Matthew 13
13
1On that day Yeshua [God is Salvation] went out of the house and sat on the shore of the sea.
2Crowds joined themselves to him until he needed to enter a boat; the whole crowd was standing on the shore.
3He spoke to them many things in parables and said to them: “A man went forth from his house in the morning to sow his seed.”
4“In his sowing some of it fell on the road, and the birds ate it.”
5“Some of it fell among rocks where there was no density of soil, and when it sprang up it withered because there was not much soil there.”
6“When the sun above it became warm, it was burned and dried up because it had no root.”
7“Some of it fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew and darkened it.”
8“Some of it fell on good ground and made fruit and produced, the first a hundredfold, the second sixty and the third thirty.”
9“Whoever has ears to hear let him hear”
10Then his disciples drew near to him and his disciples said to him: ‘Why do you speak in parables?’
11He said: “To you it has been given to know ‘the Kingdom of heaven’ but not to them.”
12“Whoever has, more will be given to him but whoever has nothing, that which he thinks he has will be taken from him”
13“For this reason I speak in parables because they see but do not see, hear but do not hear,”
14“in order to fulfill what was said through Yesha’yahu [the salvation of our God] the Prophet: ‘Go, and tell this people: hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.”
15“Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they, seeing with their eyes, and hearing with their ears, and understanding with their heart, return, and be healed.”
16“Blessed (Favored by God; happy; prosperous) are your eyes that see and your ears that hear.”
17“Truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”
18“But hear you the parable of the sower.”
19“The Sower is The Son of Man, and the seed which fell on the road is everyone who hears ‘The Kingdom of heaven’ and does not understand it. Satan [the adversary] comes and snatches away from his heart everything which was sown in it. This is the seed which fell on the road.”
20“That which fell among the rocks is the one who hears the word of Elohim (The Many Powered) [The Living Word of God] and receives it immediately with joy.”
21“But he is without root and is confused and when a little trouble and distress come to him because of the word, Satan [the adversary] causes him to forget from his heart.”
22“That which fell among the thorns, this is the one who hears the word and in his desire to gather wealth, Satan [the adversary] causes him to forget the word of Elohim (The Many Powered) [The Living Word of God] and makes no fruit.”
23“That which fell into the good earth is the one who hears the word and understands it and makes fruit, that is, from good works. He brings forth from the first a hundred, from the second sixty, and from the third thirty. As for the hundred, this is the one purified of heart and sanctified of body. As for the sixty, this is the one separated from women. As for the thirty, this is the one sanctified in matrimony, in body and in heart.”
24He set before them another parable. “The Kingdom of heaven is like a man who sows good seed in his field.”
25“It came to pass when the men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares over the wheat, and he went away.”
26“It came to pass that when the herb grew up to make fruit, then he saw the tares”.
27“The servants of the landowner drew near to him and said to him; ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed, then where did the tares come from?’”
28“He said to them, ‘My enemy did this! His servants said to him: ‘We will uproot the tares’”
29“He said to them: ‘No, lest you uproot the wheat’”
30“But let them remain together and grow up until the harvest and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers: ‘Gather the tares first and bind them into individual bundles for burning and the wheat put into the granary’”
31He set before them another parable. “The Kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard which a man takes and sows in the field.”
32“It is smaller than all garden herbs, but when it grows up it is greater than all herbs and is made into a great tree until the birds of heaven withdraw into its branches.”
33He spoke to them another parable. “The Kingdom of heaven is like leaven which a woman puts into three measures of flour and it leavens all of it”.
34All of these parables Yeshua [God is Salvation] spoke to the crowds and without a parable he did not speak to them,
35to fulfill what was said according to the prophet: “I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter riddles from ancient times”
36Then Yeshua [God is Salvation] was parted from the crowds and went into the house. His disciples came to him and asked him to explain for them the parable of the tares.
37He answered and said to them: “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man,
38“and the field is this world, the good seed are the righteous. The tares are the ungodly,”
39“and the enemy who sowed them is Satan [the adversary]. The standing grain at the end is the world to come, and the reapers are the angels.”
40“As the reapers gather the tares to burn in the fire, so will it be at the end of the days.”
41“The Son of Man will send His angels to uproot from his Kingdom all stumbling blocks, and all who do iniquity,”
42“and they will cast them into the pyre of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
43“Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear”.
