Matthew 13
13
1And that same day Jesus went out from the house and sat down by the sea. 2And great crowds were gathered together to him, so that going on board ship himself he sat down, and the whole crowd stood on the shore. 3And he spoke to them many things in parables, saying, Behold, the sower went out to sow: 4and as he sowed, some grains fell along the way, and the birds came and devoured them; 5and others fell upon the rocky places where they had not much earth, and immediately they sprang up out of the ground because of not having any depth of earth, 6but when the sun rose they were burned up, and because of not having any root were dried up; 7and others fell upon the thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them; 8and others fell upon the good ground, and produced fruit, one a hundred, one sixty, and one thirty. 9He that has ears, let him hear. 10And the disciples came up and said to him, Why speakest thou to them in parables? 11And he answering said to them, Because to you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of the heavens, but to them it is not given; 12for whoever has, to him shall be given, and he shall be caused to be in abundance; but he who has not, even what he has shall be taken away from him. 13For this cause I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear nor understand; 14and in them is filled up the prophecy of Esaias, which says, Hearing ye shall hear and shall not understand, and beholding ye shall behold and not see; 15for the heart of this people has grown fat, and they have heard heavily with their ears, and they have closed their eyes as asleep, lest they should see with the eyes, and hear with the ears, and understand with the heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. 16But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear; 17for verily I say unto you, that many prophets and righteous men have desired to see the things which ye behold and did not see them, and to hear the things which ye hear and did not hear them. 18Ye, therefore, hear the parable of the sower. 19From every one who hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the wicked one comes and catches away what was sown in his heart: this is he that is sown by the wayside. 20But he that is sown on the rocky places — this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, 21but has no root in himself, but is for a time only; and when tribulation or persecution happens on account of the word, he is immediately offended. 22And he that is sown among the thorns — this is he who hears the word, and the anxious care of this life, and the deceit of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. 23But he that is sown upon the good ground — this is he who hears and understands the word, who bears fruit also, and produces, one a hundred, one sixty, and one thirty.
24Another parable set he before them, saying, The kingdom of the heavens has become like a man sowing good seed in his field; 25but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed darnel amongst the wheat, and went away. 26But when the blade shot up and produced fruit, then appeared the darnel also. 27And the bondmen of the householder came up and said to him, Sir, hast thou not sown good seed in thy field? whence then has it darnel? 28And he said to them, A man that is an enemy has done this. And the bondmen said to him, Wilt thou then that we should go and gather it up? 29But he said, No; lest in gathering the darnel ye should root up the wheat with it. 30Suffer both to grow together unto the harvest, and in time of the harvest I will say to the harvestmen, Gather first the darnel, and bind it into bundles to burn it; but the wheat bring together into my granary. 31Another parable set he before them, saying, The kingdom of the heavens is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field; 32which is less indeed than all seeds, but when it is grown is greater than herbs, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of heaven come and roost in its branches. 33He spoke another parable to them: The kingdom of the heavens is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal until it had been all leavened. 34All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, and without a parable he did not speak to them, 35so that that should be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the world's foundation. 36Then, having dismissed the crowds, he went into the house; and his disciples came to him, saying, Expound to us the parable of the darnel of the field. 37But he answering said, He that 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 has sowed it is the devil; and the harvest is the completion of the age, and the harvestmen are angels. 40As then the darnel is gathered and is burned in the fire, thus it shall be in the completion of the age. 41The Son of man shall send his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all offences, and those that practise lawlessness; 42and they shall cast them into the furnace of fire; there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth. 43Then the righteous shall shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He that has ears, let him hear.
44The kingdom of the heavens is like a treasure hid in the field, which a man having found has hid, and for the joy of it goes and sells all whatever he has, and buys that field. 45Again, the kingdom of the heavens is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls; 46and having found one pearl of great value, he went and sold all whatever he had and bought it. 47Again, the kingdom of the heavens is like a seine which has been cast into the sea, and which has gathered together of every kind, 48which, when it has been filled, having drawn up on the shore and sat down, they gathered the good into vessels and cast the worthless out. 49Thus shall it be in the completion of the age: the angels shall go forth and sever the wicked from the midst of the just, 50and shall cast them into the furnace of fire; there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth. 51Jesus says to them, Have ye understood all these things? They say to him, Yea, Lord. 52And he said to them, For this reason every scribe discipled to the kingdom of the heavens is like a man that is a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old.
53And it came to pass when Jesus had finished these parables he withdrew thence. 54And having come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, Whence has this man this wisdom and these works of power? 55Is not this the son of the carpenter? Is not his mother called Mary, and his brethren James, and Joseph, and Simon, and Judas? 56And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then has this man all these things? 57And they were offended in him. And Jesus said to them, A prophet is not without honour, unless in his country and in his house. 58And he did not there many works of power, because of their unbelief.
