4. And when a very great throng was gathering together and people from town after town kept coming to Jesus, He said in a parable:
5. A sower went out to sow seed; and as he sowed, some fell along the traveled path and was trodden underfoot, and the birds of the air ate it up.
6. And some [seed] fell on the rock, and as soon as it sprouted, it withered away because it had no moisture.
7. And other [seed] fell in the midst of the thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it [off].
8. And some seed fell into good soil, and grew up and yielded a crop a hundred times [as great]. As He said these things, He called out, He who has ears to hear, let him be listening and let him consider and understand by hearing!
9. And when His disciples asked Him the meaning of this parable,
10. He said to them, To you it has been given to [come progressively to] know (to recognize and understand more strongly and clearly) the mysteries and secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that, [though] looking, they may not see; and hearing, they may not comprehend. [Isa. 6:9, 10; Jer. 5:21; Ezek. 12:2.]
11. Now the meaning of the parable is this: The seed is the Word of God.
12. Those along the traveled road are the people who have heard; then the devil comes and carries away the message out of their hearts, that they may not believe (acknowledge Me as their Savior and devote themselves to Me) and be saved [here and hereafter].