Curated semantic-search results from the Bible and early Jewish and Christian writings.
These passages are drawn from a current, full-corpus deep search.
Top matching passages
6/10 · good
4 While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, He told them this parable: 5 “A farmer went out to sow his seed. And as he was sowing, some seed fell along the path, where it was trampled, and the birds of the air devoured it. 6 Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the seedlings withered because they had no moisture. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the seedlings. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it sprang up and produced a crop—a hundredfold.” As Jesus said this, He called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” 9 Then His disciples asked Him what this parable meant. 10 He replied, “The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that, ‘though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.’ 11 Now this is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. 12 The seeds along the path are those who hear, but the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. 13 The seeds on rocky ground are those who hear the word and receive it with joy, but they have no root. They believe for a season, but in the time of testing, they fall away. 14 The seeds that fell among the thorns are those who hear, but as they go on their way, they are choked by the worries, riches, and pleasures of…
7/10 · strong
8 He said, "The human being is like a wise fisher who cast a net into the sea and drew it up from the sea full of little fish. Among them the wise fisher found a fine large fish and cast all the little fish back down into the sea, easily choosing the large fish. Anyone who has ears to hear should hear!" (THO) 9 Jesus said, "Look, a sower went out, took a handful of seeds, and scattered them. Some fell on the roadside; the birds came and gathered them. Others fell on the rock; they didn't take root in the soil and ears of grain didn't rise toward heaven. Yet others fell on thorns; they choked the seeds and worms ate them. Finally, others fell on good soil; it produced fruit up toward heaven, some sixty times as much and some a hundred and twenty." (THO) 10 Jesus said, "I've cast fire on the world, and look, I'm watching over it until it blazes." (THO)
7/10 · strong
1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea. 2 Such large crowds gathered around Him that He got into a boat and sat down, while all the people stood on the shore. 3 And He told them many things in parables, saying, “A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 And as he was sowing, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. 5 Some fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun rose, the seedlings were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the seedlings. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil and produced a crop—a hundredfold, sixtyfold, or thirtyfold. 9 He who has ears, let him hear.” 10 Then the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Why do You speak to the people in parables?” 11 He replied, “The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. 12 Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.
6/10 · good
1 Once again Jesus began to teach beside the sea, and such a large crowd gathered around Him that He got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people crowded along the shore. 2 And He taught them many things in parables, and in His teaching He said, 3 “Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 And as he was sowing, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. 5 Some fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun rose, the seedlings were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the seedlings, and they yielded no crop. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it sprouted, grew up, and produced a crop—one bearing thirtyfold, another sixtyfold, and another a hundredfold.” 9 Then Jesus said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” 10 As soon as Jesus was alone with the Twelve and those around Him, they asked Him about the parable. 11 He replied, “The mystery of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to those on the outside everything is expressed in parables, 12 so that, ‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven.’”
4/10 · fair
13 Then Jesus said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand any of the parables? 14 The farmer sows the word. 15 Some are like the seeds along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. 16 Some are like the seeds sown on rocky ground. They hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 17 But they themselves have no root, and they remain for only a season. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 18 Others are like the seeds sown among the thorns. They hear the word, 19 but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 20 Still others are like the seeds sown on good soil. They hear the word, receive it, and produce a crop—thirtyfold, sixtyfold, or a hundredfold.” 21 Jesus also said to them, “Does anyone bring in a lamp to put it under a basket or under a bed? Doesn’t he set it on a stand? 22 For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be brought to light. 23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” 24 He went on to say, “Pay attention to what you hear. With the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and even more will be added to you.
3/10 · fair
13 This is why I speak to them in parables: ‘Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.’ 14 In them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled: ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. 15 For this people’s heart has grown callous; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.’ 16 But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. 17 For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it. 18 Consider, then, the parable of the sower: 19 When anyone hears the message of the kingdom but does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path. 20 The seed sown on rocky ground is the one who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since he has no root, he remains for only a season. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away. 22 The seed sown among the thorns is the one who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 23 But the seed sown on good soil is the one who hears the word and unde…
6/10 · good
24 Does the plowman plow for planting every day? Does he continuously loosen and harrow the soil? 25 When he has leveled its surface, does he not sow caraway and scatter cumin? He plants wheat in rows and barley in plots, and rye within its border. 26 For his God instructs and teaches him properly. 27 Surely caraway is not threshed with a sledge, and the wheel of a cart is not rolled over the cumin. But caraway is beaten out with a stick, and cumin with a rod. 28 Grain for bread must be ground, but it is not endlessly threshed. Though the wheels of the cart roll over it, the horses do not crush it.
4/10 · fair
4 Let us mark the fruits, how and in what manner the sowing taketh place. (1CL) 5 The sower goeth forth and casteth into the earth each of the seeds; and these falling into the earth dry and bare decay: then out of their decay the mightiness of the Master's providence raiseth them up, and from being one they increase manifold and bear fruit. (1CL)
3/10 · fair
25 For whoever has will be given more. But whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.” 26 Jesus also said, “The kingdom of God is like a man who scatters seed on the ground. 27 Night and day he sleeps and wakes, and the seed sprouts and grows, though he knows not how. 28 All by itself the earth produces a crop—first the stalk, then the head, then grain that ripens within. 29 And as soon as the grain is ripe, he swings the sickle, because the harvest has come.” 30 Then He asked, “To what can we compare the kingdom of God? With what parable shall we present it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds sown upon the earth. 32 But after it is planted, it grows to be the largest of all garden plants and puts forth great branches, so that the birds of the air nest in its shade.” 33 With many such parables Jesus spoke the word to them, to the extent that they could understand. 34 He did not tell them anything without using a parable. But privately He explained everything to His own disciples. 35 When that evening came, He said to His disciples, “Let us cross to the other side.”
4/10 · fair
25 But while everyone was asleep, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and slipped away. 26 When the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the weeds also appeared. 27 The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’ 28 ‘An enemy did this,’ he replied. So the servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ 29 ‘No,’ he said, ‘if you pull the weeds now, you might uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat into my barn.’” 31 He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man planted in his field. 32 Although it is the smallest of all seeds, yet it grows into the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.” 33 He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and mixed into three measures of flour, until all of it was leavened.” 34 Jesus spoke all these things to the crowds in parables. He did not tell them anything without using a parable. 35 So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet: “I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden since the foundation of the world.” 36 Then Jesus dismissed the crowds and went…