Mat 13, Mar 4:1-34 | ESV | STEP | That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea .

1 That same day Jesus went out of the house ^aand sat beside the sea. 2 And great crowds gathered about him, ^bso that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3 And ^che told them many things in parables, saying: ^d“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 ^ewhen the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, ^fthey withered away. 7 Other seeds fell among ^gthorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some ^ha hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 ⁱHe who has ears, ^{▼▼Some manuscripts add here and in verse 43 to hear} let him hear.”

The Purpose of the Parables

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

^q“‘“You will indeed hear but never understand,
and you will indeed see but never perceive.”
15 For this people’s heart has grown dull,
and with their ears ^rthey can barely hear,
and ^stheir eyes they have closed,
lest they should see with their eyes
and hear with their ears
and ^tunderstand with their heart
and ^uturn, and I would heal them.’
16 But ^vblessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. 17 ^wFor truly, I say to you, ^xmany 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

18 ^y“Hear then the parable of the sower: 19 When anyone hears the word of ^zthe kingdom and ^aadoes not understand it, ^abthe 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 ^acreceives it with joy, 21 yet he has no root in himself, but ^adendures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately ^aehe falls away. ^{▼▼Or stumbles} 22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but ^agthe cares of ^ahthe world and ^aithe 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 ^ajunderstands it. He indeed ^akbears fruit and yields, in one case ^ala hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”

The Parable of the Weeds

24 He put another parable before them, saying, ^am“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, ^ap‘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, " ^aqGather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn."’”

The Mustard Seed and the Leaven

31 He put another parable before them, saying, ^ar“The kingdom of heaven is like ^asa grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. 32 It 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.”

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

Prophecy and Parables

34 ^awAll these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable. 35 This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet: ^{▼▼Some manuscripts Isaiah the prophet}

^ay“I will open my mouth in parables;
^azI will utter what has been hidden ^basince the foundation of the world.”

The Parable of the Weeds Explained

36 Then he left the crowds and went into ^bbthe house. And his disciples came to him, saying, ^bc“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 ^bdthe sons of the kingdom. The weeds are ^bethe sons of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. ^bfThe harvest is ^bgthe end of the age, and the reapers are angels. 40 Just as the weeds ^bhare gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at ^bithe end of the age. 41 ^bjThe Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all ^bkcauses of sin and ^blall law-breakers, 42 ^bmand throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place ^bnthere will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then ^bothe righteous will shine like the sun ^bpin the kingdom of their Father. ^bqHe who has ears, let him hear.

The Parable of the Hidden Treasure

44 “The kingdom of heaven ^bris like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy ^bshe goes and sells all that he has and ^btbuys 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, 46 who, on finding ^buone pearl of great value, ^bvwent and sold all that he had and ^bwbought it.

The Parable of the Net

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

New and Old Treasures

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

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

53 And when Jesus had finished these parables, he went away from there, 54 ^ciand coming to ^cjhis hometown ^ckhe taught them in their synagogue, so that ^clthey were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? 55 ^cmIs not this ^cnthe carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not ^cohis brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? 56 And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” 57 And ^cpthey took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, ^cq“A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.” 58 And he did not do many mighty works there, ^crbecause of their unbelief.

Mark 4:1-34

The Parable of the Sower

1 Again ^cshe began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him, ^ctso that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. 2 And ^cuhe was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: 3 “Listen! ^cvBehold, a sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. 5 Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. 6 And ^cwwhen the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, ^cxit withered away. 7 Other seed fell among ^cythorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. 8 And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and ^cza hundredfold.” 9 And he said, ^da“He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

The Purpose of the Parables

10 And ^dbwhen he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. 11 And he said to them, ^dc“To you has been given ^ddthe secret of the kingdom of God, but for ^dethose outside everything is in parables, 12 ^dfso that

“'they ^dgmay indeed see but not perceive,
and may indeed hear but not understand,
lest they ^dhshould turn and be forgiven.'”
13 ^diAnd he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? 14 ^djThe sower sows ^dkthe word. 15 And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. 16 And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it ^dlwith joy. 17 And they have no root in themselves, but ^dmendure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately ^dnthey fall away. ^{▼▼Or stumble} 18 And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, 19 but ^dpthe cares of ^dqthe world and ^drthe deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 20 But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and ^dsbear fruit, ^dtthirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”

A Lamp Under a Basket

21 ^duAnd he said to them, ^dv“Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand? 22 ^dwFor nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light. 23 ^dxIf anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” 24 And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear: ^dywith the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you. 25 ^dzFor to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

The Parable of the Seed Growing

26 And he said, ^ea“The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. 27 He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; ^ebhe knows not how. 28 The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. 29 But when the grain is ripe, at once ^eche puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

30 ^edAnd he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? 31 It is like ^eea grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, 32 yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”

33 ^efWith many such parables he spoke ^egthe word to them, ^ehas they were able to hear it. 34 He did not speak to them ^eiwithout a parable, but ^ejprivately to his own disciples he ^ekexplained everything.