⁵ “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside, and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it.

⁶ And some fell upon a rock, and as soon as it had sprung up, it withered away because it lacked moisture.

⁷ And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it.

⁸ And other fell on good ground, and sprang up and bore fruit a hundredfold.” And when He had said these things, He cried, “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear!”

⁹ And His disciples asked Him, saying, “What might this parable mean?”

¹⁰ And He said, “Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of God; but to others in parables, that ‘seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.’

¹¹ Now the parable is this: The seed is the Word of God.

¹² Those by the wayside are they that hear; then cometh the devil and taketh away the Word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.

¹³ The seed on the rock are they that, when they hear, receive the Word with joy, but they have no root: they for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.

¹⁴ And that which fell among thorns are they that, when they have heard, go forth and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.

¹⁵ But that on the good ground are they that, in an honest and good heart, having heard the Word, keep it and bring forth fruit with patience.