³ “Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow; ⁴ and it happened that as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up. ⁵ And other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil. ⁶ And after the sun rose, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. ⁷ And other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no ^[a]crop. ⁸ And other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they were yielding a ^[b]crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.” ⁹ And He was saying, “^(A)He who has ears to hear, ^[c]let him hear.”

¹⁰ And when He was alone, ^[d]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 ^(B)those who are outside, everything comes ^(C)in parables, ¹² so that ^(D)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 (E)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 ^(F)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 ^[e]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 ^(G)the ^[f]world, and the ^(H)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 ^(I)are bearing fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.”

²¹ And He was saying to them, “^(J)Is a lamp brought to be put under a ^[g]basket or under a bed? Is it not to be put on the lampstand? ^22 (K)For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light. ^23 (L)If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” ²⁴ And He was saying to them, “Beware what you listen to. ^[h](M)By your standard of measure it will be measured to you, and more will be given to you. ^25 (N)For whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.”