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He spoke to them many things in parables, saying, “Behold, a farmer went out to sow.
Matthew 13:3 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;
  • BSB And He told them many things in parables, saying, “A farmer went out to sow his seed.
  • ESV And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow.
  • NKJV Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: “Behold, a sower went out to sow.
  • NASB And He told them many things in parables, saying, “Behold, the sower went out to sow;
  • NLT He told many stories in the form of parables, such as this one: “Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seeds.

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 26

  • Mark 4:2–9He taught them many things in parables, and told them in his teaching,
  • Mark 4:13He said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How will you understand all of the parables?
  • Ps 78:2I will open my mouth in a parable. I will utter dark sayings of old,
  • Luke 8:5–8“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.
  • Matt 13:10–13The disciples came, and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?”
  • Ezek 24:3–14Utter a parable to the rebellious house, and tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh, Set on the cauldron, set it on, and also pour water into it:
  • 2 Sam 12:1–7Yahweh sent Nathan to David. He came to him, and said to him, “There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor.
  • Matt 13:53When Jesus had finished these parables, he departed from there.
  • Mark 4:33With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it.
  • Matt 13:34–35Jesus spoke all these things in parables to the multitudes; and without a parable, he didn’t speak to them,
  • Ps 49:4I will incline my ear to a proverb. I will open my riddle on the harp.
  • Mark 12:12They tried to seize him, but they feared the multitude; for they perceived that he spoke the parable against them. They left him, and went away.
  • Judg 9:8–20The trees set out to anoint a king over themselves. They said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us.’
  • Matt 24:32“Now from the fig tree learn this parable. When its branch has now become tender, and produces its leaves, you know that the summer is near.
  • Luke 8:10He 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.’
  • Luke 12:41Peter said to him, “Lord, are you telling this parable to us, or to everybody?”
  • Ezek 17:2“Son of man, tell a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel;
  • Mark 12:1He began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a pit for the wine press, built a tower, rented it out to a farmer, and went into another country.
  • Ezek 20:49Then I said, “Ah Lord Yahweh! they say of me, ‘Isn’t he a speaker of parables?’”
  • Hab 2:6Won’t all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say, ‘Woe to him who increases that which is not his, and who enriches himself by extortion! How long?’
  • Isa 5:1–7Let me sing for my well beloved a song of my beloved about his vineyard. My beloved had a vineyard on a very fruitful hill.
  • Mark 3:23He summoned them, and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan?
  • John 16:25I have spoken these things to you in figures of speech. But the time is coming when I will no more speak to you in figures of speech, but will tell you plainly about the Father.
  • Mic 2:4In that day they will take up a parable against you, and lament with a doleful lamentation, saying, ‘We are utterly ruined! My people’s possession is divided up. Indeed he takes it from me and assigns our fields to traitors!’”
  • Luke 15:3–7He told them this parable.
  • Matt 22:1Jesus answered and spoke again in parables to them, saying,

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (6)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Matthew videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Matthew 13:3YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on MatthewMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'

How Matthew 13:3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.