13:1  That day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea.

13:2  And large crowds gathered to Him, so He got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd stood on the beach.

13:3  And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, "Behold, the sower went out to sow;

13:4  and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up.

13:5  "Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil.

13:6  "But when the sun had risen, they became scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

13:7  "Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out.

13:8  "And others fell on the good soil and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.

13:9  "He who has ears, let him hear."

13:10  And the disciples came and said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?"

13:11  You have received the privilege to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but they do not receive this privilege.

13:12  "For whoever has, he will receive more, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has he shall lose.

13:13  "Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.

13:14  "In their case the prophecy of Isaiah becomes fulfilled, which says, 'YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING, BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND; YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE;

13:15  FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL, WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR, AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES, OTHERWISE THEY WOULD SEE WITH THEIR EYES, HEAR WITH THEIR EARS, AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN, AND I WOULD HEAL THEM.'

13:16  "But your eyes receive a blessing because they see; and your ears, because they hear.

13:17  "For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

13:18  "Hear then the parable of the sower.

13:19  "When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has the sower has placed in his heart. This represents the one on whom the sower planted beside the road.

13:20  "The one on whom the sower planted the seed on the rocky places, this represents the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy;

13:21  yet he has no firm root in himself, but it has only temporary impact, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away.

13:22  "And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this man hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

13:23  "And the one on whom the planter sowed the seed on the good soil, this represents the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty."

13:24  Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven we may compare to a man who sowed good seed in his field.

13:25  "But while his men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away.

13:26  "But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also.

13:27  "The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?'

13:28  "And he said to them, 'An enemy has done this!' The slaves said to him, 'Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?'

13:29  "But he said, 'No; for while you gather up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them.

13:30  'Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn."'"

13:31  He presented another parable to them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven resembles a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field;

13:32  and this looks smaller than all other seeds, but when it becomes fully grown, it grows larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that THE BIRDS OF THE AIR come and NEST IN ITS BRANCHES."

13:33  He spoke another parable to them, "The kingdom of heaven resembles leaven, which a woman took and hid in three pecks of flour until it became all leavened."

13:34  All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, and He did not speak to them without a parable.

13:35  This fulfilled what the prophet spoke: "I WILL OPEN MY MOUTH IN PARABLES; I WILL UTTER THINGS HIDDEN SINCE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD."

13:36  Then He left the crowds and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him and said, "Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field."

13:37  And He said, "The one who sows the good seed symbolizes the Son of Man,

13:38  and the field symbolizes the world; and as for the good seed, these symbolize the sons of the kingdom; and the tares symbolize the sons of the evil one;

13:39  and the enemy who sowed them symbolizes the devil, and the harvest symbolizes the end of the age; and the reapers symbolizes angels.

13:40  "So just as the tares we gather up and burn with fire, so shall it occur at the end of the age.

13:41  "The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness,

13:42  and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place will occur weeping and gnashing of teeth.

13:43  "Then THE RIGHTEOUS WILL SHINE FORTH AS THE SUN in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.

13:44  "The kingdom of heaven resembles a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

13:45  "Again, the kingdom of heaven resembles a merchant seeking fine pearls,

13:46  and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.

13:47  "Again, the kingdom of heaven resembles a dragnet cast into the sea, and gathering fish of every kind;

13:48  and when it had filled, they drew it up on the beach; and they sat down and gathered the good fish into containers, but the bad they threw away.

13:49  "So it will happen at the end of the age; the angels will come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous,

13:50  and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will occur weeping and gnashing of teeth.

13:51  "Have you understood all these things?" They said to Him, "Yes."

13:52  And Jesus said to them, "Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven resembles a head of a household, who brings out of his treasure things new and old."

13:53  When Jesus had finished these parables, He departed from there.

13:54  He came to His hometown and began teaching them in their synagogue, so that they became astonished, and said, "Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?

13:55  "Do we not know him as the carpenter's son? And His mother we call Mary, and His brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?

13:56  "And His sisters, do they not all reside with us? Where then did this man get all these things?"

13:57  And they took offense at Him. But Jesus said to them, "A prophet does not have honor except in his hometown and in his own household."

13:58  And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.