THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER

Passage: Matthew 13:1-9

Key verse: 3

NIV

The Parable of the Sower(A)(B)(C)

13 That same day Jesus went out of the house(D) and sat by the lake. 2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat(E) and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred,(F) sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9 Whoever has ears, let them hear.”(G)

Read full chapter
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Source: BibleGateway

ESV

The Parable of the Sower

13 That same day Jesus went out of the house (A)and sat beside the sea. 2 And great crowds gathered about him, (B)so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3 And (C)he told them many things in parables, saying: (D)“A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, 6 but (E)when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, (F)they withered away. 7 Other seeds fell among (G)thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some (H)a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 (I)He who has ears,[a] let him hear.”

Read full chapter
Footnotes
  1. Matthew 13:9 Some manuscripts add here and in verse 43 to hear
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Source: BibleGateway

1. Jesus teaches from a boat (1-3)

Jesus went out by the lake to teach the people. Such large crowds gathered that he had to teach them from a boat. He taught in parables. The people had come to him for many reasons, but he scattered the seed of God's word among them all. The seed sown by the farmer was good seed. Each seed had life in it; each one had the possibility of growing and producing good fruit.

2. The soils (4-9)

The kind of soil on which seed falls determines its productiveness. Most of the seed seemed to be wasted. But the few seed that fell on good soil more than made up for this. The heart-soil of the people in the crowd would determine the fruitfulness of the seed of God's word. Those with ears to hear are those with a heart's desire to receive God's word and obey it.

Prayer: Lord, help me to plant the living seed of your word, trusting the harvest to you. Help me to prepare good heart soil each time I study your word.

One Word: The sower sows good seed