1Again Jesus began to teach by the sea. A very large crowd gathered around him, so he got into a boat on the sea and sat down. The whole crowd was on the land beside the sea. 2He was teaching them many things in parables, and as he taught he said to them: 3“Listen! A sower went out to sow. 4As he was sowing, some of the seed fell along the path, and birds came and ate it up.a 5Other seed fell on rocky ground, where there was little soil. It sprang up at once, because the soil was not deep.b 6But when the sun rose, the young growth was scorched, and it withered because it had no root.
7Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, so it produced no grain. 8Other seeds fell on the good soil, where they came up and grew and kept producing grain. Some bore thirty times as much, some sixty, and some a hundred.” 9Then Jesus added, “Anyone who has ears to hear must hear.” 10When he was alone, the people around him and the Twelve asked him about the parables.c 11He told them, “You have been given the secret of the kingdom of God. But for those outside, everything is in parables,d 12so that they may look and look and still not see, and hear and hear and still not understand; otherwise they might turn back and be forgiven.”
13Jesus said to them, “Do you not grasp this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? 14The sower sows the word. 15These are the ones beside the path, where the word is sown. When they hear it, Satan comes at once and takes away the word that has been sown in them.e 16In the same way, these are the ones sown on rocky ground. When they hear the word, at once they receive it with joy. 17They have no root in themselves, but they last only for a while. Then, when hardship or persecution comes because of the word, at once they fall away.f
18Others are the ones sown among the thorns. These are people who have heard the word, 19but the worries of the present age, the deceitfulness of wealth, and desires for other things move in and choke the word, and it bears no fruit. 20And those sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word, welcome it and bear fruit, some thirty times as much, some sixty and some a hundred.” 21He went on to say to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be placed under a basket or under a bed? Is it not brought in to be placed on the lampstand?g 22For nothing is hidden except to be disclosed, and nothing was kept secret except to come to light.h 23Whoever has ears to hear should hear.”
24He also said to them, “Be careful about what you hear. With the measure you measure out, it will be measured out to you, and still more will be added to you.i 25For more will be given to whoever has. But from whoever does not have, even what that person has will be taken away.” 26Then he said, “The kingdom of God is like this: a man scatters seed on the ground. 27He goes to sleep and gets up, night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows, but he himself does not know how. 28All by itself the ground produces a crop: first the shoot, then the head, then the full grain in the head. 29When the crop is ripe, the man puts the sickle to it at once, because harvest time has come.”j
30Jesus went on to say, “How shall we compare the kingdom of God? What parable shall we use to present it? 31It is like a mustard seed. When it is sown in the ground, it is smaller than all the seeds on earth. 32Yet once it is sown, it comes up and becomes larger than all the garden plants. It puts out large branches, so the birds of the sky can settle in its shade.” 33With many parables like these, Jesus spoke the word to them, as far as they were able to hear it.k 34He never spoke to them without a parable, but in private he would explain everything to his own disciples. 35On that day, when evening came, he said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.”
36Leaving the crowd behind, they took Jesus with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him as well. 37Then a great windstorm arose, and the waves were sweeping into the boat, so that it was already filling up. 38Jesus, meanwhile, was asleep on the cushion in the stern. They woke him and said, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" 39He woke up, rebuked the wind, and told the sea, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down, and there was a great calm.l 40He said to them, "Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?"m 41They were filled with great fear and kept saying to one another, "Who then is this, when even wind and sea obey him?"