1 That day Jesus went out of the house and sat down beside the lake.
2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he climbed into a boat and sat down. The whole crowd was standing on the shore.
3 He said many things to them in parables: "A farmer went out to scatter seed.
4 As he was scattering seed, some fell on the path, and 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 But 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 them.