1. Again Jesus began teaching by the lake. A great crowd gathered around him, so he sat down in a boat near the shore. All the people stayed on the shore close to the water.
2. Jesus taught them many things, using stories. He said,
3. “Listen! A farmer went out to plant his seed.
4. While he was planting, some seed fell by the road, and the birds came and ate it up.
5. Some seed fell on rocky ground where there wasn’t much dirt. That seed grew very fast, because the ground was not deep.