The Parable of the Sower. 1^* On that day, Jesus went out of the house and sat down by the sea.^a 2Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd stood along the shore. 3^* And he spoke to them at length in parables,^* saying: “A sower went out to sow. 4And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and birds came and ate it up. 5Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep, 6and when the sun rose it was scorched, and it withered for lack of roots. 7Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it. 8But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold. 9Whoever has ears ought to hear.”