The Parable of the Sower Explained

(Matthew 13:18–23, Luke 8:11–15)

13 Then [Jesus] said to them, Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand [any of] the parables?

14 The farmer sows the word. 15 [Some] are like the [seeds][fn] along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear [it], Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.

16 [Some] are like the [seeds] sown on rocky ground. [They] hear the word [and] at once receive it with joy. 17 But they themselves have no root, [and] they remain for only a season. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.

18 [Others] are like the [seeds] sown among the thorns. [They] hear the word, 19 but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desire for other things come in [and] choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

20 Still [others] are like the [seeds] sown on good soil. [They] hear the word, receive [it], and produce a crop—thirtyfold, sixtyfold, [or] a hundredfold.”