11He began to teachagain2by the sea. And such a verylargecrowdgathered to Him that 3He got into a boat in the sea and satdown; and the wholecrowd was by the sea on the land.
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And He was teaching them manythings in 4parables, and was saying to them in His teaching,
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"Listen to this! Behold, the sowerwent out to sow;
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as he was sowing, some seed fellbeside the road, and the birdscame and ate it up.
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"Other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not havemuchsoil; and immediately it sprang up because it hadnodepth of soil.
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"And after the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it hadnoroot, it witheredaway.
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"Other seed fellamong the thorns, and the thornscame up and choked it, and it yieldednocrop.
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"Other seeds fell into the goodsoil, and as they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop and producedthirty, sixty, and a hundredfold."
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And He was saying, "5He whohasears to hear, let him hear."
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As soon as He was alone, His followers*, along with the twelve, began asking Him about the parables.
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And He was saying to them, "To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but 6those who are outsidegeteverything7in parables,
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so that 8WHILE SEEING, THEY MAY SEE AND NOT PERCEIVE, AND WHILE HEARING, THEY MAY HEAR AND NOT UNDERSTAND, OTHERWISE THEY MIGHT RETURN AND BE FORGIVEN."
Explanation
139And He said to them, "Do you not understandthisparable? How will you understandall the parables?
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"These are the ones who are beside the roadwhere the word is sown; and when they hear, immediately10Satancomes and takesaway the word which has been sown in them.
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"In a similarwaythese are the ones on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, who, when they hear the word, immediatelyreceive it with joy;
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and they haveno firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when afflictionorpersecutionarisesbecause of the word, immediately they fallaway.
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"And others are the ones on whom seed was sownamong the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word,
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but the worries of 11the world, and the 12deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for otherthingsenter in and choke the word, and it becomesunfruitful.
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"And those are the ones on whom seed was sown on the goodsoil; and they hear the word and accept it and 13bearfruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold."