Matthew 13:3–23

³And He spoke many things to them in ^aparables, saying, “Behold, the sower went out to sow;

⁴and 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 ¹among 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 ^ahundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.

⁹“^aHe who has ears, ¹let him hear.”

An Explanation

¹⁰And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?”

¹¹¹Jesus answered them, “^aTo you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted.

¹²“^aFor 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 ^aseeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.

¹⁴“¹In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says,

‘^2aYou will keep on hearing, ³but will not understand;

⁴You will keep on seeing, but will not perceive;

^15aFor 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“^aBut blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear.

¹⁷“For truly I say to you that ^amany 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.

The Sower Explained

¹⁸“^aHear then the parable of the sower.

¹⁹“When anyone hears ^athe ¹word of the kingdom and does not understand it, ^bthe 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;

²¹yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the ¹word, immediately he ^2afalls 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 ^athe ¹world and the ^bdeceitfulness 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 ^aa hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.”