Matthew 13
13
Chapter 13
Jesus tells a story about a farmer who planted seeds
1On that same day, Jesus left the house and he went to Lake Galilee. He sat down near the edge of the lake to teach people. 2The crowd that came to listen to him was very large. So he went and sat in a boat that was on the water. The big crowd of people stood on the shore. 3Jesus used stories to teach them many things. He said to them: ‘Listen to me! A farmer went out to plant seeds in his field. 4While he was throwing the seeds, some of them fell on the path. The birds came and they ate those seeds. 5Other seeds fell on ground which had rocks. There was not much soil in that place. The seeds quickly began to grow, because the soil was not deep. 6But when the sun rose, it burned the young plants. They soon died because they had not grown down well into the soil. 7Some other seeds fell among thorn bushes. Those bushes grew up with the young plants. They stopped the seeds from growing into strong plants. 8But some seeds fell on good soil and strong plants grew from those seeds. Some plants made 100 new seeds. Some plants made 60 new seeds and some plants made 30 new seeds.’ 9Then Jesus said to the crowd, ‘You have ears, so listen well to what I say!’
Jesus explains to his disciples why he teaches with stories
10Then Jesus' disciples came to him. They asked him, ‘Why do you use stories to speak to the crowd?’
11Jesus replied, ‘God has let you know what these stories mean. You understand how God rules in the lives of his people. But these other people do not understand what the stories mean. 12A person who has received some things will receive even more. He will have lots of good things. Some other people have nothing. Those people will lose even the little bit that they do have. 13The reason I use stories to talk to other people is this:
These people look. But they do not really see clearly.
They hear the words. But they do not really understand. #13:13 Jesus is telling his disciples about how to listen to him. They must listen well to what he says. Then they will understand him. They must believe in the message from God. Then they will understand more and more. Some people think that they know all about God. These people do not listen well to him. So they do not understand what he says. God will take away from them what they think that they know.
14Long ago, the prophet Isaiah spoke a message from God about those people. #13:14 See Isaiah 6:9. Now it has become true. God said:
“You will listen and listen. But you will not understand.
You will look and look. But you will not see anything.
15These people do not really want to understand.
They are like people who have shut their ears.
They are like people who have shut their eyes.
If they did want to look, then they would really see.
If they did want to listen, then they would really hear.
They would understand my message.
They would turn back to obey me.
Then I would forgive them and I would make them well.” ’
16Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘But as for you, be happy because God has helped you to see. He has helped you to hear and understand his message. 17I tell you this: Many prophets and good people from a long time ago wanted to see these things. But they did not see the things that you are seeing. They wanted to hear the message that you are hearing. But they did not hear it.’
Jesus explains the story about the farmer who planted his seeds
18Jesus then said, ‘Listen to me now. I will tell you what this story about the farmer means. 19Some people hear the message about God's kingdom but they do not understand it. Satan comes and he quickly takes the message away from their minds. The seeds that fell on the path show what those people are like. 20Other seeds fell on soil with rocks in it. This is like some people who hear God's message. These people are happy to believe it for a time. 21But they are like plants that have not grown down well into the soil. So they only believe for a short time. They may have problems. Or other people may do bad things to them, because they obey God's message. When that happens, these people soon stop believing. 22Some seeds fell among thorn bushes. This is like people who hear the message from God. But they have many troubles in their minds. They want to get more money and more things. They think that this will make them happy. So they do not let God's message change them. They are like plants that do not grow well and make new seeds. 23But some seeds fell on good soil. This is like other people who hear the message from God and they understand it. These people are like good plants that grow well. From one seed, some good plants make 100 new seeds. Other good plants make 60 new seeds, and some good plants make 30 new seeds.’ #13:23 In this story, the seed that falls in different kinds of soil is the message of good news from God. The farmer is like a person who teaches people about that message.
Jesus tells a story about some weeds
24Then Jesus told the people another story. He said, ‘This is what the kingdom of heaven is like: A farmer planted some good wheat seeds into his field. 25But one night, when everyone was sleeping, a bad person came to the farmer's field. He did not like the farmer. This bad person planted seeds from weeds among the good wheat seeds. Then the bad person went away again. 26The good seeds grew and the plants began to make new seeds. But when this happened, the weeds also grew.
