Matthew 13:10-23

10And the disciples came up and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” 11And 1Jesus answered them, “2To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. 123For 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. 13Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while 4seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14And 5in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, ‘67You shall keep on listening, 8but shall not understand; And 9you shall keep on looking, 10but shall not perceive;1511For the heart of this people has become dull, With their ears they scarcely hear, And they have closed their eyes, Otherwise they might see with their eyes, Hear with their ears, Understand with their heart, and return, And I would heal them.’ 1612But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. 17For truly I say to you that 13many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

18“14Listen then to the parable of the sower. 19When anyone hears 15the 16word of the kingdom and does not understand it, 17the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one sown with seed beside the road. 20The one sown with seed on the rocky places, this is the one 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 occurs because of the 18word, immediately he 1920falls away. 22And the one sown with seed among the thorns, this is the one who hears the word, and the anxiety of 21the 22world and the 23deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it 24becomes unfruitful. 23But the one sown with seed on the good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces, some 25a hundred, some sixty, and some thirty times as much.”