Mark 4:9-20

9He added, “Let the person who has ears listen!”

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.”