That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. Great crowds assembled around Him, so that He went into a boat and sat there. And the whole assembly stood on the shore. Then He told them many things in parables, saying, “Listen! A sower went out to sow. While he sowed, some seeds fell beside the path, and the birds came and devoured them. But other seeds fell on rocky ground where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up because they did not have deep soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched. And because they did not take root, they withered away. Some seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. But other seeds fell into good ground and produced grain: a hundred, sixty, or thirty times as much. Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear.”
The disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?”
He answered them, “It is given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For to him who has, will more be given, and he will have abundance. But from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. Therefore I speak to them in parables:
‘Because they look, but do not see.
And they listen, but they do not hear, neither do they understand.’
In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah which says:
‘By hearing, you will hear and shall not understand,
and seeing, you will see and shall not perceive;
for this people’s heart has grown dull.
Their ears have become hard of hearing,
and they have closed their eyes,
lest they should see with their eyes
and hear with their ears
and understand with their hearts,
and turn, and I should heal them.’
But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which you see, and have not seen them, and to hear those things which you hear, and have not heard them.
“Therefore listen to the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the one who received seed beside the path. But he who received the seed on rocky ground is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, eventually he falls away. He also who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, but the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit. Some produce a hundred, sixty, or thirty times what was sown.”
He told them another parable, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. But when the shoots had sprung up and produced fruit, the weeds also appeared.
“So the servants of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? Then where did the weeds come from?’
“He said to them, ‘An enemy did this.’
“The servants said to him, ‘Will you then have us go and gather them up?’
“But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the weeds, you pull up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers: Gather up the weeds first and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.’ ”
He told them another parable, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field. This indeed is the least of all seeds, but when it has grown, it is the greatest among herbs and is a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in its branches.”
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