Matthew 13
13
1 #
Mk 4.1-9; Lk 8.4-8; 5.1-3. That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 2And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat there; and the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. 4And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. 5Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they had not much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, 6but when the sun rose they were scorched; and since they had no root they withered away. 7Other seeds fell upon thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9He who has ears,#13.9 Other ancient authorities add here and in verse 43 to hear let him hear.”
10 #
Mk 4.10-12; Lk 8.9-10. Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” 11And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12#Mk 4.25; Lk 8.18; Mt 25.29; Lk 19.26. For to him who has will more be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 13This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14#Is 6.9-10; Mk 8.18; Jn 12.39-41; Acts 28.26-27. With them indeed is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah which says:
‘You shall indeed hear but never understand,
and you shall indeed see but never perceive.
15For this people's heart has grown dull,
and their ears are heavy of hearing,
and their eyes they have closed,
lest they should perceive with their eyes,
and hear with their ears,
and understand with their heart,
and turn for me to heal them.’
16 #
Lk 10.23-24; Jn 8.56; Heb 11.13; 1 Pet 1.10-12. But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. 17Truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.
18 #
Mk 4.13-20; Lk 8.11-15. “Hear then the parable of the sower. 19When any one hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in his heart; this is what was sown along the path. 20As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away.#13.21 Or stumbles 22#Mt 19.23; 1 Tim 6.9-10,17. As for what was sown among thorns, this is he who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the delight in riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 23As for what was sown on good soil, this is he who hears the word and understands it; he indeed bears fruit, and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”
24 #
Mk 4.26-29. Another parable he put before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field; 25but while men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. 27And the servants#13.27 Or slaves of the householder came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then has it weeds?’ 28He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants#13.28 Or slaves said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ 29But he said, ‘No; lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. 30Let both grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’ ”
31 #
Mk 4.30-32; Lk 13.18-19; Mt 17.20. Another parable he put before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field; 32it is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”
33 #
Lk 13.20-21; Gal 5.9; Gen 18.6. He told them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.”
34 #
Mk 4.33-34; Jn 10.6; 16.25. All this Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed he said nothing to them without a parable. 35#Ps 78.2. This was to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet:#13.35 Other ancient authorities read the prophet Isaiah
“I will open my mouth in parables,
I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.”
36Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” 37He answered, “He who sows the good seed is the Son of man; 38#Jn 8.44; 1 Jn 3.10. the field is the world, and the good seed means the sons of the kingdom; the weeds are the sons of the evil one, 39and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the close of the age, and the reapers are angels. 40Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the close of the age. 41#Mt 24.31. The Son of man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, 42#Mt 13.50; 8.12; 22.13; 24.51; 25.30; Lk 13.28. and throw them into the furnace of fire; there men will weep and gnash their teeth. 43Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.
44“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
45“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, 46who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
47 #
Mt 13.40-42. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net which was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind; 48when it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into vessels but threw away the bad. 49So it will be at the close of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous, 50and throw them into the furnace of fire; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.
51“Have you understood all this?” They said to him, “Yes.” 52And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”
53 #
Mt 7.28; 11.1; 19.1; 26.1. And when Jesus had finished these parables, he went away from there, 54#Mk 6.1-6; Lk 4.16-30. and coming to his own country he taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? 55Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? 56And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all this?” 57And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house.” 58And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief.
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Matthew 13: RSV
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Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America
Matthew 13
13
Jesus told a story about some rubbish plants
24Then Jesus told the people another picture story. He said, “This story shows you something about God’s family.
A farmer planted some good food seeds in his garden. 25But there was a bad man that didn’t like that farmer. One night, when everyone was asleep, that bad man went to the farmer’s garden and planted some rubbish plant seeds in it, beside the good seeds. Then that bad man went away.
26The good seeds grew into good plants, but at the same time the rubbish plants started to grow there too. Those rubbish plants look like the good plants when they are young, but when they get big we can’t eat their seeds. They are too cheeky.
27So the farmer’s workers went to him and said, ‘Boss, you planted good food seeds in that ground. How come a lot of rubbish plants are growing there too?’
