Matthew 13:18-23 - The Parable Of The Sower Interpreted

¹⁸ Now, listen to the parable of the sower. ¹⁹ When anyone hears the word of the Realm and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart; that is the man who is sown 'on the road.' ²⁰ As for him who is sown 'on stony soil,' that is the man who hears the word and accepts it at once with enthusiasm; ²¹ he has no root in himself, he does not last, but when the word brings trouble or persecution he is at once repelled. ²² As for him who is sown 'among thorns,' that is the man who listens to the word, but the worry of the world and the delight of being rich choke the word; so it proves unfruitful. ²³ As for him who is sown 'on good soil,' that is the man who hears the word and understands it; he bears fruit, producing now a hundredfold, now sixty, and now thirtyfold."

¹³ And he said to them, "You do not understand this parable? Then how are you to understand the other parables? ¹⁴ The sower sows the word. ¹⁵ As for those 'on the road,' when the seed is sown there ??as soon as they hear it, Satan at once comes and carries off the word sown within them. ¹⁶ Similarly those who are sown 'on stony soil' are the people who on hearing the word accept it with enthusiasm; ¹⁷ but they have no root in themselves, they do not last; the next thing is that when the word brings trouble or persecution, they are at once repelled. ¹⁸ Another set are those who are sown 'among thorns'; they listen to the word, ¹⁹ but the worries of the world and the delight of being rich and all the other passions come in to choke the word; so it proves unfruitful. ²⁰ As for those who were sown 'on good soil,' these are the people who listen to the word and take it in and bear fruit at the rate of thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold."

¹¹ This is what the parable means. The seed is the word of God. ¹² Those 'on the road' are people who hear; but then the devil comes and carries off the word from their heart, that they may not believe and be saved. ¹³ Those 'on the rock' are people who on hearing the word welcome it with enthusiasm, but they have no root; they believe for a while and fall away in the hour of trial. ¹⁴ As for the seed that fell among thorns, that means people who hear but who go and get choked with worries and money and the pleasures of life, so that they never ripen. ¹⁵ As for the seed in the good soil, that means those who hear and hold fast the word in a good and sound heart and so bear fruit stedfastly.