Matthew 13

¹That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea .

²And great crowds gathered about him , so that he got into a boat and sat down . And the whole crowd stood on the beach .

³And he told them many things in parables , saying : A sower went out to sow .

⁴And as he sowed , some seeds fell along the path , and the birds came and devoured them .

⁵Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil , and immediately they sprang up , since they had no depth of soil ,

⁶but when the sun rose they were scorched . And since they had no root , they withered away .

⁷Other seeds fell among thorns , and the thorns grew up and choked them .

⁸Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain , some a hundredfold , some sixty , some thirty .

⁹He who has ears , let him hear .

¹⁰Then the disciples came and said to him , Why do you speak to them in parables ?

¹¹And he answered them , To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven , but to them it has not been given .

¹²For to the one who has , more will be given , and he will have an abundance , but from the one who has not , even what he has will be taken away .

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 .

¹⁴Indeed , in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says : You will indeed hear but never understand , and you will indeed see but never perceive .

¹⁵For this people’s heart has grown dull , and with their ears they can barely hear , and their eyes they have closed , lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn , and I would heal them .

¹⁶But blessed are your eyes , for they see , and your ears , for they hear .

¹⁷For truly , I say to you , many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see , and did not see it, and to hear what you hear , and did not hear it.

¹⁸Hear then the parable of the sower :

¹⁹When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart . This is what was sown along the path .

²⁰As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy ,

²¹yet he has no root in himself , but endures for a while , and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word , immediately he falls away .

²²As for what was sown among thorns , this is the one who hears the word , but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word , and it proves unfruitful .

²³As for what was sown on good soil , this is the one who hears the word and understands it . He indeed bears fruit and yields , in one case a hundredfold , in another sixty , and in another thirty .

²⁴He put another parable before them , saying , The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field ,

²⁵but while his men were sleeping , his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away .

²⁶So when the plants came up and bore grain , then the weeds appeared also .

²⁷And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him , Master , did you not sow good seed in your field ? How then does it have weeds ?

²⁸He said to them , An enemy has done this . So the servants said to him , Then do you want us to go and gather them ?

²⁹But he said , No , lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them .

³⁰Let both grow together until the harvest , and at harvest time I will tell the reapers , Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned , but gather the wheat into my barn .

³¹He put another parable before them , saying , The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field .

³²It is the smallest of all seeds , but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree , so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches .

³³He told them another parable . The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour , till it was all leavened .

³⁴All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables ; indeed , he said nothing to them without a parable .

³⁵This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet : I will open my mouth in parables ; I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world .

³⁶Then he left the crowds and went into the house . And his disciples came to him , saying , Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field .

³⁷He answered , The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man .

³⁸The field is the world , and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom . The weeds are the sons of the evil one,

³⁹and the enemy who sowed them is the devil . The harvest is the end of the age , and the reapers are angels .

⁴⁰Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire , so will it be at the end of the age .

⁴¹The Son of Man will send his angels , and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers ,

⁴²and throw them into the fiery furnace . In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth .

⁴³Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father . He who has ears , let him hear .

⁴⁴The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field , which a man found and covered up . Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field .

⁴⁵Again , the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls ,

⁴⁶who , on finding one pearl of great value , went and sold all that he had and bought it .

⁴⁷Again , the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind .

⁴⁸When it was full , men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad .

⁴⁹So it will be at the end of the age . The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous

⁵⁰and throw them into the fiery furnace . In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth .

⁵¹Have you understood all these things ? They said to him , Yes .

⁵²And he said to them , Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house , who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old .

⁵³And when Jesus had finished these parables , he went away from there ,

⁵⁴and coming to his hometown he taught them in their synagogue , so that they were astonished , and said , Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works ?

⁵⁵Is not this the carpenter’s son ? Is not his mother called Mary ? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas ?

⁵⁶And are not all his sisters with us ? Where then did this man get all these things ?

⁵⁷And they took offense at him . But Jesus said to them , A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household .

⁵⁸And he did not do many mighty works there , because of their unbelief .