- 13And it came to pass, the same day, Jesus went out of the house and sat by the seaside. 2And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship and sat, and the whole multitude stood on the shore. 3And he spoke many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow. 4And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the wayside, and the fowls came and devoured them up. 5Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth, and immediately they sprung up. 6And when the sun was up, they were scorched because they had no deepness of earth; and because they had no root, they withered away. 7And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprung up and choked them. 8But others fell into good ground and brought forth fruit: some a hundredfold, some sixtyfold, and some thirtyfold. 9Who has ears to hear, let him hear.
- 10Then the disciples came and said unto him, Why do you speak unto them in parables? 11He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven, but to them it is not given; 12for whoever receives, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance. But whoever continues not to receive, from him shall be taken away even that he has. 13Therefore, I speak to them in parables because they seeing, see not, and hearing, they hear not, neither do they understand. 14And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah concerning them, which says, By hearing you shall hear and shall not understand, and seeing you shall see and shall not perceive; 15for this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their hearts, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
- 16But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. 17And blessed are you because these things have come unto you that you might understand them. And truly I say unto you, many righteous prophets have desired to see these days which you see, and have not seen them, and to hear that which you hear, and have not heard.
- 18Hear therefore the parable of the sower. 19When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and understands not, then comes the wicked one and catches away that which was sown in his heart; this is he who received seed by the wayside. 20But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that hears the word and readily with joy receives it, 21yet he has not root in himself and endures but for a while; for when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he is offended. 22He also who received seed among the thorns is he that hears the word, and the care of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. 23But he who received seed into the good ground is he that hears the word and understands and endures, which also bears fruit and brings forth: some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.
- 24Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of Heaven is likened unto a man who sowed good seed in his field, 25but while he slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. 26But when the blade was sprung up and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. 27So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, did not you sow good seed in your field? From where then does it have tares? 28He said unto them, An enemy has done this. And the servants said unto him, Do you desire then that we go and gather them up? 29But he said, Nay, lest while you gather up the tares, you root up also the wheat with them. 30Let both grow together until the harvest, and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather together first the wheat into my barns, and the tares are bound in bundles to be burned.
- 31Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of Heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field, 32which indeed is the least of all seeds, but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.
- 33Another parable spoke he unto them: The kingdom of Heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, until the whole was leavened.
- 34All these things spoke Jesus unto the multitudes in parables, and without a parable spoke he not unto them, 35that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.
- 36Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. 37He answered and said unto them, He that sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38The field is the world. The good seed are the children of the kingdom, but the tares are the children of the wicked. 39The enemy that sowed them is the Devil. The harvest is the end of the world, or the destruction of the wicked, and the reapers are the angels or the messengers sent of Heaven. 40As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of this world, 41or the destruction of the wicked. For in that day, before the Son of Man shall come, he shall send forth his angels and messengers of Heaven, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend and them who do iniquity, 42and shall cast them out among the wicked. And there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth, for the world shall be burned with fire. 43Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who has ears to hear, let him hear.
- 44Again, the kingdom of Heaven is like unto a treasure hidden in a field. And when a man has found a treasure which is hidden, he secures it, and immediately, for joy thereof, goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
- 45Again, the kingdom of Heaven is like unto a merchant man seeking goodly pearls, 46who, when he had found one pearl of great price, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.
- 47Again, the kingdom of Heaven is like unto a net that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind, 48which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. 49So shall it be at the end of the world — and the world is the children of the wicked. The angels shall come forth and sever the wicked from among the just 50and shall cast them out into the world to be burned. There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
- 51Jesus said unto them, Have you understood all these things? They say unto him, Yea, Lord. 52Then he said unto them, Every scribe well-instructed in the things of the kingdom of Heaven is like unto a householder, a man therefore who brings forth out of his treasure that which is new and old.
- 53And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these parables, he departed from there. 54And when he had come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished and said, From where does this Jesus have this wisdom and these mighty works? 55Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And his brethren, James, and Joseph, and Simon, and Judas, 56and his sisters, are they not all with us? From where then does this man have all these things? 57And they were offended at him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honor, save in his own country and in his own house. 58And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.
Chapter 7