44Again Yeshua [God is Salvation] said to his disciples: “The Kingdom of heaven is like a man who finds a treasure which had been hidden and in gladness over the value he sells all which he has and buys the field for himself”.
45“Again the Kingdom of heaven is like a certain merchant seeking precious stones.”
46“When he finds a good one, he sells all which he has and buys it”
47“The Kingdom of heaven is like a net in the midst of the sea in which are gathered all kinds of fish.”
48“When it is full, they draw it out on the shore, and the fishermen go forth and choose the good for their vessels and the bad they cast away.”
49“Thus it will be at the end of days; the angels will go forth and separate the ungodly from the midst of the righteous.”
50“Then they shall cast them into the pyre of fire; in that place shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth”
51He said to them: “Have you understood this?” They said: ‘Yes’.
52And Yeshua [God is Salvation] said to them, “Therefore every wise man in the Kingdom of heaven is like a certain father of children, who brings forth from his treasure things new and old.”
53It came to pass after this, when Yeshua [God is Salvation] finished these words, he passed on from there.
54He came into his own country and was teaching the people in the synagogues. The P’rushim (Pharisees) [separatists] were amazed and said in their heart: ‘From where did the wisdom and power to do such deeds come to this one?’
55‘Is this not the son of the smith and Miryam [waters of strength]? Do you not know all these: his mother Miryam [waters of strength], his three brothers; Yosef [he will add], Shim’on [he has heard] and Y’hudah [Praise],’
56‘and his sisters? Do you not know all these who are with us?. From where did all these things come to this one?’
57So they were confused about him. Yeshua [God is Salvation] answered them: “A prophet is not without honour except in his own land, city and house”
58Then he did not wish to do there any sign because of their unbelief.
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Matthew 13
13
A story about a farmer
(Mark 4.1-9; Luke 8.4-8)
1That same day Jesus left the house and went out beside Lake Galilee, where he sat down to teach.#13.1 sat down to teach: Teachers in the ancient world, including Jewish teachers, usually sat down when they taught. 2Such large crowds gathered around him that he had to sit in a boat, while the people stood on the shore.#Lk 5.1-3. 3Then he taught them many things by using stories. He said:
A farmer went out to scatter seed in a field. 4While the farmer was scattering the seed, some of it fell along the road and was eaten by birds. 5Other seeds fell on thin, rocky ground and quickly started growing because the soil wasn't very deep. 6But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched and dried up, because they did not have enough roots. 7Some other seeds fell where thorn bushes grew up and choked the plants. 8But a few seeds did fall on good ground where the plants produced a hundred or sixty or thirty times as much as was scattered. 9If you have ears, pay attention!
Why Jesus used stories
(Mark 4.10-12; Luke 8.9,10)
10Jesus' disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you use nothing but stories when you speak to the people?”
11Jesus answered:
I have explained the secrets about the kingdom of heaven to you, but not to others. 12Everyone who has something will be given more. But people who don't have anything will lose even what little they have.#Mt 25.29; Mk 4.25; Lk 8.18; 19.26. 13I use stories when I speak to them because when they look, they cannot see, and when they listen, they cannot hear or understand. 14So God's promise came true, just as the prophet Isaiah had said,#Is 6.9,10 (LXX).
“These people will listen
and listen,
but never understand.
They will look and look,
but never see.
15All of them have
stubborn minds!
Their ears are stopped up,
and their eyes are covered.
They cannot see or hear
or understand.
If they could,
they would turn to me,
and I would heal them.”
16But God has blessed you, because your eyes can see and your ears can hear!#Lk 10.23,24. 17Many prophets and good people were eager to see what you see and to hear what you hear. But I tell you that they did not see or hear.
Jesus explains the story about the farmer
(Mark 4.13-20; Luke 8.11-15)
18Now listen to the meaning of the story about the farmer:
19The seeds that fell along the road are the people who hear the message about the kingdom, but don't understand it. Then the evil one comes and snatches the message from their hearts. 20The seeds that fell on rocky ground are the people who gladly hear the message and accept it straight away. 21But they don't have deep roots, and they don't last very long. As soon as life gets hard or the message gets them in trouble, they give up.
