Luke 8:3-17
New American Standard Bible
4Now when a large crowd was coming together, and those from the various cities were journeying to Him, He spoke by way of a parable:
5The sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell beside the road, and it was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the sky ate it up.
6Other seed fell on rocky soil, and when it came up, it withered away because it had no moisture.
7Other seed fell among the thorns; and the thorns grew up with it and choked it out.
8And yet other seed fell into the good soil, and grew up, and produced a crop a hundred times as much.' As He said these things, He would call out, 'The one who has ears to hear, let him hear.'
9Now His disciples began asking Him what this parable meant.
10And He said, 'To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest they are told in parables, so that while seeing they may not see, and while hearing they may not understand.
11Now this is the parable: the seed is the word of God.
12And those beside the road are the ones who have heard, then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they will not believe and be saved.
13Those on the rocky soil are the ones who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and yet these do not have a firm root; they believe for a while, and in a time of temptation they fall away.
14And the seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked by worries, riches, and pleasures of this life, and they bring no fruit to maturity.
15But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word with a good and virtuous heart, and hold it firmly, and produce fruit with perseverance.
King James Version
4And when much people were gathered together, and were come to him out of every city, he spake by a parable:
5A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it.
6And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture.
7And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it.
8And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
12Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.
13They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.
14And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.
15But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.
Christian Standard Bible
4As a large crowd was gathering, and people were coming to Jesus from every town, he said in a parable:
5"A sower went out to sow his seed. As he sowed, some seed fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds of the sky devoured it.
6Other seed fell on the rock; when it grew up, it withered away, since it lacked moisture.
7Other seed fell among thorns; the thorns grew up with it and choked it.
8Still other seed fell on good ground; when it grew up, it produced fruit: a hundred times what was sown." As he said this, he called out, "Let anyone who has ears to hear listen."
11"This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God.
12The seed along the path are those who have heard and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.
13And the seed on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy. Having no root, these believe for a while and fall away in a time of testing.
14As for the seed that fell among thorns, these are the ones who, when they have heard, go on their way and are choked with worries, riches, and pleasures of life, and produce no mature fruit.
15But the seed in the good ground—these are the ones who, having heard the word with an honest and good heart, hold on to it and by enduring, produce fruit.
New Living Translation
4One day Jesus told a story in the form of a parable to a large crowd that had gathered from many towns to hear him:
5A farmer went out to plant his seed. As he scattered it across his field, some seed fell on a footpath, where it was stepped on, and the birds ate it.
6Other seed fell among rocks. It began to grow, but the plant soon wilted and died for lack of moisture.
7Other seed fell among thorns that grew up with it and choked out the tender plants.
8Still other seed fell on fertile soil. This seed grew and produced a crop that was a hundred times as much as had been planted!' When he had said this, he called out, 'Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.'
11This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is God’s word.
12The seeds that fell on the footpath represent those who hear the message, only to have the devil come and take it away from their hearts and prevent them from believing and being saved.
13The seeds on the rocky soil represent those who hear the message and receive it with joy. But since they don’t have deep roots, they believe for a while, then they fall away when they face temptation.
14The seeds that fell among the thorns represent those who hear the message, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares and riches and pleasures of this life. And so they never grow into maturity.
15And the seeds that fell on the good soil represent honest, good-hearted people who hear God’s word, cling to it, and patiently produce a huge harvest.
16No one lights a lamp and then covers it with a bowl or hides it under a bed. A lamp is placed on a stand, where its light can be seen by all who enter the house.
17For all that is secret will eventually be brought into the open, and everything that is concealed will be brought to light and made known to all.
English Standard Version
4And when a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable,
5"A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it.
6And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture.
7And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it.
8And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold." As he said these things, he called out, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
9And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant,
10he said, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’
11Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.
12The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.
13And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away.
14And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.
15As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.
New International Version
4While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable:
5"A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up.
6Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture.
7Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants.
11"This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God.
12Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.
13Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away.
14The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature.
15But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.
New King James Version
4And when a great multitude had gathered, and they had come to Him from every city, He spoke by a parable:
5“A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it.
6Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture.
7And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it.
8But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold.” When He had said these things He cried, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
11“Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.
12Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.
13But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away.
14Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity.
15But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.