Isa 61:3, 5, 11, Jer 2:21, Mat 13:3-9, 18-30, 36-42, 20:1-14, 21:23-44 | ESV | STEP | to grant to those who mourn in Zion — to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes , the oil of gladness instead of mourning , the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit ; that they may be called oaks of righteousness , the planting of the Lord , that he may be glorified .

3 to grant to those who mourn in Zion—
^ato give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,
^bthe oil of gladness instead of mourning,
the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;
^cthat they may be called oaks of righteousness,
the planting of the Lord, ^dthat he may be glorified. ^{▼▼Or that he may display his beauty}

Isaiah 61:5

5 ^fStrangers shall stand and tend your flocks;
foreigners shall be your plowmen and vinedressers;

Isaiah 61:11

11 For as the earth brings forth its sprouts,
and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up,
so the Lord God will cause ^grighteousness and praise
to sprout up before all the nations.

Jeremiah 2:21

21 ^hYet I planted you a choice vine,
wholly of pure seed.
ⁱHow then have you turned degenerate
and become a wild vine?

Matthew 13:3-9

3 And ^jhe told them many things in parables, saying: ^k“A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, 6 but ^lwhen the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, ^mthey withered away. 7 Other seeds fell among ⁿthorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some ^oa hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 ^pHe who has ears, ^{▼▼Some manuscripts add here and in verse 43 to hear} let him hear.”

Matthew 13:18-30

The Parable of the Sower Explained

18 ^r“Hear then the parable of the sower: 19 When anyone hears the word of ^sthe kingdom and ^tdoes not understand it, ^uthe evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. 20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately ^vreceives it with joy, 21 yet he has no root in himself, but ^wendures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately ^xhe falls away. ^{▼▼Or stumbles} 22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but ^zthe cares of ^aathe world and ^abthe deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 23 As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and ^acunderstands it. He indeed ^adbears fruit and yields, in one case ^aea hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”

The Parable of the Weeds

24 He put another parable before them, saying, ^af“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, 25 but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds ^{▼▼Probably darnel, a wheat-like weed} among the wheat and went away. 26 So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. 27 And the servants ^{▼▼Greek bondservants; also verse 28} 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?’ 28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ 29 But he said, ^ai‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, " ^ajGather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn."’”

Matthew 13:36-42

The Parable of the Weeds Explained

36 Then he left the crowds and went into ^akthe house. And his disciples came to him, saying, ^al“Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” 37 He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed is ^amthe sons of the kingdom. The weeds are ^anthe sons of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. ^aoThe harvest is ^apthe end of the age, and the reapers are angels. 40 Just as the weeds ^aqare gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at ^arthe end of the age. 41 ^asThe Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all ^atcauses of sin and ^auall law-breakers, 42 ^avand throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place ^awthere will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Matthew 20:1-14

Laborers in the Vineyard

1 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2 After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius ^{▼▼A denarius was a day’s wage for a laborer} a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 4 and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ 5 So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. 6 And ^ayabout the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ 7 They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ 8 And ^azwhen evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his ^baforeman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ 9 And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. 10 Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. 11 And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, 12 saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and ^bbthe scorching heat.’ 13 But he replied to one of them, ^bc‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14 Take ^bdwhat belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you.

Matthew 21:23-44

The Authority of Jesus Challenged

23 ^beAnd when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him ^bfas he was teaching, and said, ^bg“By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” 24 Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 The baptism of John, ^bhfrom where did it come? ^biFrom heaven or from man?” And they discussed it among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ^bj‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘From man,’ ^bkwe are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was ^bla prophet.” 27 So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

The Parable of the Two Sons

28 ^bm“What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in ^bnthe vineyard today.’ 29 And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he ^bochanged his mind and went. 30 And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, ^bpthe tax collectors and ^bqthe prostitutes go into ^brthe kingdom of God before you. 32 For John came to you ^bsin the way of righteousness, and ^btyou did not believe him, but ^buthe tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward ^bvchange your minds and believe him.

The Parable of the Tenants

33 ^bw“Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted ^bxa vineyard ^byand put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and ^bzleased it to tenants, and ^cawent into another country. 34 When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants ^{▼▼Greek bondservants; also verses 35, 36} to the tenants ^ccto get his fruit. 35 ^cdAnd the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and ^cestoned another. 36 ^cfAgain he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. 37 Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ^cg‘This is the heir. Come, ^chlet us kill him and have his inheritance.’ 39 And they took him and ^cithrew him out of the vineyard and killed him. 40 ^cjWhen therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 41 They said to him, ^ck“He will put those wretches to a miserable death and ^cllet out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”

42 Jesus said to them, ^cm“Have you never read in the Scriptures:

^cn“‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone; ^{▼▼Greek the head of the corner}
this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’?
43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God ^cpwill be taken away from you and given to a people ^cqproducing its fruits. 44 And ^crthe one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and ^cswhen it falls on anyone, it will crush him.” ^{▼▼Some manuscripts omit verse 44}