Moff MAT Chapter 13

◄ MAT 13 ► ║ ═ ©

13 That same day Jesus went out of the house and seated himself by the seaside; 2 but, as great crowds gathered to him, he entered a boat and sat down, while all the crowd stood on the beach. 3 He spoke at some length to them in parables, saying: "A sower went out to sow,

4 and as he sowed some seeds fell on the road and the birds came and ate them up. 5 Some other seeds fell on stony soil where they had not much earth, and shot up at once because they had no depth of soil; 6 but when the sun rose they got scorched and withered away because they had no root. 7 Some other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. 8 Some other seeds fell on good soil and bore a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirtyfold. 9 He who has an ear, let him listen to this."

10 Then the disciples came up and said to him, "Why do you speak in parables?" 11 He replied, "Because it is granted you to understand the open secrets of the Realm of heaven, but it is not granted to these people.

For he who has, to him shall more be given and richly given,

but whoever has not, from him shall be taken even what he has.

13 This is why I speak to them in parables, because for all their seeing they do not see and for all their hearing they do not hear or understand. 14 In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled:

You will hear and hear but never understand,

you will see and see but never perceive.

For the heart of this people is obtuse,

their ears are heavy of hearing,

their eyes they have closed,

lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears,

lest they understand with their heart and turn again, and I cure them.

But blessed are your eyes for they see,

and your ears, for they hear!

I tell you truly, many prophets and good men have longed to see what you see,

but they have not seen it;

and to hear what you hear,

but they have not heard it.

18 Now, listen to the parable of the sower. 19 When anyone hears the word of the Realm and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart; that is the man who is sown 'on the road.' 20 As for him who is sown 'on stony soil,' that is the man who hears the word and accepts it at once with enthusiasm; 21 he has no root in himself, he does not last, but when the word brings trouble or persecution he is at once repelled. 22 As for him who is sown 'among thorns,' that is the man who listens to the word, but the worry of the world and the delight of being rich choke the word; so it proves unfruitful. 23 As for him who is sown 'on good soil,' that is the man who hears the word and understands it; he bears fruit, producing now a hundredfold, now sixty, and now thirtyfold."

24 He put another parable before them. "The Realm of heaven," he said, "is like a man who sowed good seed in his field, 25 but while men slept his enemy came and resowed weeds among the wheat and then went away. 26 When the blade sprouted and formed the kernel, then the weeds appeared as well. 27 So the servants of the owner went to him and said, 'Did you not sow good seed in your field, sir? How then does it contain weeds?' 28 He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.' The servants said to him, 'Then would you like us to go and gather them?' 29 'No,' he said, 'for you might root up the wheat when you were gathering the weeds. 30 Let them both grow side by side till harvest; and at harvest-time I will tell the reapers to gather the weeds first and tie them in bundles to be burnt, but to collect the wheat in my granary.'"

31 He put another parable before them. "The Realm of heaven," he said, "is like a grain of mustard-seed which a man takes and sows in his field. 32 It is less than any seed on earth, but when it grows up it is larger than any plant, it becomes a tree, so large that the wild birds come and roost in its branches." 33 He told them another parable. "The Realm of heaven," he said, "is like dough which a woman took and buried in three pecks of flour, till all of it was leavened."

34 Jesus said all this to the crowds in parables; he never spoke to them except in a parable-- 35 to fulfil what had been said by the prophet,

I will open my mouth in parables,

I will speak out what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.

36 Then he left the crowds and went indoors. And his disciples came up to him saying, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field." 37 So he replied, "He who sows the good seed is the Son of man; 38 the field is the world; the good seed means the sons of the Realm; the weeds are the sons of the evil one; 39 the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world, and the reapers are angels. 40 Well then, just as the weeds are gathered and burnt in the fire, so will it be at the end of the world; 41 the Son of man will despatch his angels, and they will gather out of his Realm all who are hindrances and who practise iniquity, 42 and throw them into the furnace of fire; there men will wail and gnash their teeth. 43 Then the just will shine like the sun in the Realm of their Father. He who has an ear, let him listen to this.

44 The Realm of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field; the man who finds it hides it and in his delight goes and sells all he possesses and buys that field.

45 Again, the Realm of heaven is like a trader in search of fine pearls; 46 when he finds a single pearl of high price, he is off to sell all he possesses and buy it. 47 Again, the Realm of heaven is like a net which was thrown into the sea and collected fish of every sort. 48 When it was full, they dragged it to the beach and sitting down they gathered the good fish into vessels but flung away the bad. 49 So will it be at the end of the world. The angels will go out and separate the evil from among the just 50 and fling them into the furnace of fire; there men will wail and gnash their teeth.

51 Have you understood all this?" They said to him, "Yes." 52 So he said to them, "Well then, every scribe who has become a disciple of the Realm of heaven is like a householder who produces what is new and what is old from his stores."

53 Now when Jesus had finished these parables he set out from there, 54 and went to his native place, where he taught the people in the synagogue till they were astounded. They said, "Where did he get this wisdom and these miraculous powers? 55 Is this not the son of the joiner? Is not his mother called Mary, and his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? 56 Are not his sisters settled here among us? Then where has he got all this?" 57 So they were repelled by him. But Jesus said to them, "A prophet never goes without honour except in his native place and in his home." 58 There he could not do many miracles owing to their lack of faith.

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