9. Then Jesus said, “You people who hear me, listen!”
10. Later, Jesus was away from the people. The twelve apostles and his other followers asked him about the stories.
11. Jesus said, “Only you can know the secret truth about God’s kingdom. But to those other people I tell everything by using stories.
12. I do this so that ‘They will look and look but never really see; they will listen and listen but never understand. If they saw and understood, they might change and be forgiven.’” Isaiah 6:9-10
13. Then Jesus said to the followers, “Do you understand this story? If you don’t, how will you understand any story?
14. The farmer is like someone who plants God’s teaching in people.
15. Sometimes the teaching falls on the path. That is like some people who hear the teaching of God. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the teaching that was planted in them.
16. “Other people are like the seed planted on rocky ground. They hear the teaching, and they quickly and gladly accept it.
17. But they don’t allow it to go deep into their lives. They keep it only a short time. As soon as trouble or persecution comes because of the teaching they accepted, they give up.
18. “Others are like the seed planted among the thorny weeds. They hear the teaching,
19. but their lives become full of other things: the worries of this life, the love of money, and everything else they want. This keeps the teaching from growing, and it does not produce a crop in their lives.
20. “And others are like the seed planted on the good ground. They hear the teaching and accept it. Then they grow and produce a good crop—sometimes 30 times more, sometimes 60 times more, and sometimes 100 times more.”
21. Then Jesus said to them, “You don’t take a lamp and hide it under a bowl or a bed, do you? Of course not. You put it on a lampstand.
22. Everything that is hidden will be made clear. Every secret thing will be made known.
23. You people who hear me, listen!
24. Think carefully about what you are hearing. God will know how much to give you by how much you understand now. But he will give you more than you deserve.
25. The people who have some understanding will receive more. But those who do not have much will lose even the small amount they have.”
26. Then Jesus said, “God’s kingdom is like a man who plants seed in the ground.
27. The seed begins to grow. It grows night and day. It doesn’t matter whether the man is sleeping or awake, the seed still grows. He doesn’t know how it happens.
28. Without any help the ground produces grain. First the plant grows, then the head, and then all the grain in the head.
29. When the grain is ready, the man cuts it. This is the harvest time.”