Parable of the Sower

^4 (A)Now when a large crowd was coming together, and those from the various cities were journeying to Him, He spoke by way of a parable: ⁵ “The sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell beside the road, and it was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the sky ate it up. ⁶ Other seed fell on rocky soil, and when it came up, it withered away because it had no moisture. ⁷ Other seed fell among the thorns; and the thorns grew up with it and choked it out. ⁸ And yet other seed fell into the good soil, and grew up, and produced a crop a hundred times as much.” As He said these things, He would call out, “^(B)The one who has ears to hear, ^[a]let him hear.”

^9 (C)Now His disciples began asking Him what this parable ^[b]meant. ¹⁰ And He said, “^(D)To you it has been granted to know the ^[c]mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest they are told in parables, so that ^[d](E)while seeing they may not see, and ^[e]while hearing they may not understand.

¹¹ “Now this is the parable: ^(F)the seed is the word of God. ¹² And those beside the road are the ones who have heard, then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they will not believe and be saved. ¹³ Those on the rocky soil are the ones who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and yet these do not have a firm root; ^[f]they believe for a while, and in a time of temptation they ^[g]fall away. ¹⁴ And the seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked by worries, riches, and pleasures of this life, and they bring no fruit to maturity. ¹⁵ But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word ^[h]with a good and virtuous heart, and hold it firmly, and produce fruit with ^[i]perseverance.

Preach the Word

4 ^(A)I solemnly exhort you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to ^(B)judge the living and the dead, and by His ^(C)appearing and His kingdom: ² preach ^(D)the word; be ready ^[a]in season and out of season; ^(E)correct, rebuke, and ^[b]exhort, with ^[c]great ^(F)patience and instruction. ³ For ^(G)the time will come when they will not tolerate ^(H)sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance with their own desires, ⁴ and they ^(I)will turn their ears away from the truth and ^(J)will turn aside to myths. ⁵ But as for you, ^(K)use self-restraint in all things, ^(L)endure hardship, do the work of an ^(M)evangelist, fulfill your ^(N)ministry.

Parables of Mustard Seed and Leaven

¹⁸ So ^(A)He was saying, “^(B)What is the kingdom of God like, and to what shall I compare it? ¹⁹ It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and threw into his own garden; and it grew and became a tree, and ^(C)the birds of the sky nested in its branches.”

²⁰ And again He said, “^(D)To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? ^21 (E)It is like ^[a]leaven, which a woman took and hid in ^(F)three ^[b]sata of flour until it was all leavened.”