Matthew 13
1 Later that day Jesus left the house, and sat down to teach beside the lake.
On the same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea.
2 So many people gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat down there to teach, while all the crowds stood on the beach.
And large crowds were gathered together to Him, so He got into a boat to sit down; and the whole crowd stood on the shore.
3 He explained many things to them, using stories as illustrations. “The sower went out to sow,” he began.
Then He spoke many things to them in parables saying: “Listen, a sower went out to sow.
4 “As he was sowing, some of the seeds fell on the path. The birds came and ate them up.
And as he sowed, some seeds fell alongside the road, and the birds came and devoured them.
5 Other seeds fell on stony ground where there wasn't much earth where they sprouted quickly.
Others fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; so they sprouted quickly because they had no depth of earth.
6 The sun rose and scorched them and they withered because they had no roots.
But when the sun came up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away.
7 Other seeds fell among thorns that grew up and choked them.
And others fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up and smothered them.
8 Still other seeds fell on good soil. They produced a harvest—some one hundred, some sixty, and some thirty times what had been planted.
But others fell on the good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
9 Anybody who has ears should be listening!”
He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
10 The disciples came to Jesus and asked him, “Why do you use illustrations when you speak to the people?”
And the disciples approached and said to Him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?”
11 “You're privileged to have revealed to you the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but they're not given such insights,” Jesus replied.
So in answer He said to them: “To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of the heavens, but to them it has not been given.
12 “Those who already have will have more given to them, more than enough. But those who don't have, whatever they have will be taken away from them.
For whoever has, to him more will be given and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.
13 That's why I speak to them in illustrations. For even though they see, they do not see; and even though they hear, they do not hear; nor do they understand.
Therefore I speak to them in parables, that seeing they not see and hearing they not hear nor understand.
14 The prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled in them: ‘Even though you hear, you won't understand, and even though you see, you won't perceive.
And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: ‘By hearing you (ye) will hear and not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive.
15 They have a hard-hearted attitude, they don't want to listen, and they've closed their eyes. If they didn't they might be able to see with their eyes, hear with their ears, and understand in their minds. Then they could return to me and I would heal them.’
Because the A hearts of this people have grown dull, and their B ears hard of hearing, and their C eyes they have closed; lest they should see with their C eyes and hear with their B ears and understand with their A hearts, and turn around; and I would heal them.’
16 Your eyes are blessed, for they see. Your ears are blessed too, for they hear.
But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear;
17 I'm telling you, many prophets and good people longed to see what you're seeing, but didn't see it. They longed to hear what you're hearing, but didn't hear it.
for assuredly I say to you that many prophets and righteous ones desired to see what you see and did not see it, and to hear what you hear and did not hear it.
18 So listen to the story of the sower.
“Therefore hear the parable of the sower:
19 When people hear the message about the kingdom and don't understand it, the evil one comes along and rips out what was sown in them. This is what happens to the seeds sown on the path.
When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand, the malignant one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart—this is the seed sown alongside the road.
20 The seeds sown on stony ground are people who hear the message and happily accept it straight away.
But the seed sown on stony places—this is he who hears the word and directly receives it with joy,
21 They last for a while, but because they don't have roots, when problems and troubles come, they quickly fall away.
but he has no root in himself and is short-lived; for when trial or persecution comes because of the word, directly he is offended.
22 The seeds sown among thorns are people who hear the message, but then life's worries and the temptation of money choke the message so that they become fruitless. (aiōn g165)
But the seed sown among the thorns—this is he who hears the word, but the care of this age and the deceitfulness of riches choke out the word, and it becomes fruitless. (aiōn g165)
23 The seeds sown on good soil are people who hear the message, and understand it, and who produce a good harvest—some one hundred, some sixty, and some thirty times what was sown.”
Now the seed sown on the good ground—this is he who hears the word and understands, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”
24 Then he told them another illustrated story: “The kingdom of heaven is like a farmer who sowed good seeds in his field.
He put another parable to them, saying: “The kingdom of the heavens is like a man who sowed good seed in his field;
25 But while his workers were sleeping, an enemy came and sowed weed seeds on top of the wheat. Then they left.
but while the people were sleeping his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went away.
26 So when the wheat grew and produced ears of grain, the weeds also grew up.
But when the stalk sprouted and produced fruit, then the tares also appeared.
27 The farmer's workers came and asked him, ‘Sir, didn't you sow good seeds in your field? Where did the weeds come from?’
So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, was it not good seed that you sowed in your field? How then does it have tares?’
28 ‘Some enemy has done this,’ he replied. ‘Do you want us to go and pull up the weeds?’ they asked him.
He said to them, ‘An enemy did it.’ The servants said to him, ‘So do you want us to go and gather them up?’
