Matthew Thirteen

   That same day Jesus went out of the house, and sat by the seaside. And many people gathered around him, so that he had to go up and sit in a boat, and all the people stood on the seashore. And he spoke many things to them in parables, and said, Behold the sower went out to sow; And when he had sown, some seed fell on the roadside, and the fowls came and ate it. Other fell upon the rock, where there was not sufficient soil; and it sprang up earlier because the ground was not deep enough;
But when the sun shone, it was scorched, and because it had no root, it dried up; And other fell among thistles, and the thistles sprung up and choked it. And other fell in good soil, and bore fruit,
some one hundred, and some sixty, and some thirty. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

    ¶ Then his disciples drew near to him and said, Why do you speak to them in parables? He answered and said to them, Because to you it is granted to know the mystery of the kingdom of heaven, but it is not granted to them. For to him who has, shall be given and it shall increase to him; but to him who has not, even that which he has shall be taken away from him. This is the reason I speak to them in figures, because they see and yet cannot perceive; and they hear and yet do not listen, nor do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah who said, Hearing you will hear, but you will not understand; and seeing you will see, but you will not know. For the heart of this people has become hardened, and their ears hear heavily, and their eyes are dull; so that they cannot see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts; let them return,
and I will heal them. But as for you, blessed are your eyes for they see; and your ears for they hear. For truly I say to you, a great many prophets and righteous men have longed to see what you see, and did not see it; and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

    ¶ Now you listen to the parable of the seed. Whoever hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away the word which has been sown in his heart. This is that which was sown on the roadside. That which was sown upon the rock, this is he who hears the word, and immediately accepts it with joy; But it has no root in him, except for a while; and when trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he immediately stumbles. That which was sown among thistles, this is he who hears the word, but worldly thoughts and the deception caused by riches choke the word, and it becomes fruitless. That which was sown upon good soil, this is he who hears my word, and understands it, so he bears fruit and produces some one hundred, and some sixty, and some thirty.

   ¶ He related another parable to them, and said, The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. And when the men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away. But when the blade sprang up and bore fruit, then the tares also appeared. So the servants of the landowner came and said to him, Our lord, behold, did you not sow good seed in your field; whence did the tares come into it? He said to them, An enemy did this; his servants then said to him, Do you want us to go and pick them out? But he said to them, It might happen that while you were picking out the tares, you might uproot with them also the wheat. Let them both grow together until the harvest; and at the harvest season, I will say to the reapers, Pick out first the tares, and bind them into bundles to be burned; but gather the wheat into my barns.

    ¶ He related another parable to them, and said, The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds; but when it is grown, it is larger than all of the herbs; and it becomes a tree, so that the fowls of the sky come and nest in its branches.

   ¶ He told them another parable. The kingdom of heaven is like the leaven, which a woman took and buried in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened.

   ¶ Jesus spoke all these things to the people in parables; and without parables he did not speak to them. So that it might be fulfilled which was said by the prophet, who said, I will open my mouth in parables, and I will bring out secrets hidden before the foundation of the world. Then Jesus left the multitudes and came into the house; and his disciples came up to him, and said, Explain to us the parable of the tares and the field. He answered and said to them, He who sowed good seed is the Son of man. The field is the world; the good seed are the sons of the kingdom; but the tares are the sons of evil. The enemy who sowed them is Satan; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. Therefore, just as the tares are picked out and burned in the fire, so shall it be at the end of the world. The Son of man will send his angels, and they will pick out from his kingdom all things
which cause stumbling, and all workers of iniquity. And they will throw them into the furnace of fire; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous ones shall shine as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

   ¶ Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure which is hidden in the field, which a man discovered and hid, and because of his joy, he went and sold everything he had, and bought that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant, who was seeking good pearls. And when he had found one costly pearl, he went and sold everything he had, and bought it. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net which was thrown into the sea, and it gathered fish of every kind. When it was filled, they drew it to the shore, and sat down and sorted them; the good ones they put into bags, and the bad they threw away. So will it be at the end of the world; the angels will go out and separate the bad from among the righteous, And they will throw them into the furnace of fire; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

   ¶ Jesus said to them, Have you understood all of these things? They said to him, Yes, our Lord. He said to them, Therefore every scribe who is converted to the kingdom of heaven, is like a man who is a householder, who brings out new and old things from his treasures.

   ¶ When Jesus had finished these parables, he departed thence. And he came to his own city; and he
taught them in their synagogues, in such a way, that they were amazed and said, Where did he get this wisdom and these wonders? Is he not the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? and his brothers, James and Joses and Simon and Judah? Are not all his sisters with us? Where did he get all these things? And they were perplexed about him. But Jesus said to them, No prophet is insulted,
except in his own city and in his own house. And he did not perform many miracles there, because of their unbelief.