22The seeds that fell among the thorn bushes are also people who hear the message. But they start worrying about the needs of this life and are fooled by the desire to get rich. So the message gets choked out, and they never produce anything. 23The seeds that fell on good ground are the people who hear and understand the message. They produce as much as a hundred or sixty or thirty times what was planted.
Weeds among the wheat
24Jesus then told them this story:
The kingdom of heaven is like what happened when a farmer scattered good seed in a field. 25But while everyone was sleeping, an enemy came and scattered weeds in the field and then left.
26When the plants came up and began to ripen, the farmer's servants could see the weeds. 27The servants came and asked, “Sir, didn't you scatter good seed in your field? Where did these weeds come from?”
28“An enemy did this,” he replied.
His servants then asked, “Do you want us to go out and pull up the weeds?”
29“No!” he answered. “You might also pull up the wheat. 30Leave the weeds alone until harvest time. Then I'll tell my workers to gather the weeds and tie them up and burn them. But I'll order them to store the wheat in my barn.”
Stories about a mustard seed and yeast
(Mark 4.30-32; Luke 13.18-21)
31Jesus told them another story:
The kingdom of heaven is like what happens when a farmer plants a mustard seed in a field. 32Although it is the smallest of all seeds, it grows larger than any garden plant and becomes a tree. Birds even come and nest on its branches.
33Jesus also said:
The kingdom of heaven is like what happens when a woman mixes a little yeast into three big batches of flour. Finally, all the dough rises.
The reason for teaching with stories
(Mark 4.33,34)
34Jesus used stories when he spoke to the people. In fact, he did not tell them anything without using stories. 35So God's promise came true, just as the prophet#13.35 the prophet: Some manuscripts have “the prophet Isaiah”. had said,#Ps 78.2.
“I will use stories
to speak my message
and to explain things
that have been hidden
since the creation
of the world.”
Jesus explains the story about the weeds
36After Jesus left the crowd and went inside,#13.36 went inside: Or “went home”. his disciples came to him and said, “Explain to us the story about the weeds in the wheat field.”
37Jesus answered:
The one who scattered the good seed is the Son of Man. 38The field is the world, and the good seeds are the people who belong to the kingdom. The weeds are those who belong to the evil one, 39and the one who scattered them is the devil. The harvest is the end of time, and angels are the ones who bring in the harvest.
40Weeds are gathered and burnt. That's how it will be at the end of time. 41The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather from his kingdom everyone who does wrong or causes others to sin. 42Then he will throw them into a flaming furnace, where people will cry and grit their teeth in pain. 43But everyone who has done right will shine like the sun in their Father's kingdom. If you have ears, pay attention!
A hidden treasure
Jesus continued:
44The kingdom of heaven is like what happens when someone finds treasure hidden in a field and buries it again. A person like that is happy and goes and sells everything in order to buy that field.
A valuable pearl
Jesus continued:
45The kingdom of heaven is like what happens when a shop owner is looking for fine pearls. 46After finding a very valuable one, the owner goes and sells everything in order to buy that pearl.
A fish net
Jesus continued:
47The kingdom of heaven is like what happens when a net is thrown into a lake and catches all kinds of fish. 48When the net is full, it is dragged to the shore, and the fishermen sit down to separate the fish. They keep the good ones, but throw the bad ones away. 49That's how it will be at the end of time. Angels will come and separate the evil people from the ones who have done right. 50Then those evil people will be thrown into a flaming furnace, where they will cry and grit their teeth in pain.
New and old treasures
51Jesus asked his disciples if they understood all these things. They said, “Yes, we do.”
52So he told them, “Every student of the Scriptures who becomes a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like someone who brings out new and old treasures from the storeroom.”
The people of Nazareth turn against Jesus
(Mark 6.1-6; Luke 4.16-30)
53When Jesus had finished telling these stories, he left 54and went to his home town. He taught in their meeting place, and the people were so amazed that they asked, “Where does he get all this wisdom and the power to perform these miracles? 55Isn't he the son of the carpenter? Isn't Mary his mother, and aren't James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas his brothers? 56Don't his sisters still live here in our town? How can he do all this?” 57So the people were very unhappy because of what he was doing.
But Jesus said, “Prophets are honoured by everyone, except the people of their home town and their own family.” 58And because the people did not have any faith, Jesus did not perform many miracles there.
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© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012