The Parable of the Sower

¹That same day Jesus went out of the house oand sat beside the sea. ²And great crowds gathered about him, pso that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. ³And qhe told them many things in parables, saying: r“A sower went out to sow. ⁴And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. ⁵Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, ⁶but swhen the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, tthey withered away. ⁷Other seeds fell among uthorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. ⁸Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some va hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. ⁹wHe who has ears,1 let him hear.”

The Purpose of the Parables

¹⁰Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” ¹¹And he answered them, x“To you it has been given to know ythe secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. ¹²zFor to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, aeven what he has will be taken away. ¹³This is why I speak to them in parables, because bseeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, cnor do they understand. ¹⁴Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says:

d“‘“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 ethey can barely hear,

and ftheir eyes they have closed,

lest they should see with their eyes

and hear with their ears

and gunderstand with their heart

and hturn, and I would heal them.’

¹⁶But iblessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. ¹⁷iFor truly, I say to you, jmany 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.

The Parable of the Sower Explained

¹⁸k“Hear then the parable of the sower: ¹⁹When anyone hears the word of lthe kingdom and mdoes not understand it, nthe evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. ²⁰As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately oreceives it with joy, ²¹yet he has no root in himself, but pendures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately qhe falls away.2 ²²As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but rthe cares of sthe world and tthe deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. ²³As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and munderstands it. He indeed ubears fruit and yields, in one case va hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”

The Parable of the Weeds

²⁴He put another parable before them, saying, w“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, ²⁵but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds3 among the wheat and went away. ²⁶So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. ²⁷And the servants4 of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ ²⁸He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ ²⁹But he said, x‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. ³⁰Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, y“Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”

The Mustard Seed and the Leaven

³¹He put another parable before them, saying, z“The kingdom of heaven is like aa grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. ³²It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”

³³He told them another parable. b“The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in cthree measures of flour, till it was dall leavened.”

Prophecy and Parables

³⁴eAll these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable. ³⁵This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet:5

f“I will open my mouth in parables;

gI will utter what has been hidden hsince the foundation of the world.”

The Parable of the Weeds Explained

³⁶Then he left the crowds and went into ithe house. And his disciples came to him, saying, j“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 is kthe sons of the kingdom. The weeds are lthe sons of the evil one, ³⁹and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. mThe harvest is nthe end of the age, and the reapers are angels. ⁴⁰Just as the weeds oare gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at nthe end of the age. ⁴¹pThe Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all qcauses of sin and rall law-breakers, ⁴²sand throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place tthere will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ⁴³Then uthe righteous will shine like the sun vin the kingdom of their Father. wHe who has ears, let him hear.

The Parable of the Hidden Treasure

⁴⁴“The kingdom of heaven xis like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy yhe goes and sells all that he has and zbuys that field.

The Parable of the Pearl of Great Value

⁴⁵“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, ⁴⁶who, on finding aone pearl of great value, ywent and sold all that he had and zbought it.

The Parable of the Net

⁴⁷“Again, the kingdom of heaven is blike a net that was thrown into the sea and cgathered fish of every kind. ⁴⁸When it was full, dmen drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad. ⁴⁹So it will be at ethe end of the age. The angels will come out and fseparate the evil from the righteous ⁵⁰gand throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place gthere will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

New and Old Treasures

⁵¹h“Have you understood all these things?” They said to him, “Yes.” ⁵²And he said to them, “Therefore every iscribe jwho has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who kbrings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

⁵³And when Jesus had finished these parables, he went away from there, ⁵⁴land coming to mhis hometown nhe taught them in their synagogue, so that othey were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? ⁵⁵pIs not this qthe carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not rhis 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 sthey took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, t“A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.” ⁵⁸And he did not do many mighty works there, ubecause of their unbelief.