Matthew 13
1 That day, Jesus left the house and sat down beside the sea.
2 A large crowd gathered around him, so he got into a boat and sat down, while the whole crowd stood on the shore.
3 He taught them many things through parables. “Look, a man went out to sow.
4 As he scattered the seed, some fell along the path. Birds came and ate it.
5 Some seed fell on rocky ground, where the soil was shallow, and it sprouted quickly because the earth was not deep.
6 But when the sun rose, the plants were scorched, and because they had no roots, they dried up.
7 Some seed fell among thornbushes. The thorns grew and choked the plants.
8 Other seed landed in good soil and produced a crop: one hundred times as much, another sixty, and another thirty.
9 Anyone with ears should listen.”
10 The disciples came over and asked him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?”
11 He answered, “You have been allowed to understand the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but they have not.
12 For the one who has will be given more, until he has plenty; but whoever has nothing will lose even what he has.
13 That is why I speak to them in parables: they look but do not see, and they listen but do not hear or understand.
14 Isaiah’s prophecy is being fulfilled among them: ‘You will hear and hear, yet fail to understand; you will look and look, yet fail to see.
15 For this people’s heart has grown dull. They have become hard of hearing and have shut their eyes, so they might not see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand in their hearts, turn back, and have me heal them.’
16 But how fortunate your eyes are, because they see, and your ears, because they hear.
17 Truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but never saw it, and to hear what you hear but never heard it.”
18 “So listen to what the parable of the sower means.
19 When anyone hears the message of the Kingdom but does not understand it, the Evil One comes and snatches away what was planted in that person’s heart. This is the seed sown along the path.
20 The seed on rocky ground represents someone who hears the message and immediately welcomes it with joy.
21 But it has no root in him and lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the message, he quickly falls away.
22 The seed among the thorns represents someone who hears the message, but the worries of this age and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, leaving him fruitless.
23 The seed in good soil represents someone who hears the message and understands it. That person truly bears fruit and yields a crop: one hundred times as much, another sixty, and another thirty.”
24 He told them another parable: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field.
25 While everyone was asleep, his enemy came, scattered weeds among the wheat, and left.
26 When the plants sprouted and began to yield grain, the weeds appeared too.
27 The landowner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Then where did the weeds come from?’
28 He replied, ‘An enemy did this.’ The servants asked him, ‘Shall we go and pull them up?’
29 He said, ‘No. If you gather the weeds, you might uproot the wheat along with them.
30 Let both grow side by side until harvest. At harvest time I will tell the reapers, “Gather the weeds first and tie them into bundles to be burned; then bring the wheat into my barn.”’”
31 He gave them another parable: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and planted in his field.
32 It is the smallest of all seeds, but once it grows, it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree. Then the birds of the sky come and nest in its branches.”
33 He told them another parable: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like yeast that a woman took and worked into three measures of flour, until all the dough was leavened.”
34 Jesus taught the crowds all these things by means of parables; he said nothing to them without a parable,
35 in order to fulfill what the prophet had spoken: “I will speak through parables; I will proclaim things hidden since the world began.”
36 Then he left the crowds and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, “Explain the parable of the weeds in the field to us.”
37 He replied, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.
38 The field is the world. The good seed stands for the children of the Kingdom, and the weeds are the children of the Evil One.
39 The enemy who sowed them is the Devil. The harvest is the close of the age, and the reapers are angels.
40 So, just as the weeds are gathered and burned in the fire, that is what will happen at the close of the age.
41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will remove from his Kingdom everything that causes people to stumble, along with those who do evil.
42 They will throw them into the blazing furnace. There will be weeping and grinding of teeth there.
43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. Anyone with ears should listen.”
44 “The Kingdom of Heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. A man found it and hid it again; in his joy, he goes off, sells all he owns, and buys that field.
45 Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls.
46 When he found one pearl of great value, he went away, sold everything he owned, and bought it.
47 Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a net cast into the sea that gathered fish of every kind.
48 When it was full, they hauled it ashore, sat down, and put the good fish into containers, but threw the bad ones away.
49 That is how it will be at the close of the age: the angels will go out and separate the wicked from among the righteous.
50 They will throw them into the blazing furnace. There will be weeping and grinding of teeth there.
51 “Have you understood all this?” They answered him, “Yes.”
52 He said to them, “For this reason, every teacher of the Law who has become a disciple of the Kingdom of Heaven is like a homeowner who brings new things and old things out of his storeroom.”
53 When Jesus had finished these parables, he left that place.
54 He came to his hometown and taught in their synagogue. The people were amazed and said, “Where did this man get such wisdom and these works of power?
55 Isn’t he the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother called Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas?
56 And aren’t all his sisters here with us? Where, then, did he get all this?”
57 They took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is respected everywhere except in his hometown and in his own household.”
58 He did not perform many works of power there, because they lacked faith.
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