The Parable of the Sower

  1: That day Jesus went out of the house
       and was sitting by the sea.
  2: And large crowds gathered to Him, so
       He got into a boat and sat down, and
       the whole crowd was standing on the beach.
  3: And He spoke many things to them in
       parables, saying, "Behold, the sower
       went out to sow;
  4: and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside
       the road, and the birds came and ate them
       up.
  5: "Others fell on the rocky places, where
       they did not have much soil; and immediately
       they sprang up, because they had no depth
       of soil.
  6: "But when the sun had risen, they were
       scorched; and because they had no root,
       they withered away.
  7: "Others fell among the thorns, and the
       thorns came up and choked them out.
  8: "And others fell on the good soil and
       yielded a crop, some a hundredfold,
       some sixty, and some thirty.
  9: " He who has ears, let him hear."
10: And the disciples came and said to Him,
       "Why do You speak to them in parables?"
11: Jesus answered them, " To you it has
       been granted to know the mysteries of
       the kingdom of heaven, but to them it
       has not been granted.
12: " 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 seeing they do not see,
       and while hearing they do not hear, nor
       do they understand.
14: "In their case the prophecy of Isaiah
       is being fulfilled, which says, YOU
       WILL KEEP ON HEARING, BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND;
       YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, BUT WILL NOT
       PERCEIVE;
15: FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME
       DULL, WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR,
       AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES, OTHERWISE
       THEY WOULD SEE WITH THEIR EYES, HEAR WITH
       THEIR EARS, AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR
       HEART AND RETURN, AND I WOULD HEAL THEM.'
16: " But blessed are your eyes, because
       they see; and your ears, because they
       hear.
17: "For truly I say to you that 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.
18: " Hear then the parable of the sower.
19: "When anyone hears the word of the
       kingdom and does not understand it,
       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: "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 firm root in himself, but
       is only temporary, and when affliction
       or persecution arises because of the word,
       immediately he falls away.
22: "And the one on whom seed was sown among
       the thorns, this is the man who hears
       the word, and the worry of the world
       and the 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
       a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty."