Jesus tells a story about a farmer's seeds
1 Again, Jesus began to teach people near the edge of Lake Galilee. A large crowd came together to listen to him. So he went and sat in a boat that was on the water. The crowd of people stayed on the shore. 2 Jesus used stories to teach them many things. He said to them, 3 ‘Listen to me! A farmer went out to plant seeds in his field. 4 While he was throwing the seeds, some of them fell on the path. The birds came and they ate those seeds. 5 Other seeds fell on ground which had many rocks. There was not much soil in that place. The seeds quickly began to grow, because the soil was not deep. 6 But when the sun rose, it burned the young plants. They soon died because they had not grown down well into the soil. 7 Other seeds fell among thorn bushes. Those bushes grew up with the young plants. They stopped the seeds from growing into strong plants. So the plants could not make any new seeds. 8 But some seeds fell on good soil. Good strong plants grew from these seeds. Some plants made 30 new seeds. Some plants made 60 new seeds. And some plants made 100 new seeds.’
4:3When a farmer planted seeds, he threw them onto the ground around him.
9 Then Jesus said, ‘You have ears, so listen well to what I say!’
Jesus explains to his disciples why he uses stories
10 When Jesus was alone, the 12 apostles and other people who were there asked him about the stories. 11 Jesus replied, ‘God has let you understand how he rules in the lives of his people. But these other people only listen to stories. 12 This is so that:
“They are always looking but they do not see clearly.
They are always listening but they do not understand.”
If they did understand, they would turn to God. Then God would forgive them.’
Jesus explains the story about the seeds
13 Then Jesus answered the people who had asked him about the story. ‘You should understand this story. If you do not understand it, you will not understand any of my stories. 14 The seeds are like the message from God. The farmer is like a person who tells people about that message. 15 Some seeds fell on the path. That is like some people who listen to the message. But then Satan comes and he quickly takes the message away from their minds. 16 Some of the seeds fell on soil with rocks in it. This is also like some people who hear God's message. These people are happy to believe it for a time. 17 But they are like plants that have not grown down well into the soil. So they only believe for a short time. They may have problems. Or because they obey God's message, other people may do bad things to them. When that happens, these people soon stop believing. 18 Some seeds fell among thorn bushes. This is like some other people who hear God's message. 19 But they have many troubles in their minds. They think that more money and other valuable things will make them happy. So they do not let God's message change them. They are like plants that do not grow well and make new seeds. 20 But some seeds fell on good soil. This is like other people who listen to the message from God. They understand the message and they believe it. These people are like good plants that grow well. From one seed, some good plants make 30 new seeds. Other good plants make 60 new seeds, and some good plants make 100 new seeds.’
