²⁰ The seed planted on rocky ground is the person who hears the word and accepts it at once with joy. ²¹ Since he doesn’t have any root, he lasts only a little while. When suffering or persecution comes along because of the word, he immediately falls from faith. ²² The seed planted among thornbushes is another person who hears the word. But the worries of life and the deceitful pleasures of riches choke the word so that it can’t produce anything.