Once again Jesus started to teach people beside the lake. And once again a rather large crowd congregated. So he got into an offshore boat, sat down, and began to teach while the crowd stood at the water's edge.
In the course of his teaching, he used lots and lots of stories -- including this one:
Listen, up! There was once a farmer who went out to plant his field. As he was broadcasting the seed, some of it landed on a hard-packed pathway, where it was quickly eaten by the birds.
Some other seed fell on a rocky spot where there wasn't much soil. And even though the seed sprouted appropriately, because the soil was shallow, the plants couldn't put down roots. So, pretty soon the young plants became toast in the hot sun.
A third batch of seen landed in the midst of some thorny weeds. The weeds grew so quickly that they choked out the farmer's seeds. And, of course, they didn't produce anything.
Now, you're probably thinking at this point that farming is hopeless. However, when scattered, some of the seed had landed on really rich and fertile soil. The plants that grew there ended up bearing fruit. In one place the fruit came in really well and in another spot it was super dense.
Are you catching my drift here? Pay attention -- if you can. This is important!THE COMMON ENGLISH BIBLE
Jesus began to teach beside the lake again. Such a large crowd gathered that he climbed into a boat there on the lake. He sat in the boat while the whole crowd was nearby on the shore. 2 He said many things to them in parables. While teaching them, he said, 3 “Listen to this! A farmer went out to scatter seed. 4 As he was scattering seed, some fell on the path; and the birds came and ate it. 5 Other seed fell on rocky ground where the soil was shallow. They sprouted immediately because the soil wasn’t deep. 6 When the sun came up, it scorched the plants; and they dried up because they had no roots. 7 Other seed fell among thorny plants. The thorny plants grew and choked the seeds, and they produced nothing. 8 Other seed fell into good soil and bore fruit. Upon growing and increasing, the seed produced in one case a yield of thirty to one, in another case a yield of sixty to one, and in another case a yield of one hundred to one.” 9 He said, “Whoever has ears to listen should pay attention!”
