That day Jesus
went
out of athe house
and was sitting
bby the sea
.
And 1large crowds
gathered
to Him, so
aHe got
into a boat
and sat
down
, and the whole
crowd
was standing
on the beach
.
And He spoke many
things
to them in aparables
, saying
, "Behold
, the sower
went
out to sow
;
and as he sowed, some
seeds fell
beside
the road
, and the birds
came
and ate
them up.
"Others fell
on the rocky
places, where
they did not have
much
soil
; and immediately
they sprang
up, because
they had
no
depth
of soil
.
"But when the sun had risen
, they were scorched
; and because
they had
no
root
, they withered
away
.
"Others fell
1among
the thorns
, and the thorns
came
up and choked
them out.
"And others fell
on the good
soil
and *yielded
a crop
, some
a ahundredfold
, some
sixty
, and some
thirty
.
" aHe who has ears
, 1let him hear
."
And the disciples came
and said
to Him, "Why
do You speak
to them in parables
?"
1Jesus answered them, " aTo you it has been granted
to know
the mysteries
of the kingdom
of heaven
, but to them it has not been granted
.
" aFor whoever has
, to him more shall be given
, and he will have
an abundance
; but whoever
does not have
, even
what
he has
shall be taken
away
from him.
"Therefore I speak
to them in parables
; because
while aseeing
they do not see
, and while hearing
they do not hear
, nor
do they understand
.
" 1In their case the prophecy of Isaiah
is being fulfilled
, which says
, ` 2 aYOU WILL KEEP
ON HEARING
, 3BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND
; 4YOU WILL KEEP
ON SEEING
, BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE
;
aFOR THE HEART OF THIS
PEOPLE
HAS BECOME
DULL
, WITH THEIR EARS
THEY SCARCELY
HEAR
, AND THEY HAVE CLOSED
THEIR EYES
, OTHERWISE
THEY WOULD SEE
WITH THEIR EYES
, HEAR
WITH THEIR EARS
, AND UNDERSTAND
WITH THEIR HEART
AND RETURN
, AND I WOULD HEAL
THEM.'
" aBut blessed are your eyes
, because
they see
; and your ears
, because
they hear
.
"For truly I say
to you that amany
prophets
and righteous
men
desired
to see
what
you see
, and did not see
it, and to hear
what
you hear
, and did not hear
it.
" aHear then
the parable
of the sower
.
"When anyone hears
athe 1word
of the kingdom
and does not understand
it, bthe evil
one comes
and snatches
away
what
has been sown
in his heart
. This
is the one on whom seed was sown
beside
the road
.
"The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky
places, this
is the man who hears
the word
and immediately
receives
it with joy
;
yet he has
no
firm root
in himself
, but is only temporary
, and when affliction
or
persecution
arises
because
of the 1word
, immediately
he 2 afalls
away
.
"And the one on whom seed was sown among
the thorns
, this
is the man who hears
the word
, and the worry
of athe 1world
and the bdeceitfulness
of wealth
choke
the word
, and it becomes
unfruitful
.
"And the one on whom seed was sown on the good
soil
, this
is the man who hears
the word
and understands
it; who
indeed
bears
fruit
and brings
forth
, some
aa hundredfold
, some
sixty
, and some
thirty
."
Jesus presented another
parable
to them, saying
, " aThe kingdom
of heaven
1may be compared
to a man
who sowed
good
seed
in his field
.
"But while his men
were sleeping
, his enemy
came
and sowed
1tares
among
the wheat
, and went
away
.
"But when the 1wheat
sprouted
and bore
grain
, then
the tares
became
evident
also
.
"The slaves of the landowner
came
and said
to him, `Sir
, did you not sow
good
seed
in your field
? 1How
then
does it have
tares
?'
"And he said to them, `An 1enemy
has done
this
!' The slaves
*said
to him, `Do you want
us, then
, to go
and gather
them up?'
"But he *said, `No
; for while you are gathering
up the tares
, you may uproot
the wheat
with them.
