And He answered them, “The person who planted the good seed is the Son of man,
Luke 8:5 - An Understandable Version (2005 edition) “A farmer went out [to his field] to plant grain. And as he sowed [i.e., scattering seeds by hand], some of it landed along side of the road; it was stepped on by people and [eventually] birds of the sky came and ate it. More versionsKing James Version (Oxford) 1769 A 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. Amplified Bible - Classic Edition A sower went out to sow seed; and as he sowed, some fell along the traveled path and was trodden underfoot, and the birds of the air ate it up. American Standard Version (1901) The sower went forth to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden under foot, and the birds of the heaven devoured it. Common English Bible “A farmer went out to scatter his seed. As he was scattering it, some fell on the path where it was crushed, and the birds in the sky came and ate it. Catholic Public Domain Version "The sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell beside the way; and it was trampled and the birds of the air devoured it. Douay-Rheims version of The Bible - 1752 version The 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. |
And He answered them, “The person who planted the good seed is the Son of man,
“You people are [like] salt on the earth. But if salt loses its flavoring ability, how will it ever get it back again? From then on it would be good for nothing except to be thrown out onto the roadway and walked on by people. [Note: This was mined salt which, when losing its “saltiness” due to exposure to the sun or rain, was simply disposed of by being dumped onto the roadway where people walked].
Some of the seed that fell along the roadside represents where ‘the word’ was sown [i.e., preached]. When these people have heard, immediately Satan comes and takes away ‘the word’ which had been sown in them.
Then when a large crowd assembled and people from every town were coming to Jesus, He told them this parable [i.e., a brief story to illustrate His teaching]:
And other [seed] fell on rocky ground and as soon as it started to grow, it [quickly] withered away, because it had no moisture.
So [then], we [Christians] should pay closer attention to the things we have heard, so that we do not drift away from [believing and practicing] them.