27So the farmer's servants came to speak to him. “Master, you planted only good seeds in your field but now many weeds are also growing there. How did this happen?” they asked him.
28The farmer said to his servants, “A bad person who does not like me has done this.”
So the servants then asked the farmer, “Do you want us to go and pull up the weeds?”
29The farmer replied, “No, I do not want you to do that. If you pull up the weeds, you may also pull up some of the good wheat plants. 30Let the good plants and the weeds grow up together. At harvest time, I will tell the workers to cut down the weeds first. Then they will tie them together and burn them. Then they will cut the wheat and bring it into my building. I will store it there.” ’
Jesus tells a story about a small seed
31Jesus told the people another story. He said, ‘I will tell you again what the kingdom of heaven is like. It is like a very small seed of the plant called mustard. A man took this seed and he planted it in his field. 32It is the smallest seed that there is. But when it starts to grow, it will become bigger than the largest bush. It will become a tree. The wild birds will come and they will build their nests among the branches of that tree.’
Jesus tells a story about yeast
33Jesus told the people another story. He said, ‘The kingdom of heaven is also like this. It is like how yeast works. A woman took the yeast and she mixed it into three large bowls of flour. Then the yeast went through all the flour so that it grew big.’ #13:33 People put yeast into flour and water to make bread. The yeast grows in the flour and it causes the bread to become bigger.
34Jesus told the crowds of people all these things. But he only used stories to teach them. 35So what God's prophet had said long ago now became true:
‘I will use stories when I speak to them.
And I will teach them secret things.
People have never learned these things before, since the world began.’ #13:35 See Psalms 78:2.
Jesus explains the story about the weeds
36Then Jesus told the crowds of people to go away. He went into the house where he was staying. His disciples also went into the house with him. They said to him, ‘Explain to us the story about the weeds that were growing in the field.’
37Jesus replied, ‘The Son of Man is like the farmer who planted the good seed in the field. 38The field is like the world. The good seeds are like the people who belong to God's kingdom. The weeds are like the people who belong to the Devil. 39The Devil is the bad person who planted the weed seeds in the field. The time for harvest is like the end of time. God's angels are the workers who cut the plants down.
40In the story, the workers cut down the weeds and they burned them in the fire. When this world comes to an end, it will happen like that. 41The Son of Man will send his workers, who are his angels. They will remove from his kingdom everything that causes sin. They will take away everyone who does evil things. 42The angels will throw those bad people into the great fire. There the people will cry and they will bite their teeth together. #13:42 Biting their teeth together may have shown that they were angry. Or it may have shown they were in much pain. 43The people who obeyed God will shine like the sun. They will be in the kingdom of their Father. You have ears, so listen well to what I say!’
Jesus tells a story about a man who found valuable things in the ground
44‘I can tell you again what the kingdom of heaven is like,’ Jesus said. ‘The kingdom of heaven is like some valuable things that a man buried in a field. Another man found it, but then he covered it over again with dirt. The second man was very happy and he went away. He sold everything that he had. Then he went and bought the field with the valuable things in it.’ #13:44 At that time, people usually hid their valuable things in the ground. The kingdom of God is very valuable. A person should give everything to have God rule in his life.
Jesus tells a story about some valuable stones
45‘I will tell you again what the kingdom of heaven is like,’ Jesus said. ‘A trader looks for beautiful stones that he can buy. 46One day he found a very valuable stone that someone wanted to sell. So he went away and he sold everything that he had. Then he went and he bought that very valuable stone.’
47Jesus also said, ‘I can tell you again what the kingdom of heaven is like. Some men had nets to catch fish in. They threw their nets into the lake and they caught many different kinds of fish. 48When the net was full of fish, the men pulled it up onto the shore. Then they sat down. Some of the fish were good to eat, and they put these fish into baskets. Some of the fish were not good to eat, and they threw these fish away. 49This is what will happen when the world's time comes to an end. God will send his angels. They will put wicked people in one place. And they will put God's righteous people in a separate place. 50The angels will throw the wicked people into the great fire. There those people will weep and they will bite their teeth together.’ #13:50 Biting their teeth together may have shown that they were angry. Or it may have shown they were in much pain.
