^18 Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; ^19 but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. ^20 Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.”

A Lamp on a Stand

^21 He said to them, “Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don’t you put it on its stand? ^22 For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open.^23 If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear.”

^24 “Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more. ^25 Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.”