41And when a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable:
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2"A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it.
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And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, 3it withered away, because it had no moisture.
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And some fell among 4thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it.
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And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded 5a hundredfold." As he said these things, he called out, 6"He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
The Purpose of the Parables
9 And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant,
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he said, 7"To you it has been given to know 8the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so 9that 'seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.'
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10Now the parable is this: The seed is 11the word of God.
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The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not 12believe and be saved.
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And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it 13with joy. But these have no root; they 14believe for a while, and in time of testing 15fall away.
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And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but 16as they go on their way they are choked by the 17cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.
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As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and 18bear fruit 19with patience.