Matthew 13:18–30

The Parable of the Sower Explained

¹⁸“Hear, then, the parable of the sower. ¹⁹When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path.^{* 20}As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, ²¹yet such a person has no root but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away.^{m* 22}As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of thisⁿ age and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing.^{* 23}But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”^*

The Parable of Weeds among the Wheat

²⁴He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field,^{* 25}but while everybody was asleep an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and then went away. ²⁶So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. ²⁷And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?’ ²⁸He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The slaves said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ ²⁹But he replied, ‘No, for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. ³⁰Let both of them grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’ ”^*