Mat 13:4-54, Luk 4:16-30 | ESV | STEP | And as he sowed , some seeds fell along the path , and the birds came and devoured them .

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 ^awhen the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, ^bthey withered away. 7 Other seeds fell among ^cthorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some ^da hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 ^eHe 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, ^g“To you it has been given to know ^hthe secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12 ⁱFor to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, ^jeven what he has will be taken away. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables, because ^kseeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, ^lnor do they understand. 14 Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says:

^m“‘“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 ⁿthey can barely hear,
and ^otheir eyes they have closed,
lest they should see with their eyes
and hear with their ears
and ^punderstand with their heart
and ^qturn, and I would heal them.’
16 But ^rblessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. 17 ^sFor truly, I say to you, ^tmany 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 ^u“Hear then the parable of the sower: 19 When anyone hears the word of ^vthe kingdom and ^wdoes not understand it, ^xthe 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 ^yreceives it with joy, 21 yet he has no root in himself, but ^zendures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately ^aahe falls away. ^{▼▼Or stumbles} 22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but ^acthe cares of ^adthe world and ^aethe 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 ^afunderstands it. He indeed ^agbears fruit and yields, in one case ^aha hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”

The Parable of the Weeds

24 He put another parable before them, saying, ^ai“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, ^al‘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, " ^amGather 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, ^an“The kingdom of heaven is like ^aoa 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. ^ap“The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in ^aqthree measures of flour, till it was ^arall leavened.”

Prophecy and Parables

34 ^asAll 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}

^au“I will open my mouth in parables;
^avI will utter what has been hidden ^awsince the foundation of the world.”

The Parable of the Weeds Explained

36 Then he left the crowds and went into ^axthe house. And his disciples came to him, saying, ^ay“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 ^azthe sons of the kingdom. The weeds are ^bathe sons of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. ^bbThe harvest is ^bcthe end of the age, and the reapers are angels. 40 Just as the weeds ^bdare gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at ^bethe end of the age. 41 ^bfThe Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all ^bgcauses of sin and ^bhall law-breakers, 42 ^biand throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place ^bjthere will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then ^bkthe righteous will shine like the sun ^blin the kingdom of their Father. ^bmHe who has ears, let him hear.

The Parable of the Hidden Treasure

44 “The kingdom of heaven ^bnis like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy ^bohe goes and sells all that he has and ^bpbuys 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 ^bqone pearl of great value, ^brwent and sold all that he had and ^bsbought it.

The Parable of the Net

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

New and Old Treasures

51 ^ca“Have you understood all these things?” They said to him, “Yes.” 52 And he said to them, “Therefore every ^cbscribe ^ccwho has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who ^cdbrings 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 ^ceand coming to ^cfhis hometown ^cghe taught them in their synagogue, so that ^chthey were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works?

Luke 4:16-30

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

16 ^ciAnd he came to ^cjNazareth, where he had been brought up. And ^ckas was his custom, ^clhe went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up ^cmto read. 17 And ^cnthe scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

18 ^co“The Spirit of the Lord ^cpis upon me,
because he has anointed me
to ^cqproclaim good news to the poor.
^crHe has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and ^csrecovering of sight to the blind,
^ctto set at liberty those who are oppressed,
19 ^cuto proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
20 And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and ^cvsat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were ^cwfixed on him. 21 And he began to say to them, “Today ^cxthis Scripture ^cyhas been fulfilled in your hearing.” 22 And all spoke well of him and marveled at ^czthe gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, ^da“Is not this ^dbJoseph’s son?” 23 And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ^dc‘Physician, heal yourself.’ What we have heard you did ^ddat Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.” 24 And he said, “Truly, I say to you, ^deno prophet is acceptable in his hometown. 25 But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when ^dfthe heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, 26 and Elijah was sent to none of them ^dgbut only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 27 And ^dhthere were many lepers ^{▼▼Leprosy was a term for several skin diseases; see Leviticus 13} in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, ^djbut only Naaman the Syrian.” 28 When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. 29 And they rose up and ^dkdrove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. 30 But ^dlpassing through their midst, he went away.