The Purpose of the Parables
10 And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him
about the parables. 11 And he said to them, “To you has been given the
secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in
parables, 12 so that
“‘they may indeed see but not perceive,
and may indeed hear but not understand,
lest they should turn and be forgiven.’”
13 And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then
will you understand all the parables? 14 The sower sows the
word. 15 And these are the ones along the path, where the word is
sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the
word that is sown in them. 16 And these are the ones sown on rocky
ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive
it with joy. 17 And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a
while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the
word, immediately they fall away.[a] 18 And others are the ones sown
among thorns. They are those who hear the word, 19 but the cares
of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other
things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 20 But those
that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and
accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”
A Lamp Under a Basket
21 And he said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a
basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand? 22 For nothing is
hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret
except to come to light. 23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him
hear.” 24 And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you
hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and
still more will be added to you. 25 For to the one who has, more
will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has
will be taken away.”
The Parable of the Seed Growing
26 And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should
scatter seed on the ground. 27 He sleeps and rises night and
day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. 28 The
earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the
full grain in the ear. 29 But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts
in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”