Matthew 13

The Parable of the Sower

1 On that day after Jesus went out of the house, he sat by the lake.2 And such a large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat to sit whilet the whole crowd stood on the shore.3 Het told them many things in parables,s saying: “Listen!t A sower went out to sow.s4 And as he sowed, some seedst fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them.5 Othert seeds fell on rocky grounds where they did not have much soil. They sprang up quickly because the soil was not deep.t6 But when the sun came up, they were scorched, and because they did not have sufficient root, they withered.7 Other seeds fell among the thorns,s and they grew up and choked them.s8 But other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundred times as much, some sixty, and some thirty.

9 The one who has ears had better listen!”t
10 Thent the disciples came to him and said, “Why do you speak to them in parables?”11 He replied,t “You have been givent the opportunity to knowt the secretsts of the kingdom of heaven, but they have not.12 For whoever has will be given more, and will have an abundance. But whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.s13 For this reason I speak to them in parables: Although they see they do not see, and although they hear they do not hear nor do they understand.

14 And concerning them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says:
‘You will listen carefullytyet will never understand,
you will look closelytyet will never comprehend.

15 For the heart of this people has become dull;
they are hard of hearing,
and they have shut their eyes,
so that they would not see with their eyes
and hear with their ears
and understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.’s
16 “But your eyes are blesseds because they see, and your ears because they hear.

17 For I tell you the truth,t many prophets and righteous people longed to sees what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
18 “So listen to the parable of the sower:19 When anyone hears the word about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil ones comes and snatches what was sown in his heart;s this is the seed sown along the path.20 Thet seed sown on rocky groundt is the person who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy.21 But he has no root in himself and does not endure;t whent trouble or persecution comes because of the word, immediately he falls away.22 Thet seed sown among thorns is the person who hears the word, but worldly cares and the seductiveness of wealtht choke the word,s so it produces nothing.

23 But as for the seed sown on good soil, this is the person who hears the word and understands. He bears fruit, yielding a hundred, sixty, or thirty times what was sown.”t

The Parable of the Weeds

24 He presented them with another parable:t “The kingdom of heaven is like a person who sowed good seed in his field.25 But while everyone was sleeping, an enemy came and sowed weedst among the wheat and went away.26 Whent the plants sprouted and bore grain, then the weeds also appeared.27 So the slavest of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Then where did the weeds come from?’28 He said, ‘An enemy has done this.’ Sot the slaves replied, ‘Do you want us to go and gather them?’29 But he said, ‘No, since in gathering the weeds you may uproot the wheat with them.

30 Let both grow together until the harvest. Att harvest time I will tell the reapers, “First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned, but thent gathert the wheat into my barn.”’”

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

31 He gavet them another parable:t “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seeds that a man took and sowed in his field.

32 It is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest garden plant and becomes a tree,s so that the wild birdst come and nest in its branches.”s

The Parable of the Yeast

33 He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed witht three measuress of flour until all the dough had risen.”ts

The Purpose of Parables

34 Jesus spoke all these things in parables to the crowds; he did not speak to them without a parable.

35 This fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet:st
“I will open my mouth in parables,
I will announce what has been hidden from the foundation of the world.”s

Explanation for the Disciples

36 Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”37 Het answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man.38 The field is the world and the good seed are the peoplet of the kingdom. The weeds are the peoplet of the evil one,39 and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels.40 Ast the weeds are collected and burned with fire, so it will be at the end of the age.41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather from his kingdom everything that causes sin as well as all lawbreakers.t42 They will throw them into the fiery furnace,s where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.s The one who has ears had better listen!t

Parables on the Kingdom of Heaven

44 “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure, hidden in a field, that a person found and hid. Then because of joy he went and sold all that he had and bought that field.
45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls.

46 When he found a pearl of great value, he went out and sold everything he had and bought it.
47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was cast into the sea that caught all kinds of fish.48 When it was full, they pulled it ashore, sat down, and put the good fish into containers and threw the bad away.49 It will be this way at the end of the age. Angels will come and separate the evil from the righteous

50 and throw them into the fiery furnace,s where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
51 “Have you understood all these things?” They replied, “Yes.”

52 Then he said to them, “Therefore every expert in the lawt who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his treasure what is new and old.”

