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And again He began to teach by the sea. And a great multitude was gathered to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat in it on the sea; and the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea.
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Then He taught them many things by parables, and said to them in His teaching:
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"Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow.
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And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it.
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Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth.
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But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away.
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And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.
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But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred."
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And He said to them, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"
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But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable.
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And He said to them, "To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables,
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so that 'Seeing they may see and not perceive, And hearing they may hear and not understand; Lest they should turn, And their sins be forgiven them.' "
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And He said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?
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The sower sows the word.