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Matthew 13: DARBY
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First published in 1890. This edition is maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.
Matthew 13
13
The Parable of the Sower
(Mark 4:1–9; Luke 8:4–8)
1That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea. 2Such large crowds gathered around Him that He got into a boat and sat down, while all the people stood on the shore.
3And He told them many things in parables, saying, “A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4And as he was sowing, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it.
5Some fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly because the soil was shallow. 6But when the sun rose, the seedlings were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.
7Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the seedlings.
8Still other seed fell on good soil and produced a crop—a hundredfold, sixtyfold, or thirtyfold.
9He who has ears,#13:9 BYZ and TR ears to hear; also in verse 43 let him hear.”
The Purpose of Jesus’ Parables
(Isaiah 6:1–13; Mark 4:10–12; Luke 8:9–10)
10Then the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Why do You speak to the people in parables?”
11He replied, “The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. 12Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. 13This is why I speak to them in parables:
‘Though seeing, they do not see;
though hearing, they do not hear or understand.’#13:13 See Deuteronomy 29:4, Isaiah 42:20, Jeremiah 5:21, and Ezekiel 12:2.
14In them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled:
‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
15For this people’s heart has grown callous;
they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts,
and turn, and I would heal them.’#13:15 Isaiah 6:9–10 (see also LXX)
16But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. 17For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
The Parable of the Sower Explained
(Mark 4:13–20; Luke 8:11–15)
18Consider, then, the parable of the sower: 19When anyone hears the message of the kingdom but does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown #13:19 Literally the one sown; also in verses 20, 22, and 23 along the path.
20The seed sown on rocky ground is the one who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21But since he has no root, he remains for only a season. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away.
22The seed sown among the thorns is the one who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
23But the seed sown on good soil is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and produces a crop—a hundredfold, sixtyfold, or thirtyfold.”
The Parable of the Weeds
(Ezekiel 17:1–10)
24Jesus put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25But while everyone was asleep, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and slipped away. 26When the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the weeds also appeared.
27The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’
28‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.
So the servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’
29‘No,’ he said, ‘if you pull the weeds now, you might uproot the wheat with them. 30Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat into my barn.’”
The Parable of the Mustard Seed
(Mark 4:30–34; Luke 13:18–19)
31He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man planted in his field. 32Although it is the smallest of all seeds, yet it grows into the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”
The Parable of the Leaven
(Luke 13:20–21)
33He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and mixed into three measures of flour, until all of it was leavened.”
I Will Open My Mouth in Parables
(Psalms 78:1–72)
34Jesus spoke all these things to the crowds in parables. He did not tell them anything without using a parable. 35So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet:
“I will open My mouth in parables;
I will utter things hidden since the foundation of the world.”#13:35 Psalms 78:2 (see also LXX); SBL, NE, and WH do not include of the world.
The Parable of the Weeds Explained
(Zephaniah 1:1–6)
36Then Jesus dismissed the crowds and went into the house. His disciples came to Him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”
37He replied, “The One who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38The field is the world, and the good seed represents the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, 39and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.
40As the weeds are collected and burned in the fire, so will it be at the end of the age. 41The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will weed out of His kingdom every cause of sin and all who practice lawlessness. 42And they will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.#13:43 See Daniel 12:3.
He who has ears, let him hear.
The Parables of the Treasure and the Pearl
44The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and in his joy he went and sold all he had and bought that field.
45Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls. 46When he found one very precious pearl, he went away and sold all he had and bought it.
The Parable of the Net
47Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was cast into the sea and caught all kinds of fish. 48When it was full, the men pulled it ashore. Then they sat down and sorted the good fish into containers, but threw the bad away.
49So will it be at the end of the age: The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous, 50and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
51Have you understood all these things?”
“Yes,” they answered.
52Then He told them, “For this reason, every scribe who has been discipled in the kingdom of heaven is like a homeowner who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.”
The Rejection at Nazareth
(Mark 6:1–6; Luke 4:16–30)
53When Jesus had finished these parables, He withdrew from that place. 54Coming to His hometown, He taught the people in their synagogue, and they were astonished. “Where did this man get such wisdom and miraculous powers?” they asked. 55“Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t His mother’s name Mary, and aren’t His brothers James, Joseph,#13:55 BYZ and TR Joses; see Mark 6:3. Simon, and Judas? 56Aren’t all His sisters with us as well? Where then did this man get all these things?” 57And they took offense at Him.
But Jesus said to them, “Only in his hometown and in his own household is a prophet without honor.” 58And He did not do many miracles there, because of their unbelief.
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The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible, BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee. This text of God's Word has been dedicated to the public domain.