10. When Jesus was alone with the twelve apostles and some others, they asked him about these stories.
11. He answered:I have explained the secret about God's kingdom to you, but for others I can use only stories.
12. The reason is,“These people will lookand look, but never see.They will listen and listen,but never understand.If they did,they would turn to God,and he would forgive them.”
13. Jesus told them:If you don't understand this story, you won't understand any others.
14. What the farmer is spreading is really the message about the kingdom.
15. The seeds that fell along the road are the people who hear the message. But Satan soon comes and snatches it away from them.
16. The seeds that fell on rocky ground are the people who gladly hear the message and accept it straight away.
17. But they don't have any roots, and they don't last very long. As soon as life gets hard or the message gets them in trouble, they give up.
18. The seeds that fell among the thorn bushes are also people who hear the message.
19. But they start worrying about the needs of this life. They are fooled by the desire to get rich and to have all kinds of other things. So the message gets choked out, and they never produce anything.
20. The seeds that fell on good ground are the people who hear and welcome the message. They produce thirty or sixty or even a hundred times as much as was planted.
21. Jesus also said:You don't light a lamp and put it under a clay pot or under a bed. Don't you put a lamp on a lampstand?
22. There is nothing hidden that will not be made public. There is no secret that will not be well known.
23. If you have ears, pay attention!
24. Listen carefully to what you hear! The way you treat others will be the way you will be treated—and even worse.
25. Everyone who has something will be given more. But people who don't have anything will lose what little they have.
26. Again Jesus said:God's kingdom is like what happens when a farmer scatters seed in a field.
27. The farmer sleeps at night and is up and around during the day. Yet the seeds keep sprouting and growing, and he doesn't understand how.