29 ‘No,’ he answered, ‘as you pull up the weeds, you might uproot the wheat too.
But he said: ‘No, lest gathering up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them.
30 Let them both grow until harvest, and then at harvest-time I'll tell the reapers to first gather the weeds, tie them up into bundles and burn them, and then gather the wheat and store it in my barn.’”
Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the tares and bind them into bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”
31 He gave them another illustration: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a farmer sowed in his field.
He put another parable to them, saying: “The kingdom of the heavens is like a mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field;
32 Even though it's the tiniest of seeds it grows much bigger than other plants. In fact it grows into a tree big enough for birds to roost in its branches.”
which indeed is smaller than all the seeds, but when it is grown it is greater than all the vegetables and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and rest in its branches.”
33 He told them another illustrated story: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman mixed with a large quantity of flour, until all the dough was raised.”
He spoke another parable to them: “The kingdom of the heavens is like yeast, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal until it was all leavened.”
34 Jesus explained all these things to the crowds using illustrated stories—in fact he didn't speak to them without using stories.
All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, and without a parable He did not speak to them,
35 This fulfilled the prophet's words: “I will speak using stories, and I will explain things hidden from the creation of the world.”
so that what was spoken through the prophet should be fulfilled, namely: “I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things kept secret from the foundation of the world.”
36 Then he left the crowds and went into a house. His disciples came over to him, and asked him, “Please explain to us the story about the weeds in the field.”
Then Jesus dismissed the crowds and went into the house. And His disciples approached Him saying, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.”
37 “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of man,” Jesus explained.
So He answered and said to them: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of the Man.
38 “The field is the world. The good seeds are the children of the kingdom. The weed seeds are the children of the evil one.
The field is the world; as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom, while the tares are the sons of the malignant one.
39 The enemy that sowed the weed seeds is the devil. The harvest is the end of the world. The reapers are angels. (aiōn g165)
The enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. (aiōn g165)
Therefore just as the tares are gathered and burned with fire, so it will be at the end of this age. (aiōn g165)
41 The Son of man will send out his angels, and they will gather up every sinful thing and everyone who does evil,
The Son of the Man will send out His angels, and they will collect out of His kingdom everything that is offensive, and those who perpetrate lawlessness;
42 and will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.
and they will throw them into the furnace of fire. There there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
43 Then those who live right will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father. Anybody with ears should be listening!
Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
44 The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. A man found it, reburied it, and then full of joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
“Again, the kingdom of the heavens is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and re-hid, and in his joy he goes and sells everything he has and buys that field.
45 The kingdom of heaven is also like a trader looking for good pearls.
“Again, the kingdom of the heavens is like a man, a merchant, seeking beautiful pearls,
46 When he found the most expensive pearl ever he went and sold all he had and bought it.
who upon finding one very valuable pearl went and sold everything he had and bought it.
47 Once more, the kingdom of heaven is like a fishing net thrown into the sea that caught all kinds of fish.
“Again, the kingdom of the heavens is like a seine that was cast into the sea and gathered of every kind,
48 When it was full it was dragged ashore. The good fish were put into baskets while the bad ones were thrown away.
which, when it was full, they pulled upon the shore; and sitting down they collected the good into vessels, but threw out the bad.
49 That's the way it will be when the end of the world comes. The angels will go out and separate the evil people from the good, (aiōn g165)
So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth and will separate the malignant out from among the righteous, (aiōn g165)
50 and throw them into the blazing furnace where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.
and they will throw them into the furnace of fire. There there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
51 Now do you understood everything?” “Yes,” they replied.
Jesus says to them, “Did you understand all these things?” They say to Him, “Yes, Lord.”
52 “Every religious teacher who's learned about the kingdom of heaven is like a house-owner who brings out from his storeroom both new and old treasures,” Jesus said.
So He said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been discipled into the kingdom of the heavens is like a man, a householder, who brings out of his reservoir things new and old.”
53 After Jesus finished telling these stories, he left.
Now it happened, when Jesus had finished these parables, that He departed from there.
54 He went back to his home town and taught in the synagogue there. People were amazed, and asked, “Where does he get his wisdom and miracles from?
And coming into His hometown He began to teach them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said: “Where did this man get this wisdom, and the mighty works?
55 Isn't this the carpenter's son? Isn't his mother's name Mary, and his brothers James, and Joseph, and Simon, and Judas?
Is this not the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary, and his brothers James and Joses and Simon and Jude?
56 Don't his sisters live here among us? So where does he get all this from?”
And his sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this man get all these things?”
57 And so they refused to believe in him. “A prophet is honored everywhere except in his homeland and in his family,” Jesus told them.
So they were offended at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own house.”
58 Since they failed to trust in him, he did not do many miracles there.
And He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.
