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He taught them many things in parables, and told them in his teaching,
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"Listen! Behold, the farmer went forth to sow,
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and it happened, as he sowed, some seed fell by the road, and the birds came and devoured it.
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Others fell on the rocky ground, where it had little soil, and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of soil.
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When the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.
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Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.
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Others fell into the good ground, and yielded fruit, growing up and increasing. Some brought forth thirty times, some sixty times, and some one hundred times as much."
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He said, "Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear."
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When he was alone, those who were around him with the twelve asked him about the parables.
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He said to them, "To you is given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but to those who are outside, all things are done in parables,
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that 'seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest perhaps they should turn again, and their sins should be forgiven them.'"