Matthew 13
13
1And in that day Jesus, having gone forth from the house, was sitting by the sea,
2and gathered together unto him were many multitudes, so that he having gone into the boat did sit down, and all the multitude on the beach did stand,
3and he spake to them many things in similes, saying: ‘Lo, the sower went forth to sow,
4and in his sowing, some indeed fell by the way, and the fowls did come and devour them,
5and others fell upon the rocky places, where they had not much earth, and immediately they sprang forth, through not having depth of earth,
6and the sun having risen they were scorched, and through not having root, they withered,
7and others fell upon the thorns, and the thorns did come up and choke them,
8and others fell upon the good ground, and were giving fruit, some indeed a hundredfold, and some sixty, and some thirty.
9He who is having ears to hear — let him hear.’
10And the disciples having come near, said to him, ‘Wherefore in similes dost thou speak to them?’
11And he answering said to them that — ‘To you it hath been given to know the secrets of the reign of the heavens, and to these it hath not been given,
12for whoever hath, it shall be given to him, and he shall have overabundance, and whoever hath not, even that which he hath shall be taken from him.
13‘Because of this, in similes do I speak to them, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor understand,
14and fulfilled on them is the prophecy of Isaiah, that saith, With hearing ye shall hear, and ye shall not understand, and seeing ye shall see, and ye shall not perceive,
15for made gross was the heart of this people, and with the ears they heard heavily, and their eyes they did close, lest they might see with the eyes, and with the ears might hear, and with the heart understand, and turn back, and I might heal them.
16‘And happy are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear,
17for verily I say to you, that many prophets and righteous men did desire to see that which ye look on, and they did not see, and to hear that which ye hear, and they did not hear.
18‘Ye, therefore, hear ye the simile of the sower:
19Every one hearing the word of the reign, and not understanding — the evil one doth come, and doth catch that which hath been sown in his heart; this is that sown by the way.
20‘And that sown on the rocky places, this is he who is hearing the word, and immediately with joy is receiving it,
21and he hath not root in himself, but is temporary, and persecution or tribulation having happened because of the word, immediately he is stumbled.
22‘And that sown toward the thorns, this is he who is hearing the word, and the anxiety of this age, and the deceitfulness of the riches, do choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.
23‘And that sown on the good ground: this is he who is hearing the word, and is understanding, who indeed doth bear fruit, and doth make, some indeed a hundredfold, and some sixty, and some thirty.’
24Another simile he set before them, saying: ‘The reign of the heavens was likened to a man sowing good seed in his field,
25and, while men are sleeping, his enemy came and sowed darnel in the midst of the wheat, and went away,
26and when the herb sprang up, and yielded fruit, then appeared also the darnel.
27‘And the servants of the householder, having come near, said to him, Sir, good seed didst thou not sow in thy field? whence then hath it the darnel?
28And he saith to them, A man, an enemy, did this; and the servants said to him, Wilt thou, then, [that] having gone away we may gather it up?
29‘And he said, No, lest — gathering up the darnel — ye root up with it the wheat,
30suffer both to grow together till the harvest, and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather up first the darnel, and bind it in bundles, to burn it, and the wheat gather up into my storehouse.’
31Another simile he set before them, saying: ‘The reign of the heavens is like to a grain of mustard, which a man having taken, did sow in his field,
32which less, indeed, is than all the seeds, but when it may be grown, is greatest of the herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the heaven do come and rest in its branches.’
33Another simile spake he to them: ‘The reign of the heavens is like to leaven, which a woman having taken, hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.’
34All these things spake Jesus in similes to the multitudes, and without a simile he was not speaking to them,
35that it might be fulfilled that was spoken through the prophet, saying, ‘I will open in similes my mouth, I will utter things having been hidden from the foundation of the world.’
36Then having let away the multitudes, Jesus came to the house, and his disciples came near to him, saying, ‘Explain to us the simile of the darnel of the field.’
37And he answering said to them, ‘He who is sowing the good seed is the Son of Man,
38and the field is the world, and the good seed, these are the sons of the reign, and the darnel are the sons of the evil one,
39and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is a full end of the age, and the reapers are messengers.
