Mat 13:18-23, Luk 8:11-15 | ISV | STEP | “Listen, then, to the parable about the sower.

Matthew 13:18-23

18 “Listen, then, to the parable about the sower.Mark 4:14; Luke 8:11 19 When anyone hears the word about the kingdom yet doesn't understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path.Matt 4:23 20 As for what was sown on the stony ground, this is the person who hears the word and accepts it at once with joy,Isa 58:2; Ezek 33:31-32; John 5:35 21 but since he doesn't have any root in himself, he lasts for only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes along because of the word, he immediately falls away.Matt 11:6; 2Tim 1:15 22 As for what was sown among the thornbushes, this is the person who hears the word, but the worries of life and the deceitful pleasures of wealth choke the word so that it can't produce a crop.Jer 4:3; Matt 19:23; Mark 10:23; Luke 18:24; 1Tim 6:9; 2Tim 4:10 23 But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the person who hears the word, understands it, and produces a crop that yields a hundred, sixty, or thirty times what was sown.” ^{▼▼The Gk. lacks what was sown}

Luke 8:11-15

11 “Now this is what the parable means. The seed is God's word.Matt 13:18; Mark 4:14 12 The ones on the path are the people who listen, but then the devil comes and takes the word away from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. 13 The ones on the stony ground are the people who welcome the word with joy when they hear it. But since they don't have any roots, they believe for a while, but in a time of testing they fall away. 14 The ones that fell among the thornbushes are the people who listen, but as they go on their way they are choked by the worries, wealth, and pleasures of life, and their fruit doesn't mature. 15 But the ones on the good soil are the people who also hear the word but hold on to it with good and honest hearts and produce a crop through endurance.”

A Light under a Bowl Mark 4:21-25