1
On that day Jesus went out of the house, and sat by the seaside.
2
Great multitudes gathered to him, so that he entered into a boat, and sat, and all the multitude stood on the beach.
3
He spoke to them many things in parables, saying, "Behold, the farmer went forth to sow.
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As he sowed, some seeds fell by the roadside, and the birds came and devoured them.
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Others fell on rocky ground, where they didn`t have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, because they had no deepness of earth.
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When the sun had risen, they were scorched. Because they had no root, they withered away.
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Others fell on thorns. The thorns grew up and choked them:
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and others fell on good soil, and yielded fruit: some one hundred times, some sixty, and some thirty.
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He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
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The disciples came, and said to him, "Why do you speak to them in parables?"
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He answered them, "To you it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but it is not given to them.
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For whoever has, to him will be given, and he will have abundance, but whoever doesn`t have, from him will be taken away even that which he has.
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Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they don`t see, and hearing, they don`t hear, neither do they understand.
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In them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says, `By hearing you will hear, and will in no way understand; Seeing you will see, and will in no way perceive:
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For this people`s heart has grown callous, Their ears are dull of hearing, Their eyes they have closed; Or else perhaps they might perceive with their eyes, Hear with their ears, Understand with their heart, And should turn again; And I would heal them.`
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"But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear.
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For most assuredly I tell you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see the things which you see, and didn`t see them; and to hear the things which you hear, and didn`t hear them.