1 Again he began to teach beside the sea. So large a crowd gathered around him that he stepped into the boat and sat in it on the sea, while the whole crowd was on the land along the sea.
2 He taught them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them,
3 "Listen! Look, the sower went out to sow.
4 It happened that as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds of the sky came and ate it up.
5 Other seed fell on rocky ground where there was not much earth, and it shot up quickly because the earth was not deep.
6 But once the sun came up it was burned, and because it had no root it dried up.
7 Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and smothered it, and it gave no crop.
8 And other seed fell on the good ground and gave a crop that sprang up and grew, and it produced thirtyfold, sixtyfold, and a hundredfold."
9 And he said to them, "Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear."
10 When he was by himself, those around him together with the twelve asked him about the parable.
11 He told them, "To you it has been granted to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but for those outside, everything comes in parables,
12 so that 'though they look, they may see and not perceive, and though they listen, they may hear and not understand, or else they might turn back, and their sins would be forgiven them.'"
13 He also said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand all the parables?
14 The sower sows the word.
15 These are the ones beside the road where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan comes at once and seizes the word that was sown in their hearts.
16 In the same way, these are the ones sown on the rocky ground: when they hear the word, they at once accept it gladly;
17 but they have no root in themselves and last only for a time; then, when affliction or persecution comes because of the word, they stumble at once.
18 And these are the ones sown among the thorns, the ones who hear the word,
19 but the worries of this age, the deceit of wealth, and the desires for other things come in and smother the word, and it becomes fruitless.
20 And those sown on the good ground are the ones who hear the word and welcome it and bear fruit, thirtyfold, sixtyfold, and a hundredfold."
21 He said to them, "Is a lamp brought in to be placed under the grain basket or under the bed? Is it not to be set on the lampstand?
22 For there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, and nothing became secret except so that it would come into the open.
23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear."
24 He also said to them, "Pay attention to what you hear. By the measure you measure with, it will be measured to you, and to you who hear, more will be added.
25 For whoever has will be given more; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him."
26 He also said, "The kingdom of God is like this: as if a man were to throw seed on the ground,
27 and were to sleep and get up, night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows tall in a way he himself does not know.
28 The soil produces a crop by itself: first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head.
29 And when the crop permits, at once he sends in the sickle, because the harvest has arrived."
30 He also said, "To what may we liken the kingdom of God? Or by what parable shall we picture it?
31 It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on the earth;
32 yet once it is sown, it comes up and becomes bigger than all the garden plants, and it puts out large branches, so that the birds of the sky are able to settle under its shade."
33 With many parables like these he was speaking the word to them, as far as they were able to hear.
34 Apart from a parable he would not speak to them; but in private he explained everything to his own disciples.
35 That same day, when evening had come, he said to them, "Let us go across to the other side."
36 Leaving the crowd, they took him along in the boat, just as he was; and other small boats were with him too.
37 A violent windstorm arose, and the waves kept breaking into the boat, so that it was already filling up.
38 He himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. They roused him and said to him, "Teacher, does it not concern you that we are lost?"
39 He got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Silence! Be muzzled!" And the wind died down, and it became completely calm.
40 And he said to them, "Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?"
41 They were filled with great fear and said to one another, "Who, then, is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"