4 When a large crowd gathered, with people from one town after another journeying to him, he spoke in a parable.
5 “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path and was trampled, and the birds of the sky ate it up.
6 Some seed fell on rocky ground, and when it grew, it withered for lack of moisture.
7 Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew with it and choked it.
8 And some seed fell on good soil, and when it grew, it produced fruit a hundredfold.” After saying this, he called out, “Whoever has ears to hear ought to hear.”
9 Then his disciples asked him what the meaning of this parable might be.
10 He answered, “Knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of God has been granted to you; but to the rest, they are made known through parables so that ‘they may look but not see, and hear but not understand.’