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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.
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And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts.
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These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness;
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and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word's sake, immediately they stumble.
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Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word,
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and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.