Matthew 13
13
CHAPTER 13
1In that day Jesus went out of the house, and sat beside the sea.
2And much people was gathered to him, so that he went up into a boat, and sat; and all the people stood on the brink.
3And he spake to them many things in parables, and said, Lo! he that soweth, went out to sow his seed.
4And while he soweth, some seeds felled beside the way, and birds of the air came, and ate them.
5But other seeds felled into stony places, where they had not much earth; and anon they sprung up, for they had not deepness of earth.
6But when the sun was risen, they sweltered [or they burned for the heat], and for they had not root, they dried up.
7And other seeds felled among thorns; and the thorns waxed up, and strangled them.
8But other seeds felled into good land, and gave fruit; some an hundred-fold, another sixtyfold, another thirty-fold.
9He that hath ears of hearing, hear he.
10And the disciples came nigh, and said to him, Why speakest thou in parables to them?
11And he answered, and said to them, For to you it is given to know the privates [or mysteries] of the kingdom of heavens; but it is not given to them.
12For it shall be given to him that hath, and he shall have plenty; but if a man hath not, also that thing that he hath shall be taken away from him.
13Therefore I speak to them in parables, for they seeing see not, and they hearing hear not, neither under-stand;
14that the prophecy of Isaiah saying be fulfilled in them, With hearing ye shall hear, and ye shall not under-stand; and ye seeing shall see, and ye shall not see;
15for the heart of this people is greatly fatted, and they heard heavily with ears, and they have closed their eyes, lest sometime they see with eyes, and with ears hear, and under-stand in heart, and they be converted, and I heal them.
16But your eyes that see be blessed, and your ears that hear.
17Forsooth I say to you, that many prophets and just men coveted to see those things that ye see, and they saw not, and to hear those things that ye hear, and they heard not.
18Therefore hear ye the parable of the sower.
19Each that heareth the word of the realm, and understandeth not, the evil spirit cometh, and ravisheth that that is sown in his heart; this it is [or this is he], that is sown beside the way.
20But this [or he] that is sown on the stony land, this it is [or is this], that heareth the word of God, and anon with joy taketh it.
21And he hath not root in himself, but is temporal. For when tribulation and persecution is made for the word, anon he is caused to stumble.
22But he that is sown in thorns, is this that heareth the word, and the busyness of this world, and the fallacy [or the falseness] of riches strangleth the word, and it is made without fruit.
23But he that is sown into good land, is this that heareth the word, and understandeth, and bringeth forth fruit. And some maketh an hundred-fold, truly another sixtyfold and another thirtyfold.
24Another parable Jesus put forth to them, and said, The kingdom of heavens is made like to a man, that sowed good seed in his field.
25And when men slept, his enemy came, and sowed above tares, [or darnels, or cockles], in the middle of wheat, and went away.
26But when the herb was grown, and made fruit, then the tares, [or the darnels, or cockles], appeared.
27And the servants of the husband-man came, and said to him, Lord, whether hast thou not sown good seed in thy field? whereof then hath it tares, [or darnels, or cockles]?
28And he said to them, An enemy hath done this thing. And the servants said to him, Wilt thou that we go, and gather them?
29And he said, Nay, lest peradven-ture ye in gathering tares, [or the darnels, or cockles], draw up with them [also] the wheat by the root.
30Suffer ye them both to wax into reaping time; and in the time of ripe corn, I shall say to the reapers, First gather ye together the tares, [or the darnels, or cockles], and bind them together in knitches, [or small bundles], to be burnt, but gather ye the wheat into my barn.
31Another parable Jesus put forth to them, and said, The kingdom of heavens is like to a corn of sinapi, which a man took, and sowed in his field.
32Which [truly] is the least of all seeds, but when it hath waxen, it is the most of all worts, and is made a tree; so that [the] birds of the air come, and dwell in the boughs [or the branches] thereof.
33Another parable Jesus spake to them [or He spake another parable to them], The kingdom of heavens is like to sourdough, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till it were all soured.
34Jesus spake all these things in parables to the people, and he spake not to them without parables,
35that it should be fulfilled, that is said by the prophet, saying, I shall open my mouth in parables; I shall tell out hid things [or things hid] from the making of the world.
36Then he left the people, and came into an house; and his disciples came to him, and said, Expound to us the parable of the tares, [or the darnels, or cockles], of the field.
37Which answered, and said, He that soweth good seed is man’s Son;
38the field is the world; but the good seed, these be the sons of the kingdom, but tares, these be evil children, [or forsooth darnels, or cockles, these be evil sons or sons of the wicked];
39the enemy that soweth them is the fiend [or the devil]; and the ripe corn is the ending of the world, the reapers be angels.
40Therefore as tares, [or darnels, or cockles], be gathered together, and be burnt in [the] fire, so it shall be in the ending of the world.
41Man’s Son shall send his angels, and they shall gather from his realm all causes of stumbling, and them that do wickedness;
42and they shall send them into the chimney of fire; there shall be weeping, and beating together of teeth.
43Then just men shall shine as the sun, in the realm of their Father. He that hath ears of hearing, hear he.
44The kingdom of heavens is like to treasure hid in a field, which a man that findeth, hideth; and for joy of it he goeth, and selleth all things that he hath, and buyeth that field.
45Again the kingdom of heavens is like to a merchant, that seeketh good margarites [or good pearls];
46but when he hath found one precious margarite, he went, and sold all things that he had, and bought it.
47Again the kingdom of heavens is like to a net cast into the sea, and that gathereth together of all kinds of fishes;
48which when it was full, they drew it up, and sat by the brink, and chose the good into their vessels, but the evil they cast out.
49So it shall be in the end of the world. Angels shall go out, and shall separate evil men from the middle [or the midst] of just men.
50And they shall send them into the chimney of fire; there shall be weeping, and grinding of teeth.
51Have ye understood all these things? They say to him, Yea.
52He saith to them, Therefore every wise man of [the] law [taught] in the kingdom of heavens, is like to an husbandman, that bringeth forth of his treasure new things and old.
53And it was done, when Jesus had ended these parables, he passed from thence.
54And he came into his country, and taught them in their synagogues, so that they wondered, and said, From whence this wisdom and virtues came to this? [or to him?]
55Whether this is not the son of a carpenter? Whether his mother be not said Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joseph, and Simon, and Judas?
56and his sisters, whether they all be not among us? From whence then all these things come or came to this? [or to him?]
57And so they were offended in him. But Jesus said to them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and in his own house.
58And he did not there many virtues, for the unbelief of them.
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Matthew 13: WBMS
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Wycliffe’s Bible with Modern Spelling ©2017
Wycliffe’s Apocrypha ©2013, 2015
Wycliffe’s Bible © 2012, 2015
Wycliffe’s New Testament ©2001, 2011
Wycliffe’s Old Testament ©2001, 2010
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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