¹Again he began to teach by the lake. Such a large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat on the lake and sat there while the whole crowd was on the shore by the lake. ²He taught them many things in parables, and in his teaching said to them: ³“Listen! A sower went out to sow. ⁴And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. ⁵Other seed fell on rocky ground where it did not have much soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep. ⁶When the sun came up it was scorched, and because it did not have sufficient root, it withered. ⁷Other seed fell among the thorns, and they grew up and choked it, and it did not produce grain. ⁸But other seed fell on good soil and produced grain, sprouting and growing; some yielded thirty times as much, some sixty, and some a hundred times.” ⁹And he said, “Whoever has ears to hear had better listen!” ¹⁰When he was alone, those around him with the Twelve asked him about the parables. ¹¹He said to them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those outside, everything is in parables, ¹²“so that although they look they may look but not see,and although they hear they may hear but not understand,so they may not repent and be forgiven.” ¹³He said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? Then how will you understand any parable? ¹⁴The sower sows the word. ¹⁵These are the ones on the path where the word is sown: Whenever they hear, immediately Satan comes and snatches the word that was sown in them. ¹⁶These are the ones sown on rocky ground: As soon as they hear the word, they receive it with joy. ¹⁷But they have no root in themselves and do not endure. Then, when trouble or persecution comes because of the word, immediately they fall away. ¹⁸Others are the ones sown among thorns: They are those who hear the word, ¹⁹but worldly cares, the seductiveness of wealth, and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it produces nothing. ²⁰But these are the ones sown on good soil: They hear the word and receive it and bear fruit, one thirty times as much, one sixty, and one a hundred.” ²¹He also said to them, “A lamp isn’t brought to be put under a basket or under a bed, is it? Isn’t it to be placed on a lampstand? ²²For nothing is hidden except to be revealed, and nothing concealed except to be brought to light. ²³If anyone has ears to hear, he had better listen!” ²⁴And he said to them, “Take care about what you hear. The measure you use will be the measure you receive, and more will be added to you. ²⁵For whoever has will be given more, but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.” ²⁶He also said, “The kingdom of God is like someone who spreads seed on the ground. ²⁷He goes to sleep and gets up, night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how.²⁸By itself the soil produces a crop, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. ²⁹And when the grain is ripe, he sends in the sickle because the harvest has come.” ³⁰He also asked, “To what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use to present it? ³¹It is like a mustard seed that when sown in the ground, even though it is the smallest of all the seeds in the ground—³²when it is sown, it grows up, becomes the greatest of all garden plants, and grows large branches so that the wild birds can nest in its shade.” ³³So with many parables like these, he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear. ³⁴He did not speak to them without a parable. But privately he explained everything to his own disciples. ³⁵On that day, when evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s go across to the other side of the lake.”³⁶So after leaving the crowd, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat, and other boats were with him. ³⁷Now a great windstorm developed and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was nearly swamped. ³⁸But he was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. They woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care that we are about to die?” ³⁹So he got up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Be quiet! Calm down!” Then the wind stopped, and it was dead calm. ⁴⁰And he said to them, “Why are you cowardly? Do you still not have faith?” ⁴¹They were overwhelmed by fear and said to one another, “Who then is this? Even the wind and sea obey him!”