`Allow both
to grow
together
until
the harvest
; and in the time
of the harvest
I will say
to the reapers
, "First
gather
up the tares
and bind
them in bundles
to burn
them up; but agather
the wheat
into my barn
.""'
He presented another
parable
to them, saying
, " aThe kingdom
of heaven
is like
ba mustard
seed
, which
a man
took
and sowed
in his field
;
and this is smaller
than all
other seeds
, but when
it is full
grown
, it is larger
than the garden
plants
and becomes
a tree
, so
that aTHE BIRDS
OF THE 1AIR
come
and NEST
IN ITS BRANCHES
."
He spoke another
parable
to them, " aThe kingdom
of heaven
is like
leaven
, which
a woman
took
and hid
in bthree
1pecks
of flour
until
it was all
leavened
."
All these
things
Jesus
spoke
to the crowds
in parables
, and He did not speak
to them awithout
a parable
.
This was to fulfill what
was spoken
through
the prophet
: " aI WILL OPEN
MY MOUTH
IN PARABLES
; I WILL UTTER
THINGS
HIDDEN
SINCE
THE FOUNDATION
OF THE WORLD
."
Then He left
the crowds
and went
into athe house
. And His disciples
came
to Him and said
, " bExplain
to us the parable
of the 1tares
of the field
."
And He said, "The one who sows
the good
seed
is athe Son
of Man
,
and the field is the world
; and as for the good
seed
, these
are athe sons
of the kingdom
; and the tares
are bthe sons
of cthe evil
one;
and the enemy who sowed
them is the devil
, and the harvest
is athe 1end
of the age
; and the reapers
are angels
.
"So just
as the tares
are gathered
up and burned
with fire
, so
shall it be at athe 1end
of the age
.
" aThe Son of Man
bwill send
forth
His angels
, and they will gather
out of His kingdom
1all
cstumbling
blocks
, and those
who commit
lawlessness
,
and awill throw them into the furnace
of fire
; in that place
bthere will be weeping
and gnashing
of teeth
.
" aThen THE RIGHTEOUS
WILL SHINE
FORTH
AS THE SUN
in the kingdom
of their Father
. bHe who has
ears
, 1let him hear
.
" aThe kingdom of heaven
is like
a treasure
hidden
in the field
, which
a man
found
and hid
again; and from joy
over it he goes
and bsells
all
that he has
and buys
that field
.
"Again, athe kingdom
of heaven
is like
a merchant
seeking
fine
pearls
,
and upon finding one
pearl
of great
value
, he went
and sold
all
that he had
and bought
it.
"Again, athe kingdom
of heaven
is like
a dragnet
cast
into the sea
, and gathering
fish of every
kind
;
and when it was filled
, they drew
it up on the beach
; and they sat
down
and gathered
the good
fish into containers
, but the bad
they threw
away
.
"So it will be at athe 1end
of the age
; the angels
will come
forth
and 2take
out the wicked
from among
the righteous
,
and awill throw them into the furnace
of fire
; in that place
bthere
will be weeping
and gnashing
of teeth
.
"Have you understood all
these
things
?" They *said
to Him, "Yes
."
And 1Jesus said to them, "Therefore
every
scribe
who has become
a disciple
of the kingdom
of heaven
is like
a head
of a household
, who
brings
out of his treasure
things
new
and old
."
aWhen Jesus
had finished
these
parables
, He departed
from there
.
aHe came to 1His hometown
and bbegan teaching
them in their synagogue
, so
that cthey were astonished
, and said
, "Where
did this
man
get this
wisdom
and these 2miraculous
powers
?
"Is not this the carpenter's
son
? Is not aHis mother
called
Mary
, and His abrothers
, James
and Joseph
and Simon
and Judas
?
"And aHis sisters, are they not all
with us? Where
then
did this
man
get all
these
things
?"
And they took aoffense
at Him. But Jesus
said
to them, " bA prophet
is not without
honor
except
in his 1hometown
and in his own household
."
And He did not do many
1miracles
there
because
of their unbelief
.