Matthew 13

¹That same day, Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea. ²Such massive crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat down, while the whole crowd stood on the shore. ³He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: "Look! The sower went out to sow. ⁴And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and ate them up. ⁵Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil; they sprang up immediately because the soil had no depth. ⁶But when the sun rose, they were scorched, and because they had no root, they withered away. ⁷Other seeds fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. ⁸But other seeds fell on the good soil and produced a harvest—some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty. ⁹Let the one who has ears hear!"

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

¹¹He answered them, "Because to you it has been granted to know the secrets of the kingdom of the heavens, but to those people it has not been granted. ¹²For whoever has, more will be given to him and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. ¹³This is why I speak to them in parables: because though they see, they do not see; and though they hear, they do not hear, nor do they understand. ¹⁴In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah which says: 'You will listen and listen but never understand, and you will look and look but never perceive. ¹⁵For the heart of this people has become calloused; they have become hard of hearing with their ears, and they have shut their eyes tight. Otherwise, they might see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart and turn back— and I would heal them.'

¹⁶But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. ¹⁷Truly I tell you, many prophets and just people longed to see what you see and did not see it, and to hear what you hear and did not hear it.

¹⁸You, then, listen to the parable of the sower. ¹⁹When anyone hears the message of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart; this is the one sown along the path. ²⁰As for the one sown on the rocky ground, this is the person who hears the message and immediately receives it with joy, ²¹yet he has no root in himself but is only temporary. When distress or persecution comes because of the message, he is immediately tripped up. ²²As for the one sown among the thorns, this is the person who hears the message, but the anxieties of this age and the deception of wealth choke the message, and it becomes unfruitful. ²³But as for the one sown on the good soil, this is the person who hears the message and understands it; he indeed bears fruit and produces—one a hundredfold, one sixty, and one thirty."

²⁴He presented another parable to them, saying: "The kingdom of the heavens may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. ²⁵But while the people were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed darnel-weeds among the wheat and went away. ²⁶When the crop sprouted and produced grain, then the weeds appeared as well. ²⁷The slaves of the master of the house came and said to him, 'Master, didn't you sow good seed in your field? Where did these weeds come from?' ²⁸He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.' The slaves said to him, 'So, do you want us to go and gather them?' ²⁹But he said, 'No, lest while you are gathering the weeds you uproot the wheat along with them. ³⁰Let both grow together until the harvest; and at the time of the harvest I will tell the harvesters: First gather the weeds and bind them into bundles to be burned up, but bring the wheat together into my barn.'"

³¹He presented another parable to them, saying: "The kingdom of the heavens is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field. ³²It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown, it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the sky come and nest in its branches."

³³He told them another parable: "The kingdom of the heavens is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour until the whole batch was leavened."

³⁴Jesus spoke all these things to the crowds in parables; indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable. ³⁵This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet, saying: "I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden since the foundation of the world."

³⁶Then he left the crowds and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field."

³⁷He answered, "The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. ³⁸The field is the world. The good seed—these are 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 harvesters are angels. ⁴⁰Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so it will be at the end of the age. ⁴¹The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all stumbling blocks and those who practice lawlessness, ⁴²and they will throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ⁴³Then the just will shine out like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let the one who has ears hear!

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

⁴⁵Again, the kingdom of the heavens is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. ⁴⁶When he found one very precious pearl, he went and sold everything he had and bought it.

⁴⁷Again, the kingdom of the heavens is like a dragnet cast into the sea that gathered fish of every kind. ⁴⁸When it was full, they hauled it up onto the shore. Sitting down, they sorted the good ones into containers but threw the rotten ones away. ⁴⁹So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out and separate the evil from among the just 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." ⁵²He said to them, "Therefore every scribe who has been discipled for the kingdom of the heavens is like a master of a house who brings out of his treasure-chest things both new and old."

⁵³When Jesus had finished these parables, he moved on from there. ⁵⁴Coming to his hometown, he began teaching them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, "Where did this man get this wisdom and these miracles? ⁵⁵Isn't this the son of the artisan? Isn't his mother called Mary, and aren't his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? ⁵⁶And aren't all his sisters here with us? Where then did this man get all these things?" ⁵⁷And they were tripped up by 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 perform many miracles there because of their lack of trust.