Mat 13 | Comm | STEP | That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea.

Matthew 13

1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea. 2 And great crowds gathered around him, so that he got into a boat and sat there; and the whole crowd stood on the shore. 3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: "A sower went out to sow his seed. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where they did not have much soil, and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of soil. 6 But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 But other seed fell on good soil and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 He who has ears, let him hear." 10 The disciples came and said to him, "Why do you speak to them in parables?" 11 And he answered them, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12 For whoever has, to him will more be given, and he will have abundance; 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, nor do they understand. 14 In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah which says: ‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand; and seeing you will see and not perceive. 15 For this people’s heart has grown dull. And their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and they understand with their hearts, and turn so that 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 longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. 18 "Hear then the parable of the sower: 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 seed sown along the path. 20 But he who received the seed on rocky places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. And when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away. 22 Now 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 the one who received seed on the good soil is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty."

24 Another parable he put forth to them, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; 25 but while men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26 So when the plants sprouted and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. 27 And the servants of the householder came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then has it weeds?’ 28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them up?’ 29 But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the weeds you also root up the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers. Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’" 31 Another parable he put forth to them, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; 32 it is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches." 33 He told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour till it was all leavened." 34 All these things Jesus spoke to the crowd in parables; and without a parable he did not speak to them. 35 So was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet: "I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden since the foundation of the world." 36 Then he left the crowd and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field." 37 He answered, "He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; 38 the field is the world, and the good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. 40 Therefore as the weeds are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. 41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil, 42 and will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.

44 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and then in his 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 in search of fine pearls, 46 who, when he had found one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it. 47 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind; 48 which, when it was full, they drew it up on the shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away. 49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous 50 and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." 51 Jesus asked, "Have you understood all these things?" "Yes," they said to him. 52 And he said to them, "Therefore every scribe who has been instructed for the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old."

53 When Jesus had finished these parables, he moved on from there. 54 And coming to his own country he taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, "Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? 55 Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? 56 And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?" 57 And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house." 58 And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief.