Matthew 13

1 On that day Jesus went out of the house and was sitting beside the sea; 2 and large crowds gathered to him, so that he got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd stood on the shore. 3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: “Look, the sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell along the road, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Other seed fell on the rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and it came up at once because the soil had no depth; 6 but when the sun rose it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered. 7 Other seed fell on the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it. 8 Other seed fell on the good ground and was giving fruit — one a hundred, another sixty, another thirty. † 9 Let the one who has ears hear.” [a]

10 And the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” 11 And he answered them, “Because to you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of the heavens, but to them it has not been given. [b] 12 For whoever has, it will be given to him, and he will have more than enough; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables: because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear or understand. 14 And the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled in them, which says:

16 “But blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear. 17 For amen I tell you that 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.

18 “You, then, hear the parable of the one who sowed. 19 When anyone hears the word 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 road. 20 And the one sown on the rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and at once receives it with joy; 21 but he has no root in himself and lasts only a season, and when affliction or persecution comes because of the word, at once he is made to stumble. 22 And the one sown among the thorns, this is the one who hears the word, and the anxiety of this age and the deceit of riches choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 23 And the one sown on the good ground, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces — one a hundred, another sixty, another thirty.”

24 He set another parable before them, saying: “The kingdom of the heavens has become like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while people were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed darnel in among the wheat, and went away. [d] 26 And when the blade sprouted and made fruit, then the darnel appeared as well. 27 And the slaves of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where then did it get darnel?’ 28 And he said to them, ‘A man who is an enemy did this.’ And the slaves say to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’ 29 But he says, ‘No — in gathering the darnel you might uproot the wheat along with it. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest; and at the time of the harvest I will tell the harvesters: Gather the darnel first and tie it in bundles to burn it up, but gather the wheat into my barn.’”

31 He set another parable before them, saying: “The kingdom of the heavens is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; 32 which is smaller than all the 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.”

33 He told them another parable: “The kingdom of the heavens is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in about six gallons of flour, until the whole of it was leavened.” [e]

34 All these things Jesus spoke in parables to the crowds, and without a parable he spoke nothing to them; 35 so that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled, who said: [f]

36 Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the darnel of the field.” 37 And he answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; 38 and the field is the world; and the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the darnel are the sons of the evil one; 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the Accuser; and the harvest is the completion of the age, and the harvesters are messengers. [g] 40 So just as the darnel is gathered and burned with fire, so it will be at the completion of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send out his messengers, and they will gather out of his kingdom all the stumbling blocks and those who do lawlessness, 42 and they will throw them into the furnace of fire; there will be the weeping and the grinding of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine out like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let the one who has ears hear.

44 “The kingdom of the heavens is like treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid; and in his joy he goes and sells everything he has and buys that field. 45 Again, the kingdom of the heavens is like a merchant looking for fine pearls; 46 and finding one pearl of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it. †

47 “Again, the kingdom of the heavens is like a dragnet thrown into the sea and gathering from every kind; 48 and when it was full they hauled it up on the shore and sat down and gathered the good into containers, but the rotten they threw out. 49 So it will be at the completion of the age: the messengers will go out and separate the evil from among the righteous 50 and will throw them into the furnace of fire; there will be the weeping and the grinding of teeth.

51 “Have you understood all these things?” They say to him, “Yes.” 52 And he said to them, “Because of this, every scribe who has been made a disciple to the kingdom of the heavens is like a man, a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure new things and old.”

53 And when Jesus had finished these parables, he moved on from there. 54 And coming to his home town he taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astounded and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these acts of power? 55 Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is his mother not called Mary, and his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? [i] 56 And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” 57 And they were made to stumble over him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his home town and in his own house.” 58 And he did not do many acts of power there because of their unbelief.