Rejection at Nazareth

53 Now whent Jesus finished these parables, he moved on from there.54 Thent he came to his hometowns and began to teach the peoplet in their synagogue.s Theyt were astonished and said, “Where did this man get such wisdom and miraculous powers?55 Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother named Mary?s And aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas?56 And aren’t all his sisters here with us? Where did he get all this?”t57 And so they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own house.”

58 And he did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.

MATTHEW 13

A Story about a Farmer

(Mark 4.1-9; Luke 8.4-8)

1 That same day Jesus left the house and went out beside Lake Galilee, where he sat down to teach.t 2 t Such large crowds gathered around him that he had to sit in a boat, while the people stood on the shore.

3 Then he taught them many things by using stories. He said:
A farmer went out to scatter seed in a field. 4 While the farmer was scattering the seed, some of it fell along the road and was eaten by birds. 5 Other seeds fell on thin, rocky ground and quickly started growing because the soil wasn't very deep. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched and dried up, because they did not have deep roots. 7 Some other seeds fell where thornbushes grew up and choked the plants. 8 But a few seeds did fall on good ground where the plants produced 100 or 60 or 30 times as much as was scattered.

9 If you have ears, pay attention!

Why Jesus Used Stories

(Mark 4.10-12; Luke 8.9,10)

10 Jesus' disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you use stories to speak to the people?”

11 Jesus answered:
I have explained the secrets about the kingdom of heaven to you, but not to others. 12 t Everyone who has something will be given more. But people who don't have anything will lose even what little they have. 13 I use stories when I speak to them because when they look, they cannot see, and when they listen, they cannot hear or understand.

14 t So God's promise came true, just as the prophet Isaiah had said,
“These people will listen
and listen,
but never understand.
They will look and look,
but never see.

15 All of them have
stubborn minds!
They refuse to listen;
they cover their eyes.
They cannot see or hear
or understand.
If they could,
they would turn to me,
and I would heal them.”
16  t But God has blessed you, because your eyes can see and your ears can hear!

17 Many prophets and good people were eager to see what you see and to hear what you hear. But I tell you they did not see or hear.

Jesus Explains the Story //about the Farmer

(Mark 4.13-20; Luke 8.11-15)

18 Now listen to the meaning of the story about the farmer:
19 The 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. 20 The seeds that fell on rocky ground are the people who gladly hear the message and accept it at once.

21 But 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.
22 The seeds that fell among the thornbushes 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.

23 The seeds that fell on good ground are the people who hear and understand the message. They produce as much as 100 or 60 or 30 times what was planted.

Weeds among the Wheat

24 Jesus then told them this story:
The kingdom of heaven is like what happened when a farmer scattered good seed in a field.

25 But while everyone was sleeping, an enemy came and scattered weed seeds in the field and then left.
26 When the plants came up and began to mature, the farmer's servants could see the weeds.

27 The 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.

30 Leave 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)

31 Jesus told them another story:
The kingdom of heaven is like what happens when a farmer plants a mustard seed in a field.

32 Although 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.

33 Jesus 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)

35 t So God's promise came true, just as the prophett had said,
“I will use stories
to speak my message
and to explain things hidden
since the creation
of the world.”

Jesus Explains the Story //about the Weeds

36 After Jesus left the crowd and went inside, t his disciples came to him and said, “Explain to us the story about the weeds in the wheat field.”

37 Jesus answered:
The one who scattered the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The 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,

39 and 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.
40 Weeds are gathered and burned. That's how it will be at the end of time. 41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather from his kingdom everyone who does wrong or causes others to sin. 42 Then he will throw them into a flaming furnace, where people will cry and grit their teeth in pain.

43 t But everyone who has done right will shine like the sun in their Father's kingdom. If you have ears, pay attention!

A Hidden Treasure

44 The kingdom of heaven is like what happens when someone finds a treasure hidden in a field and buries it again. Such a person is happy and goes and sells everything in order to buy that field.

A Valuable Pearl

46 After finding a very valuable one, the owner goes and sells everything in order to buy that pearl.

A Fish Net

50 Then those evil people will be thrown into a flaming furnace, where they will cry and grit their teeth in pain.

New and Old Treasures

51 Jesus asked his disciples if they understood all these things. They said, “Yes, we do.”

52 So 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)

57 t So the people were upset because of what he was doing.
But Jesus said, “Prophets are honored by everyone, except the people of their hometown and their own family.” 58 And because the people did not have any faith, Jesus did not work many miracles there.