1 Soon afterward he went on through cities and villages, ^oproclaiming and ^pbringing the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him, 2 and also some ^qwomen who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom ^rseven demons had gone out, 3 and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s household manager, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them¹ out of their means.

4 ^sAnd 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. 6 And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. 7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. 8 And 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.”

9 ^tAnd when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, 10 he said, ^u“To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ^v‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’ 11 ^wNow the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12 The 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 ^xbelieve and be saved. 13 And 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 ^yfall away.