“So listen to the parable of the sower:

He told them many things in parables, saying: “Listen! A sower went out to sow.

When anyone hears the word about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches what was sown in his heart; this is the seed sown along the path.

He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man.

And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them.

The seed sown on rocky ground is the person who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy.

He presented them with another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a person who sowed good seed in his field.

But while everyone was sleeping, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away.

So the slaves of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Then where did the weeds come from?’

and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels.

Look at the birds in the sky: They do not sow, or reap, or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you more valuable than they are?

The seed sown among thorns is the person who hears the word, but worldly cares and the seductiveness of wealth choke the word, so it produces nothing.

But as for the seed sown on good soil, this is the person who hears the word and understands. He bears fruit, yielding a hundred, sixty, or thirty times what was sown.”

He gave them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field.

Then the one who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Sir, I knew that you were a hard man, harvesting where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed,

But his master answered, ‘Evil and lazy slave! So you knew that I harvest where I didn’t sow and gather where I didn’t scatter?