4 A large crowd gathered together. People came to Jesus from town after town. As they did, he told a story. He said,
5 "A farmer went out to plant his seed. He scattered the seed on the ground. Some fell on a path. People walked on it, and the birds of the air ate it up.
6 Some seed fell on rocky places. When it grew, the plants dried up because they had no water.
7 Other seed fell among thorns. The thorns grew up with it and crowded out the plants.
8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It grew up and produced a crop 100 times more than the farmer planted." When Jesus said this, he called out, "Those who have ears should listen."
9 His disciples asked him what the story meant.
10 He said, "You have been given the chance to understand the secrets of God's kingdom. But to outsiders I speak by using stories. In that way, " 'They see, but they will not know what they are seeing. They hear, but they will not understand what they are hearing.' (Isaiah 6:9)