Mark 4:10–20

¹⁰When he was alone with his followers and the twelve apostles, they asked him about the stories. 

¹¹Jesus replied to them, “The mystery about God’s kingdom has been given ⸤directly⸥ to you. To those on the outside, it is given in stories: 

¹²‘They see clearly but don’t perceive. 

They hear clearly but don’t understand. 

They never return to me 

and are never forgiven.’ ” 

¹³Jesus asked them, “Don’t you understand this story? How, then, will you understand any of the stories I use as illustrations? 

¹⁴“The farmer plants the word. ¹⁵Some people are like seeds that were planted along the road. Whenever they hear the word, Satan comes at once and takes away the word that was planted in them. ¹⁶Other people are like seeds that were planted on rocky ground. Whenever they hear the word, they accept it at once with joy. ¹⁷But they don’t develop any roots. They last for a short time. When suffering or persecution comes along because of the word, they immediately fall ⸤from faith⸥. ¹⁸Other people are like seeds planted among thornbushes. They hear the word, ¹⁹but the worries of life, the deceitful pleasures of riches, and the desires for other things take over. They choke the word so that it can’t produce anything. ²⁰Others are like seeds planted on good ground. They hear the word, accept it, and produce crops—thirty, sixty, or one hundred times as much as was planted.”