Matthew 13:1-15

New International Version

The Parable of the Sower^(A)^(B)^(C)

13 That same day Jesus went out of the house^(D) and sat by the lake. ²Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat^(E) and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. ³Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. ⁴As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. ⁵Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. ⁶But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. ⁷Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. ⁸Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred,^(F) sixty or thirty times what was sown. ⁹Whoever has ears, let them hear.”^(G)

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

¹¹He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven^(H) has been given to you,^(I) but not to them. ¹²Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.^(J) ¹³This is why I speak to them in parables:

“Though seeing, they do not see;
though hearing, they do not hear or understand.^(K)

¹⁴In them is fulfilled^(L) the prophecy of Isaiah:

“‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
    you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
¹⁵For this people’s heart has become calloused;
    they hardly hear with their ears,
    and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
    hear with their ears,
    understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.’^[a]^(M)