51Then Jesus asked his disciples, ‘Have you understood all these things?’ They replied, ‘Yes, we have.’
52Jesus said to them, ‘Some teachers of God's Law have now learned about the kingdom of heaven. These men are like the master of a house who takes things out of the room where he keeps them. Some of the valuable things he brings out are new and some of them are old.’
53When Jesus had finished telling these stories, he went away from that place.
Jesus goes to Nazareth
54Jesus returned to his own town. He taught the Jewish people in their meeting room there. The people were very surprised about the things that he taught them. They said to each other, ‘We do not know how this man learned all these things. And we do not know how he does all these powerful things. 55We know who he is. He is the son of the carpenter here. #13:55 Mary's husband Joseph was a man who worked with wood, or perhaps stone, to make things. The people knew Jesus and his family. They thought that they knew everything about Jesus. But they did not believe that he was the Messiah. The Messiah is the man whom God sent to save people. Mary is his mother. We also know his brothers, James, Joseph, Simon and Judas. 56All his sisters also live here in the town among us. So then, where did he learn all these things?’ 57So the people there did not accept Jesus.
Jesus said to them, ‘If a man is a prophet from God, people everywhere will say good things about him. But the people in his own town will not accept him. Even the people of his own house will not say good things about him.’
58Jesus did not do many powerful things in that town because the people would not believe in him.
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MissionAssist 2018
Matthew 13
13
The Parable of the Sower
1 On that day Jesus went out of the house and#*Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“went out”) has been translated as a finite verb was sitting by the sea.#That is, the Sea of Galilee 2And large crowds gathered close around him, so that he got into a boat to sit down, and all the crowd was standing on the shore. 3And he spoke many things to them in parables, saying, “Behold, the sower went out to sow, 4and while he was sowing, some seed#Literally “some of which” fell on the side of the path, and the birds came and#*Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“came”) has been translated as a finite verb devoured it. 5And other seed fell on the rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up at once because it did not have any depth of soil. 6But when#*Here “when” is supplied as a component of the temporal genitive absolute participle (“rose”) the sun rose it was scorched, and because it did not have enough root, it withered. 7And other seed fell among the thorn plants, and the thorn plants came up and choked it. 8But other seed fell on the good soil and produced grain,#Literally “fruit,” describing here the grain harvested from the healthy plants; in contemporary English this would more naturally be expressed by terms like “grain” or “crop” this one a hundred times as much and this one sixty and this one thirty. 9The one who has ears, let him hear!”
The Reason for the Parables
10And the disciples came up and#*Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“came up”) has been translated as a finite verb said to him, “Why#Literally “because of what” do you speak to them in parables?” 11And he answered and#*Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“answered”) has been translated as a finite verb said to them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to those people it has not been granted. 12For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have an abundance. But whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. 13For this reason I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand, 14and with reference to them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says,
“You will listen carefully#Literally “with hearing you will hear” and will never understand,
and you will look closely#Literally “seeing you will see” and will never perceive.
15For the heart of this people has become dull,
and with their ears they hear with difficulty,
and they have shut their eyes,
so that they would not see with their eyes
and hear with their ears
and understand with their heart
and turn, and I would heal them.”#A quotation from Isa 6:9–10
16But your eyes are blessed because they see, and your ears because they hear. 17For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it,#*Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it!#*Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
The Parable of the Sower Interpreted
18“You, therefore, listen to the parable of the sower: 19When#*Here “when” is supplied as a component of the temporal genitive absolute participle (“hears”) anyone hears the word about the kingdom and does not understand it,#*Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is what was sown on the side of the path. 20And what was sown on the rocky ground—this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. 21But he does not have a root in himself, but lasts only a little while,#Literally “is temporary” and when#*Here “when” is supplied as a component of the temporal genitive absolute participle (“happens”) affliction or persecution happens because of the word, immediately he falls away. 22And what was sown into the thorn plants—this is the one who hears the word, and the anxiety of this world#Some manuscripts have “of the world” and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word and it becomes unproductive. 23But what was sown on the good soil—this is the one who hears the word and understands it,#*Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation who indeed bears fruit and produces, this one a hundred times as much, and this one sixty, and this one thirty.”
