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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 1those who are outsidegeteverything2in parables,
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so that 3WHILE SEEING, THEY MAY SEE AND NOT PERCEIVE, AND WHILE HEARING, THEY MAY HEAR AND NOT UNDERSTAND, OTHERWISE THEY MIGHT RETURN AND BE FORGIVEN."
Explanation
134And 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, immediately5Satancomes 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 6the world, and the 7deceitfulness 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 8bearfruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold."