Chapter 13

Jesus Teaches in Parables

1 That day Jesus went out of athe house and was sitting bby the sea.

2 And 1large crowds gathered to Him, so aHe got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd was standing on the beach.

3 And He spoke many things to them in aparables, saying, “Behold, the sower went out to sow;

4 and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up.

5 “Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil.

6 “But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

7 “Others fell 1among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out.

8 “And others fell on the good soil and * yielded a crop, some a ahundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.

9 “aHe who has ears, 1let him hear.”

An Explanation

10 And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?”

11 1Jesus answered them, “aTo you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted.

12 “aFor whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.

13 “Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while aseeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.

14 “1In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says,

‘2aYou will keep on hearing, 3but will not understand;

4You will keep on seeing, but will not perceive;

15 aFor the heart of this people has become dull,

With their ears they scarcely hear,

And they have closed their eyes,

Otherwise they would see with their eyes,

Hear with their ears,

And understand with their heart and return,

And I would heal them.’

16 “aBut blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear.

17 “For truly I say to you that amany prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

The Sower Explained

18 “aHear then the parable of the sower.

19 “When anyone hears athe 1word of the kingdom and does not understand it, bthe evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road.

20 “The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy;

21 yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the 1word, immediately he 2afalls away.

22 “And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of athe 1world and the bdeceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

23 “And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some aa hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.”

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.