35 For whoever does the will of God is my brother, and sister, and mother.

Chapter 4

1 And again he began to teach by the sea; and a great multitude gathered to him, so that he went into the boat and sat on the sea, and all the people were on the land by the sea.

2 And he taught them many parables, and in his teaching he said to them,

3 Hear: Behold, a sower went out to sow;

4 And it came to pass, as he sowed, that another thing fell by the wayside, and the birds flew in, and pecked at it.

5 And some fell on a stony place, where there was little earth, and came up quickly, because the earth was not deep;

6 And when the sun rose, it withered, and as it had no root, it withered.

7 Some fell into thorns, and the thorns grew, and choked the seed, and it bore no fruit.

8 And some fell on good ground, and yielded fruit, which sprang up and grew, and brought forth some thirty, and some sixty, and some a hundred.

9 And he said unto them, Whosoever hath ears to hear, let him hear.

10 And when he was left without the multitude, those who were round about him, together with the twelve, asked him about the parable.

11 And he said unto them, 'It has been given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to those who are on the outside all things are in parables;

12 so that they look with their own eyes, and do not see; they hear with their own ears, and do not understand, lest they be converted, and their sins be forgiven.

13 And he said to them, 'Do you not understand this parable?' How then can you understand all the parables?

14 The sower sows the word.

15 That which is sown by the wayside signifies those in whom the word is sown, but to whom, when they hear, Satan immediately comes, and snatches away the word that is sown in their hearts.

16 In like manner also that which is sown in a stony place signifies those who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy,

17 but have no root in them, and are not constant; then, when tribulation or persecution for the word comes, they are immediately offended.

18 That which is sown in thorns signifies those who hear the word,

19 but in which the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and other desires, entering into them, choke the word, and it is without fruit.