Matthew 13:4-23

4Some seeds were planted along the road, and birds came and devoured them.

5Other seeds were planted on rocky ground, where there was little soil. The plants sprouted quickly because the soil wasn’t deep.

6But when the sun came up, they were scorched. They withered because their roots weren’t deep enough.

7Other seeds were planted among thornbushes, and the thornbushes grew up and choked them.

8But other seeds were planted on good ground and produced grain. They produced one hundred, sixty, or thirty times as much as was planted.

9Let the person who has ears listen!”

10The disciples asked him, “Why do you use stories as illustrations when you speak to people?”

11Jesus answered, “Knowledge about the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you. But it has not been given to the crowd.

12Those who understand ⌞these mysteries⌟ will be given ⌞more knowledge⌟, and they will excel ⌞in understanding them⌟. However, some people don’t understand ⌞these mysteries⌟. Even what they understand will be taken away from them.

13This is why I speak to them this way. They see, but they’re blind. They hear, but they don’t listen. They don’t even try to understand.

14So they make Isaiah’s prophecy come true: ‘You will hear clearly but never understand. You will see clearly but never comprehend.

15These people have become close-minded and hard of hearing. They have shut their eyes so that their eyes never see. Their ears never hear. Their minds never understand. And they never return to me for healing!’

16“Blessed are your eyes because they see and your ears because they hear.

17I can guarantee this truth: Many prophets and many of God’s people longed to see what you see but didn’t see it, to hear what you hear but didn’t hear it.

18“Listen to what the story about the farmer means.

19Someone hears the word about the kingdom but doesn’t understand it. The evil one comes at once and snatches away what was planted in him. This is what the seed planted along the road illustrates.

20The seed planted on rocky ground ⌞is the person who⌟ hears the word and accepts it at once with joy.

21Since he doesn’t have any root, he lasts only a little while. When suffering or persecution comes along because of the word, he immediately falls ⌞from faith⌟.

22The seed planted among thornbushes ⌞is another person who⌟ hears the word. But the worries of life and the deceitful pleasures of riches choke the word so that it can’t produce anything.

23But the seed planted on good ground ⌞is the person who⌟ hears and understands the word. This type produces crops. They produce one hundred, sixty, or thirty times as much as was planted.”