Matthew 13:1–35

THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER

13On that day Jesus went out of the house and was sitting by the sea.^{f 2}Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat down, while the whole crowd stood on the shore.^g

³Then he told them many things in parables,^h saying, “Consider the sower who went out to sow. ⁴As he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. ⁵Other seed fell on rocky ground where it didn’t have much soil, and it grew up quickly since the soil wasn’t deep. ⁶But when the sun came up, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. ⁷Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it. ⁸Still other seed fell on good ground and produced fruit: some a hundred, some sixty, and some thirty times what was sown.^{i 9}Let anyone who has ears^A listen.”^j

WHY JESUS USED PARABLES

¹⁰Then the disciples^k came up and asked him, “Why are you speaking to them in parables?”^l

¹¹He answered, “Because the secrets of the kingdom of heaven have been given for you to know,^m but it has not been given to them. ¹²For whoever has, more will be given to him, and he will have more than enough; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.^{n 13}That is why I speak to them in parables, because looking they do not see,^o and hearing they do not listen or understand.^{p 14}Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled in them, which says:

You will listen and listen,

but never understand;

you will look and look,

but never perceive.^q

¹⁵For this people’s heart has grown callous;

their ears are hard of hearing,

and they have shut their eyes;

otherwise they might see with their eyes,

and hear with their ears, and

understand with their hearts,

and turn back—

and I would heal them.^Br

¹⁶“Blessed are your eyes^s because they do see, and your ears because they do hear.^{t 17}For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see the things you see but didn’t see them, to hear the things you hear but didn’t hear them.^u

THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER EXPLAINED

¹⁸“So listen to the parable of the sower:^{v 19}When anyone hears the word about the kingdom and doesn’t understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the one sown along the path.^{w 20}And the one sown on rocky ground—this is one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy.^{x 21}But he has no root and is short-lived. When distress or persecution^y comes because of the word, immediately he falls away. ²²Now the one sown among the thorns—this is one who hears the word, but the worries of this age^z and the deceitfulness^A of wealth^aa choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. ²³But the one sown on the good ground—this is one who hears and understands the word, who does produce fruit and yields: some a hundred, some sixty, some thirty times what was sown.”

THE PARABLE OF THE WHEAT AND THE WEEDS

²⁴He presented another parable to them: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field.^{ab 25}But while people were sleeping, his enemy came, sowed weeds among the wheat, and left. ²⁶When the plants sprouted and produced grain, then the weeds also appeared. ²⁷The landowner’s servants^ac came to him and said, ‘Master, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Then where did the weeds come from?’

²⁸“ ‘An enemy did this,’ he told them.

“ ‘So, do you want us to go and pull them up?’ the servants asked him.

²⁹“ ‘No,’ he said. ‘When you pull up the weeds, you might also uproot the wheat with them. ³⁰Let both grow together until the harvest. At harvest time I’ll tell the reapers: Gather the weeds first and tie them in bundles to burn them, but collect the wheat in my barn.’ ”

THE PARABLES OF THE MUSTARD SEED AND OF THE LEAVEN

³¹He^a presented another parable to them: “The kingdom of heaven^b is like a mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. ³²It’s the smallest of all the seeds, but when grown, it’s taller than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the sky come and nest in its branches.”^c

³³He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven^B that a woman took and mixed into fifty pounds^C of flour until all of it was leavened.”^d

USING PARABLES FULFILLS PROPHECY

³⁴Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables, and he did not tell them anything without a parable,^{e 35}so that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled:

I will open my mouth in parables;

I will declare things kept secret

from the foundation of the world.^DEf