Luke 8:5-14

English Standard Version

^5 (A)“A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. ⁶ And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, ^(B)it withered away, because it had no moisture. ⁷ And some fell among ^(C)thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. ⁸ And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded ^(D)a hundredfold.” As he said these things, he called out, ^(E)“He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

The Purpose of the Parables

⁹ And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, ¹⁰ he said, ^(F)“To you it has been given to know ^(G)the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so ^(H)that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’ ^11 (I)Now the parable is this: The seed is ^(J)the word of God. ¹² The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not ^(K)believe and be saved. ¹³ And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it ^(L)with joy. But these have no root; they ^(M)believe for a while, and in time of testing ^(N)fall away. ¹⁴ And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but ^(O)as they go on their way they are choked by the ^(P)cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.