A Story About a Farmer Sowing Seed^(A)

13 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. ² A large crowd gathered around him. So he got into a boat and sat down. All the people stayed on the shore. ³ Then Jesus used stories to teach them many things. He told them this story:

“A farmer went out to sow seed. ⁴ While he was scattering the seed, some of it fell by the road. The birds came and ate all that seed. ⁵ Other seed fell on rocky ground, where there was not enough dirt. It grew very fast there, because the soil was not deep. ⁶ But when the sun rose, it burned the plants. The plants died because they did not have deep roots. ⁷ Some other seed fell among thorny weeds. The weeds grew and stopped the good plants from growing. ⁸ But some of the seed fell on good ground. There it grew and made grain. Some plants made 100 times more grain, some 60 times more, and some 30 times more. ⁹ You people who hear me, listen!”

Why Jesus Used Stories to Teach^(B)

¹⁰ The followers came to Jesus and asked, “Why do you use these stories to teach the people?”

¹¹ Jesus answered, “Only you can know the secret truths about God’s kingdom. Those other people cannot know these secret truths. ¹² The people who have some understanding will be given more. And they will have even more than they need. But those who do not have much understanding will lose even the little understanding that they have. ¹³ This is why I use these stories to teach the people: They see, but they don’t really see. They hear, but they don’t really hear or understand. ¹⁴ So they show that what Isaiah said about them is true:

¹⁶ But God has blessed you. You understand what you see with your eyes. And you understand what you hear with your ears. ¹⁷ I can assure you, many prophets and godly people wanted to see what you now see. But they did not see it. And many prophets and godly people wanted to hear what you now hear. But they did not hear it.

A Story About a Farmer Sowing Seed^(A)

4 Another time Jesus began teaching by the lake, and a large crowd gathered around him. He got into a boat so that he could sit and teach from the lake. All the people stayed on the shore near the water. ² Jesus used stories to teach them many things. One of his lessons included this story:

³ “Listen! A farmer went out to sow seed. ⁴ While he was scattering the seed, some of it fell by the road. The birds came and ate all that seed. ⁵ Other seed fell on rocky ground, where there was not enough dirt. It grew quickly there because the soil was not deep. ⁶ But then the sun rose and the plants were burned. They died because they did not have deep roots. ⁷ Some other seed fell among thorny weeds. The weeds grew and stopped the good plants from growing. So they did not make grain. ⁸ But some of the seed fell on good ground. There it began to grow, and it made grain. Some plants made 30 times more grain, some 60 times more, and some 100 times more.”

⁹ Then Jesus said, “You people who hear me, listen!”

Why Jesus Used Stories to Teach^(B)

¹⁰ Later, Jesus was away from the people. The twelve apostles and his other followers asked him about the stories.

¹¹ Jesus said, “Only you can know the secret truth about God’s kingdom. But to those other people I tell everything by using stories. ¹² I do this so that