The Parable of the Sower Explained

^9 (A)And His disciples began questioning Him as to what this parable meant. ¹⁰ And He said, “^(B)To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is in parables, so that ^(C)seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.

¹¹ “Now the parable is this: ^(D)the seed is the word of God. ¹² And those beside the road are those 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 And those on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy, and these have no root; ^[a]they believe for a while, and in time of temptation 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 with worries and riches and pleasures of life, and do not bear ripe fruit. ¹⁵ But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with ^[b]perseverance.

The Purpose of the Parables

¹⁰ And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” ¹¹ And ^[a]Jesus answered and said to them, “^(A)To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. ^12 (B)For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. ¹³ Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while ^(C)seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. ¹⁴ And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says,

^16 (F)But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. ¹⁷ For truly I say to you that ^(G)many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

The Parable of the Sower Explained

¹⁸ “^(H)Hear then the parable of the sower. ¹⁹ When anyone hears ^(I)the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, ^(J)the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road. ²⁰ And the one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; ²¹ yet he has no root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he ^[e](K)falls away. ²² And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the one who hears the word, and the worry of ^(L)the ^[f]world and the ^(M)deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. ²³ And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some ^(N)a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.”

¹⁰ And when He was alone, ^[a]His followers, along with the twelve, began asking Him about the parables. ¹¹ And He was saying to them, “To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but to ^(A)those who are outside, everything comes ^(B)in parables, ¹² so that ^(C)while seeing, they may see and not perceive, and while hearing, they may hear and not understand, lest they return and be forgiven.”

The Parable of the Sower Explained

^13 (D)And He *said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand all the parables? ¹⁴ The sower sows the word. ¹⁵ And these are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown: when they hear, immediately ^(E)Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them. ¹⁶ And in a similar way, these are the ones being sown on the rocky places: those who, when hearing the word, immediately receive it with joy; ¹⁷ and they have no root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they ^[b]fall away. ¹⁸ And others are those being sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, ¹⁹ but the worries of ^(F)the ^[c]world, and the ^(G)deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for anything else enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. ²⁰ And those are the ones which were sown on the good soil: they who hear the word and accept it and ^(H)are bearing fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.”