That same day Jesus left the house and went to the lakeside, where he sat down to teach. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it, while the crowd stood on the shore. He used parables to tell them many things.

“Once there was a man who went out to sow grain.  As he scattered the seed in the field, some of it fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.  Some of it fell on rocky ground, where there was little soil. The seeds soon sprouted, because the soil wasn't deep. But when the sun came up, it burned the young plants; and because the roots had not grown deep enough, the plants soon dried up.  Some of the seed fell among thorn bushes, which grew up and choked the plants.  But some seeds fell in good soil, and the plants bore grain: some had one hundred grains, others sixty, and others thirty.”

 And Jesus concluded, “Listen, then, if you have ears!”