The Parable of the Sower

4 As a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he spoke by way of a parable: 5 “A sower went out to sow his seed. As he sowed, some seed fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the sky devoured it. 6 Other seed fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away because it had no moisture. 7 Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. 8 But other seed fell [fn]into good soil, and when it grew, it produced a hundred times more than what was sown.” As he said this, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”