(3) Then he taught them many things by using stories. He said: A farmer went out to scatter seed in a field. (4) While the farmer was scattering the seed, some of it fell along the road and was eaten by birds. (5) Other seeds fell on thin, rocky ground and quickly started growing because the soil wasn't very deep. (6) But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched and dried up, because they did not have enough roots. (7) Some other seeds fell where thornbushes grew up and choked the plants. (8) But a few seeds did fall on good ground where the plants produced a hundred or sixty or thirty times as much as was scattered. (9) If you have ears, pay attention!

(19) The seeds that fell along the road are the people who hear the message about the kingdom, but don't understand it. Then the evil one comes and snatches the message from their hearts. (20) The seeds that fell on rocky ground are the people who gladly hear the message and accept it right away. (21) But they don't have deep roots, and they don't last very long. As soon as life gets hard or the message gets them in trouble, they give up. (22) The seeds that fell among the thornbushes are also people who hear the message. But they start worrying about the needs of this life and are fooled by the desire to get rich. So the message gets choked out, and they never produce anything. (23) The seeds that fell on good ground are the people who hear and understand the message. They produce as much as a hundred or sixty or thirty times what was planted.

(3) Now listen! A farmer went out to scatter seed in a field. (4) While the farmer was scattering the seed, some of it fell along the road and was eaten by birds. (5) Other seeds fell on thin, rocky ground and quickly started growing because the soil wasn't very deep. (6) But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched and dried up, because they did not have enough roots. (7) Some other seeds fell where thornbushes grew up and choked out the plants. So they did not produce any grain. (8) But a few seeds did fall on good ground where the plants grew and produced thirty or sixty or even a hundred times as much as was scattered. (9) Then Jesus said, "If you have ears, pay attention."

(14) What the farmer is spreading is really the message about the kingdom. (15) The seeds that fell along the road are the people who hear the message. But Satan soon comes and snatches it away from them. (16) The seeds that fell on rocky ground are the people who gladly hear the message and accept it right away. (17) But they don't have any roots, and they don't last very long. As soon as life gets hard or the message gets them in trouble, they give up. (18) The seeds that fell among the thornbushes are also people who hear the message. (19) But they start worrying about the needs of this life. They are fooled by the desire to get rich and to have all kinds of other things. So the message gets choked out, and they never produce anything. (20) The seeds that fell on good ground are the people who hear and welcome the message. They produce thirty or sixty or even a hundred times as much as was planted.

(4) When a large crowd from several towns had gathered around Jesus, he told them this story: (5) A farmer went out to scatter seed in a field. While the farmer was doing it, some of the seeds fell along the road and were stepped on or eaten by birds. (6) Other seeds fell on rocky ground and started growing. But the plants did not have enough water and soon dried up. (7) Some other seeds fell where thornbushes grew up and choked the plants. (8) The rest of the seeds fell on good ground where they grew and produced a hundred times as many seeds. When Jesus had finished speaking, he said, "If you have ears, pay attention!"

(11) This is what the story means: The seed is God's message, (12) and the seeds that fell along the road are the people who hear the message. But the devil comes and snatches the message out of their hearts, so that they will not believe and be saved. (13) The seeds that fell on rocky ground are the people who gladly hear the message and accept it. But they don't have deep roots, and they believe only for a little while. As soon as life gets hard, they give up. (14) The seeds that fell among the thornbushes are also people who hear the message. But they are so eager for riches and pleasures that they never produce anything. (15) Those seeds that fell on good ground are the people who listen to the message and keep it in good and honest hearts. They last and produce a harvest.