Matthew 13

1On that day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea.

2And large crowds gathered to him, so that he got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd stood on the shore.

3And he spoke many things to them in parables, saying: “Look, the sower went out to sow.”

4And as he was sowing, some seeds fell beside the path, and the birds came and devoured them.

5Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up at once because it had no depth of soil,

6But when the sun rose, it was scorched, and because it had no root, it withered away.

7Other seeds fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them.

8But other seed fell on the good soil and was producing fruit—one a hundredfold, another sixty, and another thirty.

9The one who has ears, let him hear.

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

11He answered them, “To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.”

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 from him.

13For this reason I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.

14And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: ‘You will indeed hear, but never understand, and you will indeed see, but never perceive.’

15For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they hear heavily, and they have closed their eyes, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn back, and I will heal them.

16But blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear.

17For truly I say to 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.

18You, then, hear the parable of the one who sowed.

19When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one sown beside the road.

20As for the one sown on the rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy,

21Yet he has no root in himself, but is temporary. When affliction or persecution arises because of the word, he immediately falls away.

22And the one sown among the thorns—this is the one who hears the word, but the worries of this age and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.

23But the one sown on the good soil—this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces, in one case a hundred, in another sixty, and in another thirty.

24He set another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field.”

25But while people were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away.

26But when the plants had sprouted and produced grain, then the weeds also appeared.

27So the servants of the master of the house came to him and said, ‘Lord, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where then do the weeds come from?’

28He said to them, “An enemy did this.” Then the servants said to him, “So do you want us to go and gather them up?”

29But he said, ‘No, lest while gathering the weeds you uproot the wheat along with them.’

30Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will tell the reapers, ‘First collect the weeds and tie them into bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my storehouse.’

31He set another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field.”

32It is indeed 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 heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour until it was all leavened.”

34Jesus spoke all these things to the crowds in parables, and apart from a parable he said nothing to them.

35so that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying: “I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the beginning.”

36Then, after leaving the crowds, he went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.”

37He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.”

38The field is the world, and the good seed—these are the sons of the kingdom. And 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.

40Therefore, just 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 causes of stumbling and those who practice lawlessness,

42and they will throw them into the furnace of fire. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth there.

43Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. The one who has ears, let him hear.

44The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

45Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls.

46and having found one pearl of great value, he went away, sold all that he had, and bought it.

47Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea and gathering fish of every kind.

48When it was filled, they pulled it up onto the shore, sat down, and gathered the good fish into containers, but threw the bad ones out.

49So it will be at the end of the age: the angels will go out and separate the wicked from among the righteous,

50and they will throw them into the furnace of fire. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

51Have you understood all these things? They said to him, “Yes.”

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

53And when Jesus had finished these parables, he departed from there.

54And coming to his hometown, he was teaching them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works?”

55Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary, and his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?

56And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?

57And they took offense at 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 do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.