16. “But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear.
17. For most certainly 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.
18. “Hear, then, the parable of the farmer.
19. When anyone hears the word of the Kingdom, and doesn’t understand it, the evil one comes, and snatches away that which has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown by the roadside.
20. What was sown on the rocky places, this is he who hears the word, and immediately with joy receives it;
21. yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while. When oppression or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.
22. What was sown among the thorns, this is he who hears the word, but the cares of this age and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.