Matthew 13:24–15:9

Tares among Wheat

24 Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, “aThe kingdom of heaven 1may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field.

25 “But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed 1tares among the wheat, and went away.

26 “But when the 1wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also.

27 “The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? 1How then does it have tares?’

28 “And he said to them, ‘An 1enemy has done this!’ The slaves * said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’

29 “But he * said, ‘No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them.

30 ‘Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but agather the wheat into my barn.” ’ ”

The Mustard Seed

31 He presented another parable to them, saying, “aThe kingdom of heaven is like ba mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field;

32 and this is smaller than all other seeds, but when it is full grown, it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that athe birds of the 1air come and nest in its branches.”

The Leaven

33 He spoke another parable to them, “aThe kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in bthree 1pecks of flour until it was all leavened.”

34 All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, and He did not speak to them awithout a parable.

35 This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:

“aI will open My mouth in parables;

I will utter things hidden since the foundation of the world.”

The Tares Explained

36 Then He left the crowds and went into athe house. And His disciples came to Him and said, “bExplain to us the parable of the 1tares of the field.”

37 And He said, “The one who sows the good seed is athe Son of Man,

38 and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are athe sons of the kingdom; and the tares are bthe sons of cthe evil one;

39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is athe 1end of the age; and the reapers are angels.

40 “So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at athe 1end of the age.

41 “aThe Son of Man bwill send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom 1all cstumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness,

42 and awill throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place bthere will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

43 “aThen the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. bHe who has ears, 1let him hear.

Hidden Treasure

44 “aThe kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and bsells all that he has and buys that field.

A Costly Pearl

45 “Again, athe kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls,

46 and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.

A Dragnet

47 “Again, athe kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea, and gathering fish of every kind;

48 and when it was filled, they drew it up on the beach; and they sat down and gathered the good fish into containers, but the bad they threw away.

49 “So it will be at athe 1end of the age; the angels will come forth and 2take out the wicked from among the righteous,

50 and awill throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place bthere will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

51 “Have you understood all these things?” They * said to Him, “Yes.”

52 And 1Jesus said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household, who brings out of his treasure things new and old.”

Jesus Revisits Nazareth

53 aWhen Jesus had finished these parables, He departed from there.

54 aHe came to 1His hometown and bbegan teaching them in their synagogue, so that cthey were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these 2miraculous powers?

55 “Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not aHis mother called Mary, and His abrothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?

56 “And aHis sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this man get all these things?”

57 And they took aoffense at Him. But Jesus said to them, “bA prophet is not without honor except in his 1hometown and in his own household.”

58 And He did not do many 1miracles there because of their unbelief.

Chapter 14

John the Baptist Beheaded

1 aAt that 1time bHerod the tetrarch heard the news about Jesus,

2 and said to his servants, “aThis is John the Baptist; 1he has risen from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”

3 For when aHerod had John arrested, he bound him and put him bin prison because of cHerodias, the wife of his brother Philip.

4 For John had been saying to him, “aIt is not lawful for you to have her.”

5 Although Herod wanted to put him to death, he feared the crowd, because they regarded 1John as aa prophet.

6 But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of aHerodias danced 1before them and pleased bHerod,

7 so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked.

8 Having been prompted by her mother, she * said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.”

9 Although he was grieved, the king commanded it to be given because of his oaths, and because of 1his dinner guests.

10 He sent and had John beheaded in the prison.

11 And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother.

12 His disciples came and took away the body and buried 1it; and they went and reported to Jesus.

Five Thousand Fed

13 aNow when Jesus heard about John, He withdrew from there in a boat to a secluded place by Himself; and when the 1people heard of this, they followed Him on foot from the cities.

14 When He went 1ashore, He asaw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and bhealed their sick.

15 When it was evening, the disciples came to Him and said, “This place is desolate and the hour is already 1late; so send the crowds away, that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.”

16 But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat!”

17 They * said to Him, “We have here only afive loaves and two fish.”

18 And He said, “Bring them here to Me.”

19 Ordering the 1people to 2sit down on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He ablessed the food, and breaking the loaves He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds,

20 and they all ate and were satisfied. They picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve full abaskets.

21 There were about five thousand men who ate, besides women and children.

Jesus Walks on the Water

22 aImmediately He 1made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the crowds away.

23 After He had sent the crowds away, aHe went up on the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone.

24 But the boat was already 1a long distance from the land, 2battered by the waves; for the wind was 3acontrary.

25 And in athe 1fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea.

26 When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is aa ghost!” And they cried out 1in fear.

27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “aTake courage, it is I; bdo not be afraid.”

28 Peter said to Him, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.”

29 And He said, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus.

30 But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!”

31 Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and * said to him, “aYou of little faith, why did you doubt?”

32 When they got into the boat, the wind stopped.

33 And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, “You are certainly aGod’s Son!”

34 aWhen they had crossed over, they came to land at bGennesaret.

35 And when the men of that place 1recognized Him, they sent word into all that surrounding district and brought to Him all who were sick;

36 and they implored Him that they might just touch athe fringe of His cloak; and as many as btouched it were cured.

Chapter 15

Tradition and Commandment

1 aThen some Pharisees and scribes * came to Jesus bfrom Jerusalem and said,

2 “Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they ado not wash their hands when they eat bread.”

3 And He answered and said to them, “Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?

4 “For God said, ‘aHonor your father and mother,’ and, ‘bHe who speaks evil of father or mother is to 1be put to death.’

5 “But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever I have that would help you has been 1given to God,”

6 he is not to honor his father or his mother1.’ And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition.

7 “You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you:

8 ‘aThis people honors Me with their lips,

But their heart is far away from Me.

9 ‘But in vain do they worship Me,

Teaching as adoctrines the precepts of men.’ ”