Matthew 13:10–23

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. ¹⁶But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear; ¹⁷for verily I say unto you, that many prophets and righteous men have desired to see the things which ye behold and did not see them, and to hear the things which ye hear and did not hear them. ¹⁸Ye, therefore, hear the parable of the sower. ¹⁹From every one who hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the wicked one comes and catches away what was sown in his heart: this is he that is sown by the wayside. ²⁰But he that is sown on the rocky places—this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, ²¹but has no root in himself, but is for a time only; and when tribulation or persecution happens on account of the word, he is immediately offended. ²²And he that is sown among the thorns—this is he who hears the word, and the anxious care of this life, and the deceit of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. ²³But he that is sown upon the good ground—this is he who hears and understands the word, who bears fruit also, and produces, one a hundred, one sixty, and one thirty.