Matthew 13
13
1 In that day, Jesus, departing from the house, sat down beside the sea.
2 And such great crowds were gathered to him that he climbed into a boat and he sat down. And the entire multitude stood on the shore.
3 And he spoke many things to them in parables, saying: "Behold, a sower went out to sow seed.
4 And while he was sowing, some fell beside the road, and the birds of the air came and ate it.
5 Then others fell in a rocky place, where they did not have much soil. And they sprung up promptly, because they had no depth of soil.
6 But when the sun rose up, they were scorched, and because they had no roots, they withered.
7 Still others fell among thorns, and the thorns increased and suffocated them.
8 Yet some others fell upon good soil, and they produced fruit: some one hundred fold, some sixty fold, some thirty fold.
9 Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear."
10 And his disciples drew near to him and said, "Why do you speak to them in parables?"
11 Responding, he said to them: "Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but it has not been given to them.
12 For whoever has, it shall be given to him, and he shall have in abundance. But whoever has not, even what he has shall be taken away from him.
13 For this reason, I speak to them in parables: because seeing, they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.
14 And so, in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, who said, 'Hearing, you shall hear, but not understand; and seeing, you shall see, but not perceive.
15 For the heart of this people has grown fat, and with their ears they hear heavily, and they have closed their eyes, lest at any time they might see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted, and then I would heal them.'
16 But blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear.
17 Amen I say to you, certainly, that many of the prophets and the just desired to see what you see, and yet they did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and yet they did not hear it.
18 Listen, then, to the parable of the sower.
19 With anyone who hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, evil comes and carries away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received the seed by the side of the road.
20 Then whoever has received the seed upon a rocky place, this is one who hears the word and promptly accepts it with joy.
21 But he has no root in himself, so it is only for a time; then, when tribulation and persecution occur because of the word, he promptly stumbles.
22 And whoever has received the seed among thorns, this is he who hears the word, but the cares of this age and the falseness of riches suffocate the word, and he is effectively without fruit.
23 Yet truly, whoever has received the seed into good soil, this is he who hears the word, and understands it, and so he bears fruit, and he produces: some a hundred fold, and another sixty fold, and another thirty fold."
24 He proposed another parable to them, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field.
25 But while the men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds amid the wheat, and then went away.
26 And when the plants had grown, and had produced fruit, then the weeds also appeared.
27 So the servants of the Father of the family, approaching, said to him: 'Lord, did you not sow good seed in your field? Then how is it that it has weeds?'
28 And he said to them, 'A man who is an enemy has done this.' So the servants said to him, 'Is it your will that we should go and gather them up?'
29 And he said: 'No, lest perhaps in gathering the weeds, you might also root out the wheat together with it.
30 Permit both to grow until the harvest, and at the time of the harvest, I will say to the reapers: Gather first the weeds, and bind them into bundles to burn, but the wheat gather into my storehouse.' "
31 He proposed another parable to them, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field.
32 It is, indeed, the least of all seeds, but when it has grown, it is greater than all the plants, and it becomes a tree, so much so that the birds of the air come and dwell in its branches."
33 He spoke another parable to them: "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of fine wheat flour, until it was entirely leavened."
34 All these things Jesus spoke in parables to the crowds. And he did not speak to them apart from parables,
35 in order to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet, saying: "I will open my mouth in parables. I will proclaim what has been hidden since the foundation of the world."
36 Then, dismissing the crowds, he went into the house. And his disciples drew near to him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field."
37 Responding, he said to them: "He who sows the good seed is the Son of man.
38 Now the field is the world. And the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom. But the weeds are the sons of wickedness.
39 So the enemy who sowed them is the devil. And truly, the harvest is the consummation of the age; while the reapers are the Angels.
40 Therefore, just as weeds are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the consummation of the age.
41 The Son of man shall send out his Angels, and they shall gather from his kingdom all who lead astray and those who work iniquity.
42 And he shall cast them into the furnace of fire, where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
43 Then the just ones shall shine like the sun, in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear.
44 The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field. When a man finds it, he hides it, and, because of his joy, he goes and sells everything that he has, and he buys that field.
45 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking good pearls.
46 Having found one pearl of great value, he went away and sold all that he had, and he bought it.
47 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net cast into the sea, which gathers together all kinds of fish.
48 When it has been filled, drawing it out and sitting beside the shore, they selected the good into vessels, but the bad they threw away.
49 So shall it be at the consummation of the age. The Angels shall go forth and separate the bad from the midst of the just.
50 And they shall cast them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
51 Have you understood all these things?" They say to him, "Yes."
52 He said to them, "Therefore, every scribe well-taught about the kingdom of heaven, is like a man, the father of a family, who offers from his storehouse both the new and the old."
53 And it happened that, when Jesus had completed these parables, he went away from there.
54 And arriving in his own country, he taught them in their synagogues, so much so that they wondered and said: "How can such wisdom and power be with this one?
55 Is this not the son of a workman? Is not his mother called Mary, and his brothers, James, and Joseph, and Simon, and Jude?
56 And his sisters, are they not all with us? Therefore, from where has this one obtained all these things?"
57 And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country and in his own house."
58 And he did not work many miracles there, because of their unbelief.
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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