Parables of the Kingdom
13
1 On the same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea.
2 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.
Parable of the soils
3 Then He spoke many things to them in parables saying: “Listen, a sower went out to sow.
4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell alongside the road, and the birds came and devoured them.
5 Others fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; so they sprouted quickly because they had no depth of earth.
6 But when the sun came up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away.
7 And others fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up and smothered them.
8 But others fell on the good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
9 He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
The reason for parables
10 And the disciples approached and said to Him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?”
11 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 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 Therefore I speak to them in parables, that seeing they not see and hearing they not hear nor understand.
14 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 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 But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear;
17 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.
Parable of the soils explained
18 “Therefore hear the parable of the sower:
19 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 But the seed sown on stony places—this is he who hears the word and directly receives it with joy,
21 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 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.
23 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.”
Wheat and tares
24 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 the people were sleeping his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went away.
26 But when the stalk sprouted and produced fruit, then the tares also appeared.
27 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 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 But he said: ‘No, lest gathering up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them.
30 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.” ’ ”
Mustard seed
31 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 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.”
Yeast
33 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 All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, and without a parable He did not speak to them,
35 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.”
“Wheat and tares” explained
36 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 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; 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 who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels.
40 Therefore just as the tares are gathered and burned with fire, so it will be at the end of this age.
41 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 they will throw them into the furnace of fire. There there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
43 Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
Treasure and pearl
44 “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 “Again, the kingdom of the heavens is like a man, a merchant, seeking beautiful pearls,
46 who upon finding one very valuable pearl went and sold everything he had and bought it.
A seine
47 “Again, the kingdom of the heavens is like a seine that was cast into the sea and gathered of every kind,
48 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 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,
50 and they will throw them into the furnace of fire. There there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
51 Jesus says to them, “Did you understand all these things?” They say to Him, “Yes, Lord.”
52 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.”
A visit to Natsareth
53 Now it happened, when Jesus had finished these parables, that He departed from there.
54 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 Is this not the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary, and his brothers James and Joses and Simon and Jude?
56 And his sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this man get all these things?”
57 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 And He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.