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.
28. It is the ground that makes the seeds sprout and grow into plants that produce grain.
29. Then when harvest season comes and the grain is ripe, the farmer cuts it with a sickle.
30. Finally, Jesus said:What is God's kingdom like? What story can I use to explain it?
31. It is like what happens when a mustard seed is planted in the ground. It is the smallest seed in all the world.
32. But once it is planted, it grows larger than any garden plant. It even puts out branches that are big enough for birds to nest in its shade.
33. Jesus used many other stories when he spoke to the people, and he taught them as much as they could understand.