28The farmer said, ‘I reckon there is a bad man that doesn’t like me, and he planted those rubbish plants.’
The workers said, ‘Do you want us to go and pull up those rubbish plants?’
29The farmer said, ‘No, don’t do that. Those plants are all mixed together, so if you pull up the rubbish plants, then you will pull up some of the good food plants with them. 30No. Just let them all grow up, the good plants and the rubbish plants together. Later, when the right time comes, I will get some men to get the good seed food. But I will talk to them before they do that job. I will tell them to cut down the rubbish plants first, and take them away, and burn them. After that, they will get all the good seed food and bring it into my shed.’ ”
(We have not yet translated 13:31-35. You can read some of those stories and messages in Mark 4:30-32.)
Jesus told his followers what the story about the rubbish plants means
36Then Jesus went into a house, away from all the people. And his followers went to him and said, “Please tell us what that story means, that picture story about the rubbish plants and the garden.”
37Jesus said to them, “I’m God’s special man from heaven, and I’m like the farmer in that story. I’m like the man that planted good food seeds in a garden. 38That garden is like the world. The good food seeds are like the people that belong to God. The rubbish plant seeds are like the people that belong to the devil, the boss over the bad spirits. 39The bad man that planted those rubbish seeds in the garden is like the devil. The time to get all the good seed food is like the time for the end of the world. The workers that cut down the plants are like God’s angel messengers.
40And in the story the workers cut down the rubbish plants and burned them in the fire. That is a picture of what will happen at the end of the world. 41You see, I’m God’s special man from heaven, and at the end of the world, I will send out God’s angel messengers. They will get the people that belong to the devil. They will get all the people that don’t belong in God’s family. Those people are the ones that break God’s law, and they make other people do bad things. 42The angels will chuck all those bad people into a big fire. Those people will cry, and they will be so angry that they will bite their teeth together. 43But at that time God will show everyone that the good people are really great. It will be like they are shiny, like the sun. And they will be in the family of God, their father.”
Then Jesus said, “You’ve got ears, so you have to listen to me properly, and take notice of my words.”
Jesus told 2 stories to show us that God’s family is very good
44Jesus told his followers another picture story. He said, “This story shows you more about God’s family.
A man buried a lot of gold in the ground, to hide it. Some time later, another man found that gold, but he didn’t own the land, so he couldn’t get it for himself. So he buried it again. Then he went away, and he sold everything that he owned, to get some money. Then he bought that land. After that, he got all that gold for himself, and he was really happy. Well, if you find out how to get into God’s family, it is like you find a lot of gold.”
45Jesus talked some more. He said, “This is another picture story that shows you about God’s family. There was a man that used to buy things, and then take them to another place and sell them again at a higher price. That was his job. One day, he was looking for beautiful pearls to buy. 46He found a really good and beautiful pearl, but its price was very high. So he sold everything that he owned, to get enough money for it. Then he bought that very good pearl. Well, if you find out how to get into God’s family, it is like you find a very good pearl.”
Jesus told a story about a fishing net, to show more about God’s family
47Then Jesus said, “This is another picture story that shows you about God’s family. Some fishermen threw their fishing net into the water and caught a lot of fish in it. There were all sorts of fish in that net. 48Then they dragged it up on to the land, and sat down, and sorted out the fish. They put the good fish into baskets to keep them, and they chucked the bad fish away. 49-50That’s what it will be like when God will finish up this world. His angel workers will come and sort everybody out. They will save good people, and they will chuck the bad people into a big fire. Those people will cry a lot, and they will be so angry that they will bite their teeth together.”
Teachers in God’s family use both new and old messages from God
51Then Jesus asked his followers, “Do you understand all these things?”
They said, “Yes, we do.”
52Then Jesus said, “Every teacher of our Jewish law that joins God’s family will teach new messages from God as well as old messages. Every teacher of God’s word is like a man that owns a big house. That man has a store-room in that house, where he keeps his very special things. Sometimes he brings those things out to show to his friends. He shows them new things, as well as old things.”
(We have not yet translated 13:53—17:23. You can read those stories and messages in Mark 6:1—9:32.)
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