¹³ Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable?

¹¹ “This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God.^{(A) 12} Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.

¹⁶ Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. ¹⁷ But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. ¹⁸ Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; ¹⁹ but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth^(A) and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.

¹⁵ But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.

²³ But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”^(A)

A Lamp on a Stand

¹⁶ “No one lights a lamp and hides it in a clay jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, they put it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light.^{(A) 17} For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open.^(B)

²³ If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear.”^(A)

²⁴ “Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more.^{(B) 25} Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.”^(C)