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Parable #11 ~ Matthew 13:3-23 ~ Four types of soil
Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow
his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds
came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It
sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the
plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell
among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good
soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.
He who has ears, let him hear.”
The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in
parables?”
He replied, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been
given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and he will have
an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.
This is why I speak to them in parables: “Though seeing, they do not see; though
hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of
Isaiah:
“ ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing
but never perceiving. For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly
hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see
with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I
would heal them.’
But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.
For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you
see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
“Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: When anyone hears
the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and
snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path.
The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the
word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a
short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly
falls away.
The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man
who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth
choke it, making it unfruitful.
But the one who received the seed that fell on
good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop,
yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”
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