³ Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: ^(A)“Behold, a sower went out to sow. ⁴ And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. ⁵ Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. ⁶ But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. ⁷ And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. ⁸ But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some ^(B)a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. ^9 (C)He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

The Parable of the Sower Explained^(A)

^18 (B)“Therefore hear the parable of the sower: ¹⁹ When anyone hears the word ^(C)of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside. ²⁰ But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately ^(D)receives it with joy; ²¹ yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when ^(E)tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately ^(F)he stumbles. ²² Now ^(G)he who received seed ^(H)among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. ²³ But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears ^(I)fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”