<p class="bodytext">&#8220;So listen to the parable of the sower:

He<n id="1" /> told them many things in parables,<n id="2" /> saying: &#8220;Listen!<n id="3" /> A sower went out to sow.<n id="4" />

When anyone hears the word about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one<n id="1" /> comes and snatches what was sown in his heart;<n id="2" /> this is the seed sown along the path.

He<n id="1" /> answered, &#8220;The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man.

And as he sowed, some seeds<n id="1" /> fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them.

The<n id="1" /> seed sown on rocky ground<n id="2" /> is the person who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy.

<t /><p class="bodytext">He presented them with another parable:<n id="1" /> &#8220;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<n id="1" /> among the wheat and went away.

So the slaves<n id="1" /> of the owner came and said to him, &#8216;Sir, didn&#8217;t you sow good seed in your field? Then where did the weeds come from?&#8217;

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:<n id="1" /> They do not sow, or reap, or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds<n id="2" /> them. Aren&#8217;t you more valuable<n id="3" /> than they are?

The<n id="1" /> seed sown among thorns is the person who hears the word, but worldly cares and the seductiveness of wealth<n id="2" /> choke the word,<n id="3" /> 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.&#8221;<n id="1" />p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">He gave<n id="1" /> them another parable:<n id="2" /> &#8220;The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed<n id="3" /> that a man took and sowed in his field.

Then the one who had received the one talent came and said, &#8216;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,<n id="1" /> &#8216;Evil and lazy slave! So you knew that I harvest where I didn&#8217;t sow and gather where I didn&#8217;t scatter?