1. On that day after Yeshua left the house, He was sitting by the sea.
2. And large crowds gathered around Him; so He got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd stood on the shore.
3. And He told them many things in parables, saying, “Behold, a sower went out to spread some seed.
4. As he was scattering the seed, some seeds fell by the road; and the birds came and ate them up.
5. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they didn’t have much soil. They sprang up immediately, because the soil wasn’t deep.
6. But when the sun came up, they were scorched; and because they had no roots, they withered away.
7. Other seeds fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew and choked them out.
8. But others fell on good soil and were producing fruit. They yielded a crop—some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
9. He who has ears, let him hear.”
10. Then the disciples came to Him and said, “Why do You speak to them in parables?”
11. And He replied to them, “To you has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.
12. For whoever has, to him more will be given and he will have plenty. But whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.
13. For this reason I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear nor do they understand.
14. ”And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, ‘You will keep on hearing but will never understand; you will keep looking, but will never see.
15. For the heart of this people has become dull, their ears can barely hear, and they have shut their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts. Then they would turn back, and I would heal them.’
16. “But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.
17. Amen, I tell you, many a prophet and tzaddik longed to see what you are seeing and did not see, and to hear what you are hearing and did not hear.”
18. “You then, hear the parable of the sower.