Matthew 13:1-15

1On the same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea.

2And great multitudes were gathered together to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.

3Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: “Behold, a sower went out to sow.

4And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them.

5Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth.

6But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away.

7And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them.

8But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

9He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

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

11He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.

12For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.

13Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.

14And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: ‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, And seeing you will see and not perceive;

15For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.’