That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake.
Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and
sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. Then he told them
many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed.
As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds
came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have
much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But
when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered
because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew
up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it
produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.
Whoever has ears, let them hear.”
Matthew 13:1—9 (NIV)