40‘As, then, the darnel is gathered up, and is burned with fire, so shall it be in the full end of this age,
41the Son of Man shall send forth his messengers, and they shall gather up out of his kingdom all the stumbling-blocks, and those doing the unlawlessness,
42and shall cast them to the furnace of the fire; there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of the teeth.
43‘Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the reign of their Father. He who is having ears to hear — let him hear.
44‘Again, the reign of the heavens is like to treasure hid in the field, which a man having found did hide, and from his joy goeth, and all, as much as he hath, he selleth, and buyeth that field.
45‘Again, the reign of the heavens is like to a man, a merchant, seeking goodly pearls,
46who having found one pearl of great price, having gone away, hath sold all, as much as he had, and bought it.
47‘Again, the reign of the heavens is like to a net that was cast into the sea, and did gather together of every kind,
48which, when it was filled, having drawn up again upon the beach, and having sat down, they gathered the good into vessels, and the bad they did cast out,
49so shall it be in the full end of the age, the messengers shall come forth and separate the evil out of the midst of the righteous,
50and shall cast them to the furnace of the fire, there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of the teeth.’
51Jesus saith to them, ‘Did ye understand all these?’ They say to him, ‘Yes, sir.’
52And he said to them, ‘Because of this every scribe having been discipled in regard to the reign of the heavens, is like to a man, a householder, who doth bring forth out of his treasure things new and old.’
53And it came to pass, when Jesus finished these similes, he removed thence,
54and having come to his own country, he was teaching them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and were saying, ‘Whence to this one this wisdom and the mighty works?
55is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary, and his brethren
56and his sisters — are they not all with us? whence, then, to this one all these?’
57and they were stumbled at him. And Jesus said to them, ‘A prophet is not without honour except in his own country, and in his own house:’
58and he did not there many mighty works, because of their unbelief.
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Matthew 13: YLT98
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maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society
Matthew 13
13
The Parable of the Sower
(Mk 4.1–9; Lk 8.4–8)
1That same day Jesus left the house and went to the lakeside, where he sat down to teach. 2#Lk 5.1–3The crowd that gathered round him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it, while the crowd stood on the shore. 3He used parables to tell them many things.
“Once there was a man who went out to sow corn. 4As he scattered the seed in the field, some of it fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5Some of it fell on rocky ground, where there was little soil. The seeds soon sprouted, because the soil wasn't deep. 6But when the sun came up, it burnt the young plants; and because the roots had not grown deep enough, the plants soon dried up. 7Some of the seed fell among thorn bushes, which grew up and choked the plants. 8But some seeds fell in good soil, and the plants produced corn; some produced 100 grains, others sixty, and others thirty.”
9And Jesus concluded, “Listen, then, if you have ears!”
The Purpose of the Parables
(Mk 4.10–12; Lk 8.9–10)
10Then the disciples came to Jesus and asked him, “Why do you use parables when you talk to the people?”
11Jesus answered, “The knowledge about the secrets of the Kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. 12#Mt 25.29; Mk 4.25; Lk 8.18; 19.26For the person who has something will be given more, so that he will have more than enough; but the person who has nothing will have taken away from him even the little he has. 13The reason I use parables in talking to them is that they look, but do not see, and they listen, but do not hear or understand. 14#Is 6.9–10 (LXX)So the prophecy of Isaiah applies to them:
‘This people will listen and listen, but not understand;
they will look and look, but not see,
15 because their minds are dull,
and they have stopped up their ears
and have closed their eyes.
Otherwise, their eyes would see,
their ears would hear,
their minds would understand,
and they would turn to me, says God,
and I would heal them.’
16 #
Lk 10.23–24
“As for you, how fortunate you are! Your eyes see and your ears hear. 17I assure you that many prophets and many of God's people wanted very much to see what you see, but they could not, and to hear what you hear, but they did not.
Jesus Explains the Parable of the Sower
(Mk 4.13–20; Lk 8.11–15)
18 “Listen, then, and learn what the parable of the sower means. 19Those who hear the message about the Kingdom but do not understand it are like the seeds that fell along the path. The Evil One comes and snatches away what was sown in them. 20The seeds that fell on rocky ground stand for those who receive the message gladly as soon as they hear it. 21But it does not sink deep into them, and they don't last long. So when trouble or persecution comes because of the message, they give up at once. 22The seeds that fell among thorn bushes stand for those who hear the message; but the worries about this life and the love for riches choke the message, and they don't bear fruit. 23And the seeds sown in the good soil stand for those who hear the message and understand it: they bear fruit, some as much as 100, others sixty, and others thirty.”
