14. And so, in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, who said, 'Hearing, you shall hear, but not understand; and seeing, you shall see, but not perceive.
15. For the heart of this people has grown fat, and with their ears they hear heavily, and they have closed their eyes, lest at any time they might see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted, and then I would heal them.'
16. But blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear.
17. Amen I say to you, certainly, that many of the prophets and the just desired to see what you see, and yet they did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and yet they did not hear it.
18. Listen, then, to the parable of the sower.
19. With anyone who hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, evil comes and carries away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received the seed by the side of the road.
20. Then whoever has received the seed upon a rocky place, this is one who hears the word and promptly accepts it with joy.
21. But he has no root in himself, so it is only for a time; then, when tribulation and persecution occur because of the word, he promptly stumbles.
22. And whoever has received the seed among thorns, this is he who hears the word, but the cares of this age and the falseness of riches suffocate the word, and he is effectively without fruit.
23. Yet truly, whoever has received the seed into good soil, this is he who hears the word, and understands it, and so he bears fruit, and he produces: some a hundred fold, and another sixty fold, and another thirty fold."