Matthew Chapter 13    

¹On that day Jesus went out of the house and was sitting by the lake.^{a
  2}And such a large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd stood on the shore.
  ³And he spoke many things to them in parables, saying, “Pay attention! The sower went out to sow,
  ⁴and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the path, and the birds came and devoured them.
  ⁵And some fell on the rocky ground where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up because the soil was not deep.
  ⁶And when the sun rose they were scorched, and because they had no root, they withered away.
  ⁷And some seeds fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them.
  ⁸But others fell on the good soil and yielded fruit, some a hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.
  ⁹Anyone who has ears had better listen!”
 

¹⁰And the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?”
  ¹¹And he answered and said to them, “To you it is given to know the sacred secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but to them it is not given.
  ¹²For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance, but whoever does not have, from him will be taken away even that which he has.
  ¹³This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.
  ¹⁴And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.
  ¹⁵For this people’s heart has grown fat, and their ears are dull of hearing, and they have closed their eyes, otherwise they would perceive with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and return to God, and I would heal them.^{b
  16}But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear.
  ¹⁷For truly I say to you, that many prophets and righteous people desired to see the things that you see, and did not see them, and to hear the things that you hear, and did not hear them.
 

¹⁸Now listen to the parable of the sower.
  ¹⁹When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the Wicked One comes and snatches away that which has been sown in his heart. This is the one who was sown along the path.
  ²⁰And the seed that was sown on the rocky places, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy,
  ²¹yet he does not have any root in himself, but is short-lived. When hardships or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away.
  ²²And the seed that was sown among the thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the worries of this age and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.
  ²³But the seed that was sown on the good ground, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who surely bears fruit; and some yield a hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.”
 

²⁴He set another parable before them, saying, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field,
  ²⁵but while the men were sleeping, his enemy came and also sowed darnel^c among the wheat, and went away.
  ²⁶But when the blade sprang up and brought forth fruit, then the darnel appeared also.
  ²⁷And the servants of the head of the house came and said to him, ‘Lord, did you not sow good seed in your field? Then where did the darnel come from?’
  ²⁸And he said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ And the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them up?’
  ²⁹But he said, ‘No, lest while you are gathering up the darnel, you uproot the wheat with them.
  ³⁰Let both grow together until the harvest, and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the darnel, and bind them in bundles to burn them up, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”
 

³¹He set another parable before them, saying, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field,
  ³²which indeed is smaller than all other seeds, but when it is grown, it is larger than the garden plants, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of heaven come and nest in the branches of it.”
 

³³He spoke another parable to them, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in 50 pounds^d of meal until it was all leavened.”
 

³⁴All these things Jesus spoke in parables to the crowds, and he did not speak to them without using a parable,
  ³⁵so that what was spoken through the prophet was fulfilled, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the foundation of the world.^e
 

³⁶Then he left the crowd and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the darnel of the field.”
  ³⁷And he answered and said, “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man,
  ³⁸and the field is the world. And as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom, and the darnel is the sons of the Wicked One.
  ³⁹And the enemy who sowed them is the Devil,^f and the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels.
  ⁴⁰Therefore, as the darnel is gathered up and burned up with fire, so it will be in the end of the age.
  ⁴¹The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom every stumbling block and those who are guilty of lawlessness.
  ⁴²and will throw them into the furnace of fire. There will be sobbing and gnashing of teeth.
  ⁴³Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Anyone who has ears had better listen!
 

⁴⁴“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a person found and hid. And in his joy he goes and sells all that he has, and buys that field.
 

⁴⁵“Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a person, a merchant, seeking fine pearls.
  ⁴⁶And having found one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.
 

⁴⁷“Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and gathered fish of every kind,
  ⁴⁸which, when it was filled, they drew up on the shore, and they sat down and gathered the good into containers, but the bad they threw away.
  ⁴⁹So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the wicked from the midst of the righteous
  ⁵⁰and will throw them into the furnace of fire. There will be sobbing and gnashing of teeth.
  ⁵¹Have you understood all these things?” They said to him, “Yes.”
  ⁵²And he said to them, “Therefore every expert in the law who has been discipled about the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who is a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure things new and old.”
 

⁵³And it came to pass when Jesus had finished these parables, he departed from there.
  ⁵⁴And coming to his hometown, he taught them in their synagogue in such a way that they became astonished and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miracles?
  ⁵⁵Isn’t this the builder’s son? Isn’t his mother called Mary? And his brothers, James, and Joseph, and Simon, and Judas?
  ⁵⁶And his sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this man get all these things?”
  ⁵⁷And they were offended because of him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is honored everywhere except in his hometown and in his own house.”
  ⁵⁸And he did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.