³ And He told them many things in ^(A)parables, saying, “Behold, the sower went out to sow; ⁴ and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up. ⁵ Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and they sprang up immediately, because they had no depth of soil. ⁶ But after the sun rose, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. ⁷ Others fell ^[a]among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out. ⁸ But others fell on the good soil and yielded a crop, some a ^(B)hundred, some sixty, and some thirty times as much. ^9 (C)The one who has ears, ^[b]let him hear.”

The Sower Explained

¹⁸ “^(A)Listen then to the parable of the sower. ¹⁹ When anyone hears ^(B)the ^[a]word of the kingdom and does not understand it, ^(C)the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one sown with seed beside the road. ²⁰ The one sown with seed on the rocky places, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; ²¹ yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution occurs because of the ^[b]word, immediately he ^[c](D)falls away. ²² And the one sown with seed among the thorns, this is the one who hears the word, and the anxiety of ^(E)the ^[d]world and the ^(F)deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it ^[e]becomes unfruitful. ²³ But the one sown with seed on the good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces, some ^(G)a hundred, some sixty, and some thirty times as much.”