, because it did not have any depth of soil. 6 And when the sun rose it was scorched, and because it did not have enough root, it withered. 7 And other seed fell among the thorn plants, and the thorn plants came up and choked it, and it did not produce grain.[fn] 8 And other seed fell on the good soil, and produced grain,[fn] coming up and increasing, and it bore a crop[fn]—one thirty and one sixty and one a hundred times as much.[fn] 9 And he said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear!”