The Sower and the Four Soils

Matthew 13

¹ On that day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the seaside.

² Great multitudes gathered to him, so that he entered into a boat and sat; and all the multitude stood on the beach.

³ He spoke to them many things in parables, saying, “Behold, a farmer went out to sow.

⁴ As he sowed, some seeds fell by the roadside, and the birds came and devoured them.

⁵ Others fell on rocky ground, where they didn’t have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of earth.

⁶ When the sun had risen, they were scorched. Because they had no root, they withered away.

⁷ Others fell among thorns. The thorns grew up and choked them.

⁸ Others fell on good soil and yielded fruit: some one hundred times as much, some sixty, and some thirty.

⁹ He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

¹⁰ The disciples came, and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?”

¹¹ He answered them, “To you it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but it is not given to them.

¹² For whoever has, to him will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever doesn’t have, from him will be taken away even that which he has.

¹³ Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they don’t see, and hearing, they don’t hear, neither do they understand.

¹⁴ In them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says, ‘By hearing you will hear, and will in no way understand; Seeing you will see, and will in no way perceive;

¹⁵ for this people’s heart has grown callous, their ears are dull of hearing, and they have closed their eyes; or else perhaps they might perceive with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and would turn again, and I would heal them.’

¹⁶ “But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear.

¹⁷ For most certainly I tell you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see the things which you see, and didn’t see them; and to hear the things which you hear, and didn’t hear them.

¹⁸ “Hear, then, the parable of the farmer.

¹⁹ When anyone hears the word of the Kingdom and doesn’t understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away that which has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown by the roadside.

²⁰ What was sown on the rocky places, this is he who hears the word and immediately with joy receives it;

²¹ yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while. When oppression or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.

²² What was sown among the thorns, this is he who hears the word, but the cares of this age and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.

²³ What was sown on the good ground, this is he who hears the word and understands it, who most certainly bears fruit and produces, some one hundred times as much, some sixty, and some thirty.”

Mark 4

¹ Again he began to teach by the seaside. A great multitude was gathered to him, so that he entered into a boat in the sea and sat down. All the multitude were on the land by the sea.

² He taught them many things in parables, and told them in his teaching,

³ “Listen! Behold, the farmer went out to sow.

⁴ As he sowed, some seed fell by the road, and the birds came and devoured it.

⁵ Others fell on the rocky ground, where it had little soil, and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of soil.

⁶ When the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.

⁷ Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.

⁸ Others fell into the good ground and yielded fruit, growing up and increasing. Some produced thirty times, some sixty times, and some one hundred times as much.”

⁹ He said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear.”

¹⁰ When he was alone, those who were around him with the twelve asked him about the parables.

¹¹ He said to them, “To you is given the mystery of God’s Kingdom, but to those who are outside, all things are done in parables,

¹² that ‘seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand, lest perhaps they should turn again, and their sins should be forgiven them.’ ”

¹³ He said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How will you understand all of the parables?

¹⁴ The farmer sows the word.

¹⁵ The ones by the road are the ones where the word is sown; and when they have heard, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them.

¹⁶ These in the same way are those who are sown on the rocky places, who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with joy.

¹⁷ They have no root in themselves, but are short-lived. When oppression or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they stumble.

¹⁸ Others are those who are sown among the thorns. These are those who have heard the word,

¹⁹ and the cares of this age, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

²⁰ Those which were sown on the good ground are those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit, some thirty times, some sixty times, and some one hundred times.”

Luke 8

⁴ When a great multitude came together and people from every city were coming to him, he spoke by a parable:

⁵ “The farmer went out to sow his seed. As he sowed, some fell along the road, and it was trampled under foot, and the birds of the sky devoured it.

⁶ Some seed fell on the rock, and as soon as it grew, it withered away, because it had no moisture.

⁷ Some fell amid the thorns, and the thorns grew with it and choked it.

⁸ Some fell into the good ground and grew and produced one hundred times as much fruit.” As he said these things, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

⁹ Then his disciples asked him, “What does this parable mean?”

¹⁰ He said, “To you it is given to know the mysteries of God’s Kingdom, but to the rest it is given in parables, that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’

¹¹ “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.

¹² Those along the road are those who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, that they may not believe and be saved.

¹³ Those on the rock are they who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; but these have no root. They believe for a while, then fall away in time of temptation.

¹⁴ What fell among the thorns, these are those who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life; and they bring no fruit to maturity.

¹⁵ Those in the good ground, these are those who with an honest and good heart, having heard the word, hold it tightly, and produce fruit with perseverance.