^13:18“So listen to the parable of the sower: ^13:19When anyone hears the word about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one²⁵ comes and snatches what was sown in his heart;²⁶ this is the seed sown along the path. ^13:20The²⁷ seed sown on rocky ground²⁸ is the person who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. ^13:21But he has no root in himself and does not endure;²⁹ when³⁰ trouble or persecution comes because of the word, immediately he falls away. ^13:22The³¹ seed sown among thorns is the person who hears the word, but worldly cares and the seductiveness of wealth³² choke the word,³³ so it produces nothing. ^13:23But as for the seed sown on good soil, this is the person who hears the word and understands. He bears fruit, yielding a hundred, sixty, or thirty times what was sown.”³⁴

The Parable of the Weeds

^13:24He presented them with another parable:³⁵ “The kingdom of heaven is like a person who sowed good seed in his field. ^13:25But while everyone was sleeping, an enemy came and sowed weeds³⁶ among the wheat and went away. ^13:26When³⁷ the plants sprouted and bore grain, then the weeds also appeared. ^13:27So the slaves³⁸ of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Then where did the weeds come from?’ ^13:28He said, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So³⁹ the slaves replied, ‘Do you want us to go and gather them?’ ^13:29But he said, ‘No, since in gathering the weeds you may uproot the wheat with them. ^13:30Let both grow together until the harvest. At⁴⁰ harvest time I will tell the reapers, “First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned, but then⁴¹ gather⁴² the wheat into my barn.” ’ ”

Read in Logos

Footnotes

25 Interestingly, the synoptic parallels each use a different word for Satan here: Mark 4:15 has “Satan,” while Luke 8:12 has “the devil.” This illustrates the fluidity of the gospel tradition in often using synonyms at the same point of the parallel tradition.
26 The word of Jesus has the potential to save if it germinates in a person’s heart, something the devil is very much against.
27 Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
28 Grk “The one sown on rocky ground, this is the one.” The next two statements like this one have this same syntactical structure.
29 Grk “is temporary.”
30 Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
31 Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
32 Grk “the deceitfulness of riches.” Cf. ἀπάτη 1, “the seduction which comes from wealth.”
33 That is, their concern for spiritual things is crowded out by material things.
34 The Greek is difficult to translate because it switches from a generic “he” to three people within this generic class (thus, something like: “Who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one instance a hundred times, in another, sixty times, in another, thirty times”).
35 Grk “He set before them another parable, saying.” The participle λέγων (legōn) is redundant and has not been translated.
36 Grk “sowed darnel.” The Greek term ζιζάνιον (zizanion) refers to an especially undesirable weed that looks like wheat but has poisonous seeds (L&N 3.30).
37 Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
38 See the note on the word “slave” in .
39 Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the owner’s statement.
40 Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
41 Grk “but.”
42 Grk “burned, but gather.”