Luke 8:2-21

²Some women from whom he had expelled evil spirits and healed of diseases also went with him. These included Mary, the woman from Magdala village, from whom he had expelled seven evil spirits;

³Joanna, the wife of Chuza, who was one of King Herod Antipas' officials; Susanna; and many others. They were providing some of their own funds to help Jesus and his disciples.

⁴A large crowd of people came to Jesus from many towns. Then he told them this parable:

⁵“A man went out to his field to sow some seeds. As he was scattering them over the soil, some of the seeds fell on the path. Then people walked on those seeds, and birds ate them.

⁶Some of the seeds fell on rock on which there was a thin layer of moist soil. As soon as the seeds grew, the plants dried up because they had no moisture.

⁷Some of the seeds fell on ground that contained roots of thorny weeds. The thorny weeds grew together with the young plants, and they crowded out those plants.

⁸But some of the seeds fell on good soil and grew well. Each seed later produced a hundred grains.” Then Jesus called out to them, “If you want to understand MTY this, you must consider carefully what I have just said!”

⁹Jesus' disciples later asked him about the meaning of the parable he had just told.

¹⁰He said, “God is revealing to you what he did not reveal before, about how he wants to rule MET over people's lives. But when I am telling other people about these things, I tell them only in parables. The result will be like a prophet predicted long ago: They will see what I am doing, but will not perceive what it means. They will hear what I am saying, but will not understand it.

¹¹So this is the meaning of that parable: The seeds represent God's message.

¹²Some people are like the path on which some of the seeds fell. When these people hear God's message, the devil comes and causes them to forget what they have heard. As a result, they do not believe it, and will not be saved { God will not save them}.

¹³Some people are like the soil with rock underneath. When they hear God's message, they accept it joyfully. But because it does not penetrate deeply MET into their inner beings, they believe it for only a short time. They are like the plants that did not have deep roots. When difficult things happen to them, they stop believing God's message.

¹⁴Some people are like the soil that had roots of thorny weeds in it. They are people who accept God's message, but later on they worry about things, and try to become rich, and enjoy things that give them a lot of pleasure. So they do not become spiritually mature.

¹⁵But some people are like the good soil. They hear God's message and accept it. They become good, honest people, and they continue doing things that please God MET.”

¹⁶“After people light a lamp, they do not cover it with a basket or put it under a bed. Instead, they put it on a lampstand, so that those who enter their house can see things from its light MET. Similarly, you must tell God's truth to others so that they can know what I can do for them.

¹⁷God wants to make clear all of his truth that was not evident previously. He intends that all of the truth that he had not revealed before be told openly {that his people openly tell others all of the truth that he has not revealed before}.

¹⁸So listen carefully to what I tell you, because God will enable those who accept my truth to understand even more. But God will cause those who do not accept my truth to not understand even the little that they think they have understood.”

¹⁹One day Jesus' mother and his younger brothers came to see him, but they could not get near him because there was a large crowd around him in the house.

²⁰Someone told him, “Your mother and your younger brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.”

²¹He replied, “Those who hear God's message and obey it are as dear to me MET as my mother and my brothers.”