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And when a great crowd came together and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable:
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"A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell along the path, and was trodden under foot, and the birds of the air devoured it.
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And some fell on the rock; and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture.
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And some fell among thorns; and the thorns grew with it and choked it.
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And some fell into good soil and grew, and yielded a hundredfold." As he said this, he called out, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
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And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant,
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he said, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God; but for others they are in parables, so that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.
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Now the parable is this: The seed is the 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, that they may not believe and be saved.
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And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy; but these have no root, they believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away.
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And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.
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And as for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bring forth fruit with patience.
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"No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a vessel, or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand, that those who enter may see the light.
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For nothing is hid that shall not be made manifest, nor anything secret that shall not be known and come to light.
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Take heed then how you hear; for to him who has will more be given, and from him who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away."
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Then his mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him for the crowd.
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And he was told, "Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see you."
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But he said to them, "My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it."