The Parable of the Weeds Among the Wheat
24He put before them another parable, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25But while his#Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun people were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed darnel#A weed that looks similar to wheat but has poisonous seeds in the midst of the wheat and went away. 26So when the wheat#Literally “grass,” “hay,” but in this context referring to the good plants as opposed to the weeds sprouted and yielded grain, then the darnel appeared also. 27So the slaves of the master of the house came and#*Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“came”) has been translated as a finite verb said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have darnel?’ 28And he said to them, ‘An enemy has done this!’ So the slaves said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and#*Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“go”) has been translated as an English infinitive gather them?’ 29But he said, “No, lest when you#*Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“gather”) which is understood as temporal gather the darnel you uproot the wheat together with it. 30Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the season of the harvest I will tell the reapers, “First gather the darnel and tie it into bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my storehouse.” ’ ”
The Parable of the Mustard Seed
31He put before them another parable, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man took and#*Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“took”) has been translated as a finite verb sowed in his field. 32It#Literally “which,” but a new sentence is started here in the English translation is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it is grown it is larger than the garden herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the sky come and nest in its branches.”
The Parable of the Yeast
33He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and#*Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“took”) has been translated as a finite verb put into three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch was leavened.”
Parables Fulfill Prophecy
34Jesus spoke all these things to the crowds in parables, and he was saying nothing to them without a parable, 35in order that what was spoken through the prophet would be fulfilled, who said,
“I will open my mouth in parables;
I will proclaim what has been hidden since the creation.”#A quotation from Ps 78:2#Some manuscripts have “since the creation of the world”
The Parable of the Weeds Interpreted
36Then he left the crowds and#*Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“left”) has been translated as a finite verb came into the house, and his disciples came to him saying, “Explain the parable of the darnel in the field to us.” 37So he answered and#*Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“answered”) has been translated as a finite verb said, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, 38and the field is the world. And the good seed—these are the sons of the kingdom, but the darnel are the sons of the evil one. 39And the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. 40Thus just as the darnel is gathered and burned#Some manuscripts have “burned up” with fire, so it will be at the end of the age. 41The Son of Man will send out his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom all the causes of sin and those who do lawless deeds, 42and throw them into the fiery furnace.#An allusion to Dan 3:6 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth! 43Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.#An allusion to Dan 12:3 The one who has ears, let him hear!
The Parable of the Treasure Hidden in a Field
44“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, that a man found and#*Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“found”) has been translated as a finite verb concealed, and in his joy he goes and sells everything that he has and buys that field.
The Parable of the Valuable Pearl
45“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. 46And when he#*Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“found”) which is understood as temporal found one very valuable pearl, he went and#*Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“went”) has been translated as a finite verb sold everything that he possessed and purchased it.
The Parable of the Dragnet
47“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish#*Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation of every kind, 48which when it was filled they pulled to shore and sat down and#*Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“sat down”) has been translated as a finite verb collected the good fish#*Here the word “fish” is not in the Greek text but is implied into containers, but the bad they threw out. 49Thus it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out and separate the evil from among the righteous 50and throw them into the fiery furnace.#An allusion to Dan 3:6 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!
51“Have you understood all these things?” They said to him, “Yes.” 52And he said to them, “For this reason every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of the house who brings out of his storeroom new things and old things.”
Rejected at Nazareth
53And it happened that when Jesus had finished these parables he went away from there. 54And he came to his hometown and#*Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“came”) has been translated as a finite verb began to teach#The imperfect tense has been translated as ingressive here (“began to teach”) them in their synagogue, so that they were amazed and said, “From where did this man get this wisdom and these miracles? 55Is not this one the son of the carpenter? Is not his mother called Mary and his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? 56And are not all his sisters with us? From where then did this man get all these things?” 57And they were offended by him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own hometown and in his own household.” 58And he did not perform many miracles in that place because of their unbelief.
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