10 Then the disciples came and said to him, "Why do you speak to them in parables?"
11
And he answered them, 10"To you it has been given to know 11the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.
12
12For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, 13even what he has will be taken away.
13
This is why I speak to them in parables, because 14seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, 15nor do they understand.
14
Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says:16"'You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.
15
For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears 17they can barely hear, and 18their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and 19understand with their heart and 20turn, and I would heal them.'
16
But 21blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear.
17
22For truly, I say to you, 23many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.
19
When anyone hears the word of 25the kingdom and 26does not understand it, 27the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path.
20
As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately 28receives it with joy,
21
yet he has no root in himself, but 29endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately 30he falls away.[b]
22
As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but 31the cares of 32the world and 33the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.
23
As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and 34understands it. He indeed 35bears fruit and yields, in one case 36a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty."