Parables Unveiled

¹On that day Jesus had gone out of the house and was sitting by the sea.

²And large crowds gathered to Him, so He got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd was standing on the beach.

³And He told them many things in parables, saying, “Behold, the sower went out to sow;

⁴and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up.

⁵Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and they sprang up immediately, because they had no depth of soil.

⁶But after the sun rose, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

⁷Others fellamong the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out.

⁸But others fell on the good soil and yielded a crop, some a hundred, some sixty, and some thirty times as much.

⁹The one who has ears,let him hear.”

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

¹¹And Jesus answered them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted.

¹²For 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 seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.

¹⁴Andin their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, ‘ YOU SHALL KEEP ON LISTENING, BUT SHALL NOT UNDERSTAND; AND YOU SHALL KEEP ON LOOKING, BUT SHALL NOT PERCEIVE;

¹⁵FOR 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.’

¹⁶But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear.

¹⁷For truly I say to you that many 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“Listen then to the parable of the sower.

¹⁹When anyone hears theword of the kingdom and does not understand it, the 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 theword, immediately hefalls away.

²²And the one sown with seed among the thorns, this is the one who hears the word, and the anxiety of theworld and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and itbecomes 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 a hundred, some sixty, and some thirty times as much.”

¹Again He began to teach by the sea. And such a very large crowd gathered to Him that He got into a boat on the sea and sat down; and the whole crowd was by the sea on the land.

²And He was teaching them many things in parables, and was saying to them in His teaching,

³“Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow;

⁴as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up.

⁵Other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil.

⁶And when the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.

⁷Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.

⁸Other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundred times as much.”

⁹And He was saying, “He who has ears to hear,let him hear.”

¹⁰As soon as He was alone, His followers, along with the twelve disciples, began asking Him about the parables.

¹¹And He was saying to them, “To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but for those who are outside, everything comes in parables,

¹²so that WHILE SEEING THEY MAY SEE, AND NOT PERCEIVE, AND WHILE HEARING, THEY MAY HEAR, AND NOT UNDERSTAND, OTHERWISE THEY MIGHT RETURN AND IT WOULD BE FORGIVEN THEM.”

¹³And He *said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand all the parables?

¹⁴The sower sows the word.

¹⁵These are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown; and when they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them.

¹⁶And in a similar way these are the ones sown with seed on the rocky places, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy;

¹⁷and yet they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution occurs because of the word, immediately theyfall away.

¹⁸And others are the ones sown with seed among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word,

¹⁹but the worries of theworld, and the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desires for other things enter and choke the word, and itbecomes unfruitful.

²⁰And those are the ones sown with seed on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundred times as much.”

⁴Now when a large crowd was coming together, and those from the various cities were journeying to Him, He spoke by way of a parable:

⁵“The sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell beside the road, and it was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the sky ate it up.

⁶Other seed fell on rocky soil, and when it came up, it withered away because it had no moisture.

⁷Other seed fell among the thorns; and the thorns grew up with it and choked it out.

⁸And yet other seed fell into the good soil, and grew up, and produced a crop a hundred times as much.” As He said these things, He would call out, “The one who has ears to hear,let him hear.”

⁹Now His disciples began asking Him what this parable meant.

¹⁰And He said, “To you it has been granted to know themysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest they are told in parables, so thatwhile seeing they may not see, andwhile hearing they may not understand.

¹¹“Now this is the parable: the seed is the word of God.

¹²And those beside the road are the ones who have heard, then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they will not believe and be saved.

¹³Those on the rocky soil are the ones who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and yet these do not have a firm root;they believe for a while, and in a time of temptation theyfall away.

¹⁴And the seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked by worries, riches, and pleasures of this life, and they bring no fruit to maturity.

¹⁵But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the wordwith a good and virtuous heart, and hold it firmly, and produce fruit withperseverance.