2 Large crowds gathered around him. So he got into a boat. He sat down in it. All the people stood on the shore.
3 Then he told them many things by using stories. He said, "A farmer went out to plant his seed.
4 He scattered the seed on the ground. Some fell on a path. Birds came and ate it up.
5 Some seed fell on rocky places, where there wasn't much soil. The plants came up quickly, because the soil wasn't deep.
6 When the sun came up, it burned the plants. They dried up because they had no roots.
7 Other seed fell among thorns. The thorns grew up and crowded out the plants.
8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It produced a crop 100, 60 or 30 times more than what was planted.