Mattithyahu (Matthew) 13
13
1And on that day יהושע went out of the house and sat by the sea.
2And large crowds were gathered together to Him, so that He went into a boat and sat down. And all the crowd stood on the beach.
3And He spoke to them much in parables, saying, “See, the sower went out to sow.
4“And as he sowed, some indeed fell by the wayside, and the birds came and devoured them.
5“And others fell on 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 was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered.
7“And others fell among thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them.
8“And others fell on good soil and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
9“He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
10And the taught ones came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?”
11And He answering, said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the secrets of the reign of the heavens,#Mattithyahu uses the word “heaven(s)” as an euphemism for the Name or designation of the Father, while Mark 4:11; Luke 8:10 use the Father’s Name/designation. but to them it has not been given.#See also Mark 4:33, 34
12“For whoever possesses, to him more shall be given, and he shall have overflowingly; but whoever does not possess, even what he possesses shall be taken away from him.#See Luke 8:18.
13“Because of this I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.
14“And in them the prophecy of Yeshayahu is completely filled, which says, ‘Hearing you shall hear and by no means understand, and seeing you shall see and by no means perceive,
15for the heart of this people has become thickened, and their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their heart, and turn back, and I heal them.’# Isa. 6:9, 10
16“And blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear,
17for truly I say to you, that many prophets and righteous ones longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.
18“You, then, hear the parable of the sower:
19“When anyone hears the word of the reign, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is that sown by the wayside.
20“And that sown on rocky places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy,
21yet he has no root in himself, but is short-lived, and when pressure or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.
22“And that sown among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the worry of this age and the deceit of riches choke the word, and it becomes fruitless.# Luke 21:34; 2Tim. 3:4
23“And that sown on the good soil is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields – some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
24Another parable He put before them, saying, “The reign of the heavens has become like a man who sowed good seed in his field,
25but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed darnel#Darnel looks like wheat but is poisonous to man and beast. among the wheat and went away.
26“And when the blade sprouted and bore fruit, then the darnel also appeared.
27“And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? From where then does it have the darnel?’
28“And he said to them, ‘A man, an enemy did this.’ And the servants said to him, ‘Do you wish then, that we go and gather them up?’
29“But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the darnel you also uproot the wheat with them.
30Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I shall say to the reapers, “First gather the darnel and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my granary.” ’ ”
31Another parable He put before them, saying, “The reign of the heavens is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field,
32which indeed is less than all the seeds, but when it is grown it is greater than the plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the heaven come and dwell in its branches.”# Psa. 104:12; Ezek. 17:23; Ezek. 31:6; Dan. 4:12
33Another parable He spoke to them, “The reign of the heavens is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal until all was leavened.”
34יהושע said all this to the crowds in parables, and He did not speak to them without a parable,
35so that what was spoken by the prophet might be filled, saying, “I shall open My mouth in parables, I shall pour forth what has been hidden from the foundation of the world.”# Psa. 78:2
36Then, having sent the crowds away, יהושע went into the house. And His taught ones came to Him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the darnel of the field.”
37And He answering, said to them, “He who is sowing the good seed is the Son of Aḏam,
38and the field is the world. And the good seed, these are the sons of the reign, but the darnel are the sons of the wicked one,
39and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. And the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the messengers.
40“As the darnel, then, is gathered and burned in the fire, so it shall be at the end of this age.
41“The Son of Aḏam shall send out His messengers, and they shall gather out of His reign all the stumbling-blocks,#Or all the causes of sinning/offence. and those doing lawlessness,# Zeph. 1:3#The darnel of Mat. 13:25.
42and shall throw them into the furnace of fire – there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
43“Then the righteous#See Psa. 37:29; Psa. 72:7; Psa. 75:10; Psa. 118:19, 20; Psa. 146:8; Mal. 3:18; Rev. 22:11 shall shine forth as the sun# Dan. 12:3 in the reign of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!
44“Again, the reign of the heavens is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man having found it, hid, and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
45“Again, the reign of the heavens is like a man, a merchant, seeking fine pearls,
46“who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
47“Again, the reign of the heavens is like a dragnet that was thrown into the sea and gathered some of every kind,
48which, when it was filled, they drew to shore. And they sat down and gathered the good into containers, but threw the rotten away.
49“Thus shall it be at the end of the age: the messengers shall come forth, and separate the wicked out of the midst of the righteous,
50and shall throw them into the furnace of fire – there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”
51יהושע said to them, “Have you understood all this?” They said to Him, “Yes, Master.”
52And He said to them, “Therefore every scholar taught in the reign of the heavens is like a householder who brings out of his treasure matters, renewed and old.”
53And it came to be, when יהושע had ended these parables, that He left there.
54And when He had come to His own country, He taught them in their congregation, so that they were astonished and said, “Where did this One get this wisdom and miracles?
55“Is this not the son of the carpenter? Is not His mother called Miryam? And His brothers Ya‛aqoḇ and Yosĕph and Shim‛on and Yehuḏah?
56“And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this One get all this?”
57And they stumbled at Him. But יהושע said to them, “A prophet is not unappreciated except in his own country and in his own house.”
58And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.
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Mattithyahu (Matthew) 13: TS2009
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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