The Parable of the Weeds
24Jesus told them another parable: “The Kingdom of heaven is like this. A man sowed good seed in his field. 25One night, when everyone was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. 26When the plants grew and the ears of corn began to form, then the weeds showed up. 27The man's servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, it was good seed you sowed in your field; where did the weeds come from?’ 28‘It was some enemy who did this,’ he answered. ‘Do you want us to go and pull up the weeds?’ they asked him. 29‘No,’ he answered, ‘because as you gather the weeds you might pull up some of the wheat along with them. 30Let the wheat and the weeds both grow together until harvest. Then I will tell the harvest workers to pull up the weeds first, tie them in bundles and burn them, and then to gather in the wheat and put it in my barn.’ ”
The Parable of the Mustard Seed
(Mk 4.30–32; Lk 13.18–19)
31Jesus told them another parable: “The Kingdom of heaven is like this. A man takes a mustard seed and sows it in his field. 32It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it grows up, it is the biggest of all plants. It becomes a tree, so that birds come and make their nests in its branches.”
The Parable of the Yeast
(Lk 13.20–21)
33Jesus told them still another parable: “The Kingdom of heaven is like this. A woman takes some yeast and mixes it with forty litres of flour until the whole batch of dough rises.”
Jesus' Use of Parables
(Mk 4.33–34)
34Jesus used parables to tell all these things to the crowds; he would not say a thing to them without using a parable. 35#Ps 78.2He did this to make what the prophet had said come true:
“I will use parables when I speak to them;
I will tell them things unknown since the creation of the world.”
Jesus Explains the Parable of the Weeds
36When Jesus had left the crowd and gone indoors, his disciples came to him and said, “Tell us what the parable about the weeds in the field means.”
37Jesus answered, “The man who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man; 38the field is the world; the good seed is the people who belong to the Kingdom; the weeds are the people who belong to the Evil One; 39and the enemy who sowed the weeds is the Devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvest workers are angels. 40Just as the weeds are gathered up and burnt in the fire, so the same thing will happen at the end of the age: 41the Son of Man will send out his angels to gather up out of his Kingdom all those who cause people to sin and all others who do evil things, 42and they will throw them into the fiery furnace, where they will cry and grind their teeth. 43Then God's people will shine like the sun in their Father's Kingdom. Listen, then, if you have ears!
The Parable of the Hidden Treasure
44 “The Kingdom of heaven is like this. A man happens to find a treasure hidden in a field. He covers it up again, and is so happy that he goes and sells everything he has, and then goes back and buys that field.
The Parable of the Pearl
45 “Also, the Kingdom of heaven is like this. A man is looking for fine pearls, 46and when he finds one that is unusually fine, he goes and sells everything he has, and buys that pearl.
The Parable of the Net
47 “Also, the Kingdom of heaven is like this. Some fishermen throw their net out in the lake and catch all kinds of fish. 48When the net is full, they pull it to shore and sit down to divide the fish: the good ones go into their buckets, the worthless ones are thrown away. 49It will be like this at the end of the age: the angels will go out and gather up the evil people from among the good 50and will throw them into the fiery furnace, where they will cry and grind their teeth.
New Truths and Old
51 “Do you understand these things?” Jesus asked them.
“Yes,” they answered.
52So he replied, “This means, then, that every teacher of the Law who becomes a disciple in the Kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who takes new and old things out of his storeroom.”
Jesus is Rejected at Nazareth
(Mk 6.1–6; Lk 4.16–30)
53When Jesus finished telling these parables, he left that place 54and went back to his home town. He taught in the synagogue, and those who heard him were amazed. “Where did he get such wisdom?” they asked. “And what about his miracles? 55Isn't he the carpenter's son? Isn't Mary his mother, and aren't James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas his brothers? 56Aren't all his sisters living here? Where did he get all this?” 57#Jn 4.44And so they rejected him.
Jesus said to them, “A prophet is respected everywhere except in his home town and by his own family.” 58Because they did not have faith, he did not perform many miracles there.
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.