Matthew 13:15-25

15 The people are blockheads! They stick their fingers in their ears so they won't have to listen; They screw their eyes shut so they won't have to look, so they won't have to deal with me face-to-face and let me heal them.
16 "But you have God-blessed eyes - eyes that see! And God-blessed ears - ears that hear!
17 A lot of people, prophets and humble believers among them, would have given anything to see what you are seeing, to hear what you are hearing, but never had the chance.
18 "Study this story of the farmer planting seed.
19 When anyone hears news of the kingdom and doesn't take it in, it just remains on the surface, and so the Evil One comes along and plucks it right out of that person's heart. This is the seed the farmer scatters on the road.
20 "The seed cast in the gravel - this is the person who hears and instantly responds with enthusiasm.
21 But there is no soil of character, and so when the emotions wear off and some difficulty arrives, there is nothing to show for it.
22 "The seed cast in the weeds is the person who hears the kingdom news, but weeds of worry and illusions about getting more and wanting everything under the sun strangle what was heard, and nothing comes of it.
23 "The seed cast on good earth is the person who hears and takes in the News, and then produces a harvest beyond his wildest dreams."
24 He told another story. "God's kingdom is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field.
25 That night, while his hired men were asleep, his enemy sowed thistles all through the wheat and slipped away before dawn.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.