Mark 4:1-9

1Again Jesus began to teach beside the sea [of Galilee]. And a very large crowd gathered around Him, so He got into a boat [anchoring it a short distance out] on the sea and sat down; and the whole crowd was by the sea on the shore.

2And He taught them many things in parables, and in His teaching He said to them,

3“Listen! A sower went out to sow seed;

4and as he was sowing, some seed fell by the road, and the birds came and ate it up.

5Other seed fell on rocks where there was not much soil; and immediately a plant sprang up because the soil had no depth.

6And when the sun came up, the plant was scorched; and because it had no root, it dried up and withered away.

7Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no grain.

8And other seed fell into good soil, and as the plants grew and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundred times [as much as had been sown].”

9And He said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear and heed My words.”