Matthew 13:1–15

¹And that same day Jesus went out from the house and sat down by the sea. ²And great crowds were gathered together to him, so that going on board ship himself he sat down, and the whole crowd stood on the shore. ³And he spoke to them many things in parables, saying, Behold, the sower went out to sow: ⁴and as he sowed, some grains fell along the way, and the birds came and devoured them; ⁵and others fell upon the rocky places where they had not much earth, and immediately they sprang up out of the ground because of not having any depth of earth, ⁶but when the sun rose they were burned up, and because of not having any root were dried up; ⁷and others fell upon the thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them; ⁸and others fell upon the good ground, and produced fruit, one a hundred, one sixty, and one thirty. ⁹He that has ears, let him hear. ¹⁰And the disciples came up and said to him, Why speakest thou to them in parables? ¹¹And he answering said to them, Because to you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of the heavens, but to them it is not given; ¹²for whoever has, to him shall be given, and he shall be caused to be in abundance; but he who has not, even what he has shall be taken away from him. ¹³For this cause I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear nor understand; ¹⁴and in them is filled up the prophecy of Esaias, which says, Hearing ye shall hear and shall not understand, and beholding ye shall behold and not see; ¹⁵for the heart of this people has grown fat, and they have heard heavily with their ears, and they have closed their eyes as asleep, lest they should see with the eyes, and hear with the ears, and understand with the heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.