¹ Jesus again began to teach by the Sea; and, as an immense crowd was gathering round him, he got into a boat, and sat in it on the Sea, while all the people were on the shore at the water’s edge.

² Then he taught them many truths in parables; and in the course of his teaching he said to them:

³ “Listen! The sower went out to sow;

⁴ and presently, as he was sowing, some of the seed fell along the path; and the birds came, and ate it up.

⁵ Some fell on rocky ground, where it had not much soil, and, having no depth of soil, sprang up at once;

⁶ but, when the sun rose, it was scorched, and, having no root, withered away.

⁷ Some of the seed fell among brambles; but the brambles shot up and completely choked it, and it yielded no return.

⁸ Some fell into good soil, and, shooting up and growing, yielded a return, amounting to thirty, sixty, and even a hundred fold.”

⁹ And Jesus said: “Let any one who has ears to hear with hear.”

¹⁰ Afterwards, when he was alone, his followers and the Twelve asked him about his parables;

¹¹ and he said: “To you the hidden truth of the Kingdom of God has been imparted; but to those who are outside it all teaching takes the form of parables, that —

¹² ‘Though they have eyes, they may see without perceiving; and though they have ears, they may hear without understanding; lest some day they should turn and be forgiven.’

¹³ “You do not know the meaning of this parable!” he went on; “Then how will you understand all the other parables?

¹⁴ The sower sows the Message.

¹⁵ The People meant by the seed that falls along the path are these — where the Message is sown, but, as soon as they have heard it, Satan immediately comes and carries away the Message that has been sown in them.

¹⁶ So, too, those meant by the seed sown on the rocky places are the people who, when they have heard the Message, at once accept it joyfully;

¹⁷ but, as they have no root, they stand only for a short time; and so, when trouble or persecution arises on account of the Message, they fall away at once.

¹⁸ Those meant by the seed sown among the brambles are different; they are the people who hear the Message,

¹⁹ but the cares of life, and the glamour of wealth, and cravings for many other things come in and completely choke the Message, so that it gives no return.

²⁰ But the people meant by the seed sown on the good ground are those who hear the Message, and welcome it, and yield a return, thirty, sixty, and even a hundred fold.”

²¹ And Jesus said to them: “Is a lamp brought to be put under the corn-measure or under the couch, instead of being put on the lamp-stand?

²² Nothing is hidden unless it is some day to come to light, nor was anything ever kept hidden but that it should some day come into the light of day.

²³ Let all who have ears to hear with hear.

²⁴ Take care what you listen to,” said Jesus. “The measure you mete will be meted out to you, and more will be added for you.

²⁵ For, to those who have, more will be given; while, from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.”

²⁶ Jesus also said: “This is what the Kingdom of God is like — like a man who has scattered seed on the ground,

²⁷ and then sleeps by night and rises by day, while the seed is shooting up and growing — he knows not how.

²⁸ The ground bears the crop of itself — first the blade, then the ear, and then the full grain in the ear;

²⁹ but, as soon as the crop is ready, immediately he ‘puts in the sickle because harvest has come’.”

³⁰ Jesus also said: “To what can we liken the Kingdom of God?

³¹ By what can we illustrate it? Perhaps by the growth of a mustard-seed. This seed, when sown in the ground, though it is smaller than all other seeds,

³² yet, when sown, shoots up, and becomes larger than any other herb, and puts out great branches, so that even ‘the wild birds can roost in its shelter.’”

³³ With many such parables Jesus used to speak to the people of his Message, as far as they were able to receive it;

³⁴ and to them he never used to speak except in parables; but in private to his own disciples he explained everything.

³⁵ In the evening of the same day, Jesus said to them: “Let us go across.”

³⁶ So, leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them, just as he was, in the boat; and there were other boats with him.

³⁷ A violent squall came on, and the waves kept dashing into the boat, so that the boat was actually filling.

³⁸ Jesus was in the stern asleep upon the cushion; and the disciples roused him and cried: “Teacher! is it nothing to you that we are lost?”

³⁹ Jesus rose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea: “Hush! Be still!” Then the wind dropped, and a great calm followed.

⁴⁰ “Why are you so timid?” he exclaimed. “Have you no faith yet?”

⁴¹ But they were struck with great awe, and said to one another: “Who can this be that even the wind and the sea obey him?”