Jesus went out of the house and sat by the seaside.
2 And great multitudes gathered to him, so that he went into a ship and sat down; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.
3 And he spoke many things to them in parables, saying, "Behold, a sower went forth to sow;
4 And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them;
5 Some others fell upon stony places, where they did not have much earth, and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth.
6 So when the sun came up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.
7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them.
8 But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some a hundred fold, some sixty, and some thirty fold.
9 He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
10 Then the disciples came and said to him, "Why do you speak to them in parables?"
11 And he answered and said to them, "Because it is given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
12 For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.
13 Therefore I speak to them in parables, because by their seeing [natural seeing] they do not see [spiritually]; and hearing [naturally] they do not hear [spiritually], neither do they understand.
14 In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which said, 'By hearing you shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing you shall see, and shall not perceive.
15 For this people's heart has grown gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and they have closed their eyes [spiritual]; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.'
16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear.
17 For truly I say to you, many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which you see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which you hear, and have not heard them.
18 Therefore hear the parable of the sower.
19 When anyone hears the word [spoken by the Spirit] about the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes, and catches away that which was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the way side.
20 And he who received the seed into stony places, the same is he who hears the word [spoken by the Spirit], and quickly with joy receives it;
21 Yet has he no root in himself, but endures only for awhile; for when tribulation or persecution rises because of the word, he is eventually offended.
22 He who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word; but the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.
23 But he who received seed into the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it; who bears fruit, and brings produces, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty."
24 Another parable he put forth to them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field.
25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way.
26 And when the blade had sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then the tares appeared also.
27 So the servants of the householder came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? From where then have these tares come?'
28 He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.' And the servants asked him, 'Then do you want us to go and gather them up?'
29 But he said, 'No; lest while you are gathering up the tares, you also root up the wheat with them.
30 Let both grow together until the harvest; and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers: First gather together all the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them; then gather the wheat into my barn.'"
31 And he put forth another parable to them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field.
32 The mustard seed is indeed the least of all seeds; but when it has grown, it is the greatest among herbs,1 and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches of it.
33 Then he spoke another parable to them, "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven [yeast], which a woman took and covered in three measures of meal, until the whole was leavened."
34 Jesus spoke all these things to the multitude in parables; he did not speak to them without a parable;
35 So that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, "I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world."
36 Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house, and his disciples came to him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field."
37 And he answered and said to them, "He who sows the good seed is the Son of man;
38 The field is the world, the good seed are the children of the kingdom, but the tares are the children of the wicked one.
39 The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the world, and the reapers are the angels.
40 Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so will it be at the end of this world.2
41 The Son of man will send forth his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice sin [or lawlessness];3
42 And will cast them into a furnace of fire, where there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
43 Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let him who has ears be listening, and let him contemplate, discern, and understand by hearing. [Listen to Jesus, the word within your heart; discern and understand. Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly. And none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand. Dan 12:10 ]
44 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field; which when a man has found it, he hides it, and for joy over it, he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
45 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant man, seeking valuable pearls;
46 Who, when he had found the one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
47 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was cast into the sea, and gathered every kind [of fish]:
48 Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down and gathered the good [fish] into vessels, but cast the bad [fish] away.
49 So it will be at the end of the world; the angels will come forth, and separate the wicked from among the righteous,
50 And will cast them into the furnace of fire; there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth."
51 Jesus said to them, "Have you understood all these things?" And they said to him, "Yes, Lord."
52 Then he said to them, "Therefore every scribe who is instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like a man who is a householder, who brings forth out of his treasure things new and old."
53 And it came to pass, that when Jesus had finished these parables, he left there,
54 And when he had come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, "From where has this man obtained this wisdom, and these mighty works?
55 Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers, James, and Joseph, and Simon, and Judas?
56 And his sisters, are they not all with us? From where then has this man learned all these things?"
57 And they were offended by him. But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country, and in his own house."
58 So because of their unbelief, he did not do many mighty works there.
