What the kingdom is like
The Sower
Also called The Four Soils, The Seed and the Soils
Seed falls on a path, on rock, among thorns, and on good soil. Only one yields.
What it turns on
One of the few parables Jesus explains. The explanation is right there in the text.
1Again he began to teach by the seaside. A great multitude was gathered to him, so that he entered into a boat in the sea, and sat down. All the multitude were on the land by the sea.
2He taught them many things in parables, and told them in his teaching,
3“Listen! Behold, the farmer went out to sow,
4and as he sowed, some seed fell by the road, and the birds came and devoured it.
5Others fell on the rocky ground, where it had little soil, and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of soil.
6When the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.
7Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.
8Others fell into the good ground, and yielded fruit, growing up and increasing. Some produced thirty times, some sixty times, and some one hundred times as much.”
9He said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear.”
10When he was alone, those who were around him with the twelve asked him about the parables.
11He said to them, “To you is given the mystery of God’s Kingdom, but to those who are outside, all things are done in parables,
12that ‘seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest perhaps they should turn again, and their sins should be forgiven them.’ ”
13He said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How will you understand all of the parables?
14The farmer sows the word.
15The ones by the road are the ones where the word is sown; and when they have heard, immediately Satan comes, and takes away the word which has been sown in them.
16These in the same way are those who are sown on the rocky places, who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with joy.
17They have no root in themselves, but are short-lived. When oppression or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they stumble.
18Others are those who are sown among the thorns. These are those who have heard the word,
19and the cares of this age, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
20Those which were sown on the good ground are those who hear the word, and accept it, and bear fruit, some thirty times, some sixty times, and some one hundred times.”
World English Bible, public domain. Read the whole chapter →
Told again in other gospels
The same parable, recorded differently. The differences are worth reading, not smoothing over.
Matthew 13:1-23Read it
1On that day Jesus went out of the house, and sat by the seaside.
2Great multitudes gathered to him, so that he entered into a boat, and sat, and all the multitude stood on the beach.
3He spoke to them many things in parables, saying, “Behold, a farmer went out to sow.
4As he sowed, some seeds fell by the roadside, and the birds came and devoured them.
5Others fell on rocky ground, where they didn’t have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of earth.
6When the sun had risen, they were scorched. Because they had no root, they withered away.
7Others fell among thorns. The thorns grew up and choked them.
8Others fell on good soil, and yielded fruit: some one hundred times as much, some sixty, and some thirty.
9He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
10The disciples came, and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?”
11He answered them, “To you it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but it is not given to them.
12For whoever has, to him will be given, and he will have abundance, but whoever doesn’t have, from him will be taken away even that which he has.
13Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they don’t see, and hearing, they don’t hear, neither do they understand.
14In them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says, ‘By hearing you will hear, and will in no way understand; Seeing you will see, and will in no way perceive:
15for this people’s heart has grown callous, their ears are dull of hearing, they have closed their eyes; or else perhaps they might perceive with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and would turn again; and I would heal them.’
16“But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear.
17For most certainly I tell you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see the things which you see, and didn’t see them; and to hear the things which you hear, and didn’t hear them.
18“Hear, then, the parable of the farmer.
19When anyone hears the word of the Kingdom, and doesn’t understand it, the evil one comes, and snatches away that which has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown by the roadside.
20What was sown on the rocky places, this is he who hears the word, and immediately with joy receives it;
21yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while. When oppression or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.
22What was sown among the thorns, this is he who hears the word, but the cares of this age and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.
23What was sown on the good ground, this is he who hears the word, and understands it, who most certainly bears fruit, and produces, some one hundred times as much, some sixty, and some thirty.”
Luke 8:4-15Read it
4When a great multitude came together, and people from every city were coming to him, he spoke by a parable.
5“The farmer went out to sow his seed. As he sowed, some fell along the road, and it was trampled under foot, and the birds of the sky devoured it.
6Other seed fell on the rock, and as soon as it grew, it withered away, because it had no moisture.
7Other fell amid the thorns, and the thorns grew with it, and choked it.
8Other fell into the good ground, and grew, and produced one hundred times as much fruit.” As he said these things, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
9Then his disciples asked him, “What does this parable mean?”
10He said, “To you it is given to know the mysteries of God’s Kingdom, but to the rest in parables; that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’
11Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.
12Those along the road are those who hear, then the devil comes, and takes away the word from their heart, that they may not believe and be saved.
13Those on the rock are they who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; but these have no root, who believe for a while, then fall away in time of temptation.
14That which fell among the thorns, these are those who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity.
15Those in the good ground, these are those who with an honest and good heart, having heard the word, hold it tightly, and produce fruit with perseverance.
More on what the kingdom is like
The Mustard SeedThe smallest seed grows into a shrub large enough for birds to nest in.The YeastA woman mixes yeast into a large batch of flour until it works all the way through.The Hidden TreasureA man finds treasure buried in a field, and sells everything he has to buy that field.The Pearl of Great PriceA merchant finds one perfect pearl and sells his whole inventory to buy it.