Explanation of the Parable

^13 (A)And He *said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand all the parables? ¹⁴ The sower sows the word. ¹⁵ These are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown; and when they hear, immediately ^(B)Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them. ¹⁶ And in a similar way these are the ones sown with seed on the rocky places, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy; ¹⁷ and yet they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution occurs because of the word, immediately they ^[a]fall away. ¹⁸ And others are the ones sown with seed among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, ¹⁹ but the worries of ^(C)the ^[b]world, and the ^(D)deceitfulness of wealth, and the desires for other things enter and choke the word, and it ^[c]becomes unfruitful. ²⁰ And those are the ones sown with seed on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it and ^(E)bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundred times as much.”

¹¹ “Now this is the parable: ^(A)the seed is the word of God. ¹² And those beside the road are the ones who have heard, then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they will not believe and be saved. ¹³ Those on the rocky soil are the ones who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and yet these do not have a firm root; ^[a]they believe for a while, and in a time of temptation they ^[b]fall away. ¹⁴ And the seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked by worries, riches, and pleasures of this life, and they bring no fruit to maturity. ¹⁵ But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word ^[c]with a good and virtuous heart, and hold it firmly, and produce fruit with ^[d]perseverance.