Matthew 13:10–23

¹⁰The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?”

¹¹He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven^y has been given to you,^z but not to them. ¹²Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.^{a 13}This is why I speak to them in parables:

“Though seeing, they do not see;

though hearing, they do not hear or understand.^b

¹⁴In them is fulfilled^c the prophecy of Isaiah:

“ ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding;

you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.

¹⁵For this people’s heart has become calloused;

they hardly hear with their ears,

and they have closed their eyes.

Otherwise they might see with their eyes,

hear with their ears,

understand with their hearts

and turn, and I would heal them.’^ad

¹⁶But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.^{e 17}For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see^f but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.

¹⁸“Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: ¹⁹When anyone hears the message about the kingdom^g and does not understand it, the evil one^h comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. ²⁰The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. ²¹But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.^{i 22}The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth^j choke the word, making it unfruitful. ²³But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”^k