Mark 4:18-28

18 Others are those sown among thorns -- they hear the message;
19 but the worries of the world, the deceitful glamor of wealth and all the other kinds of desires push in and choke the message; so that it produces nothing.
20 But those sown on rich soil hear the message, accept it and bear fruit -- thirty, sixty or a hundredfold."
21 He said to them, "A lamp isn't brought in to be put under a bowl or under the bed, is it? Wouldn't you put it on a lampstand?
22 Indeed, nothing is hidden, except to be disclosed; and nothing is covered up, except to come out into the open.
23 Those who have ears to hear with, let them hear!"
24 He also said to them, "Pay attention to what you are hearing! The measure with which you measure out will be used to measure to you -- and more besides!
25 For anyone who has something will be given more; but from anyone who has nothing, even what he does have will be taken away."
26 And he said, "The Kingdom of God is like a man who scatters seed on the ground.
27 Nights he sleeps, days he's awake; and meanwhile the seeds sprout and grow -- how, he doesn't know.
28 By itself the soil produces a crop -- first the stalk, then the head, and finally the full grain in the head.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.