Matthew 13

Disciples’ Literal New Testament

Jesus Teaches The Crowds Using Parables

13 On that day Jesus, having gone out of the house, sat beside the sea. ² And large crowds were gathered-together with Him so that He, having gotten into a boat, sits-down [to teach]. And the whole crowd was standing on the shore. ³ And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying—

The Sower’s Seed Falls On Different Kinds of Soil. Only The Good Soil Produces Fruit

“Behold— the one sowing went out that he might sow. ⁴ And during his sowing, some seeds fell along the road. And having come, the birds ate them up. ⁵ And others fell on the rocky^[a] places where they were not having much soil. And immediately they sprang-up, because of not having a depth of soil. ⁶ But the sun having risen, they were scorched. And because of not having a root, they were dried-up. ⁷ And others fell on the thorns. And the thorns came up and choked^[b] them. ⁸ And others fell on the good soil and were giving fruit— one a hundred, and another sixty, and another thirty. ⁹ Let the one having ears, hear”.

Jesus Tells His Disciples He Uses Parables To Both Hide And Reveal The Truth

¹⁰ And having come to Him, the disciples said to Him, “For what reason are You speaking to them in parables?” ¹¹ And the One, having responded, said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know^[c] the mysteries^[d] of the kingdom of the heavens. But it has not been given to those ones. ¹² For whoever has— it will be given to him, and he will be caused to abound. But whoever does not have— even what he has will be taken-away from him. ¹³ For this reason I am speaking to them in parables— because while seeing, they are not seeing; and while hearing, they are not hearing, nor understanding. ¹⁴ And the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled in them, the one^[e] saying [in Isa 6:9-10]: ‘In hearing, you will hear and by no means understand. And while seeing, you will see and by no means perceive. ¹⁵ For the heart of this people became dull^[f], and they hardly^[g] heard with their ears, and they closed their eyes that^[h] they might not ever see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand in their heart and turn-back, and I shall heal^[i] them’. ¹⁶ But blessed^[j] are your eyes because they are seeing, and your ears, because they are hearing. ¹⁷ For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous ones desired to experience^[k] the things which you are seeing, and they did not experience them, and to hear the things which you are hearing, and they did not hear them.

Jesus Explains The Parable of The Sower To His Disciples

¹⁸ “You therefore, hear the parable of the one having sown: ¹⁹ Anyone hearing the word^[l] of the kingdom and not understanding it— the evil one comes and snatches-away the thing having been sown in his heart. This person is the one having been sown the seed along the road. ²⁰ And the one having been sown the seed on the rocky places— this person is the one hearing the word and immediately receiving it with joy. ²¹ And he does not have a root in himself, but is temporary^[m]. And affliction or persecution having come about because of the word— immediately he is caused-to-fall. ²² And the one having been sown the seed into the thorns— this person is the one hearing the word, and the anxiety^[n] of the age^[o] and the deceitfulness^[p] of riches is choking the word, and it becomes unfruitful. ²³ And the one having been sown the seed on the good soil— this person is the one hearing the word and understanding^[q] it, who indeed^[r] is bearing-fruit^[s] and producing: one a hundred, and another sixty, and another thirty”.

A Field Is Sown With Good And Bad Seed: At Harvest The Weeds Will Be Burned

²⁴ He put-before them another parable, saying, “The kingdom of the heavens became-like^[t] a man having sown good seed in his field. ²⁵ But during the men’s sleeping, his enemy came and re-sowed^[u] darnel^[v] between the wheat, and went away. ²⁶ Now when the grass budded and produced fruit^[w], then the darnel appeared also. ²⁷ And having come to him, the slaves of the house-master said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Then from where does it have the darnel?’ ²⁸ And the one said to them, ‘A hostile man did this’. And the slaves say to him, ‘Then do you want us, having gone, to collect them?’ ²⁹ But the one says, ‘No, that while collecting the darnel, you may not perhaps uproot the wheat together with them. ³⁰ Permit both to grow together until the harvest. And at the time of the harvest I will say to the harvesters, “Collect first the darnel, and bind them into bundles so-as to burn them up. But gather the wheat into my barn”’”.

The Mustard Seed: God’s Kingdom Will Start Very Small And Grow Very Large

³¹ He put-before them another parable, saying, “The kingdom of the heavens is like a seed of a mustard-plant, which having taken, a man sowed in his field— ³² which is smaller than all the seeds, but when it grows is larger than the garden-plants. And it becomes a tree^[x], so that the birds of the heaven come and are nesting in its branches”.

Like Leaven In Bread, God’s Kingdom Will Permeate The World

³³ He spoke another parable to them, “The kingdom of the heavens is like leaven, which having taken, a woman concealed^[y] into three measures^[z] of wheat-flour until which time the whole thing was leavened”.

Jesus Spoke In Parables In Fulfillment of Psalm 78:2

³⁴ Jesus spoke all these things to the crowds in parables. And He was speaking nothing to them apart from a parable, ³⁵ so that the thing might be fulfilled having been spoken through the prophet saying “I will open My mouth in parables. I will utter things having been hidden since the foundation of the world” [Ps 78:2].

Jesus Teaches His Disciples Using Parables

³⁶ Then, having left the crowds, He went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, “Make-clear to us the parable of the darnel of the field”. ³⁷ And the One, having responded, said—

Jesus Explains The Parable of The Good And Bad Seed Sown In The Field

“The one sowing the good seed is the Son of Man. ³⁸ And the field is the world. And the good seed— these are the sons of ^[aa] the kingdom. And the darnel are the sons of the evil one. ³⁹ And the enemy having sown them is the devil. And the harvest is the conclusion of the age. And the harvesters are angels. ⁴⁰ Therefore, just as the darnel is collected and burned up with fire, so it will be at the conclusion of the age. ⁴¹ The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will collect out of His kingdom all the causes-of-falling and the ones doing lawlessness. ⁴² And they will throw them into the furnace of ^[ab] fire. In that place, there will be the weeping and the grinding of teeth. ⁴³ Then the righteous ones will shine-forth like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let the one having ears, hear.

God’s Kingdom Is Like a Hidden Treasure Worth Selling All You Have To Obtain

⁴⁴ “The kingdom of the heavens is like a treasure having been hidden in the field, which having found, a man hid. And from his joy^[ac], he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. ⁴⁵ Again, the kingdom of the heavens is like a man who is a merchant seeking fine pearls. ⁴⁶ And having found one very-valuable pearl, having gone, he has sold all that he was having, and he bought it.

God’s Kingdom Is Like a Net Catching Every Kind of Fish. The Bad Are Thrown Out

⁴⁷ “Again, the kingdom of the heavens is like a drag-net^[ad] having been cast into the sea and having gathered fish of every kind— ⁴⁸ which, when it was filled, having pulled it up on the shore, and having sat-down, they collected the good ones into containers and threw the bad^[ae] ones outside. ⁴⁹ So it will be at the conclusion of the age. The angels will go forth and separate the evil ones out of the midst of the righteous ones. ⁵⁰ And they will throw them into the furnace of fire. In that place, there will be the weeping and the grinding of teeth.

Teachers in My Kingdom Will Expound From a Treasure of Old And New Things

⁵¹ “Did you understand all these things?” They say to Him, “Yes”. ⁵² And the One said to them, “For this reason^[af], every scribe^[ag] having become-a-disciple^[ah] in^[ai] the kingdom of the heavens is like a man who is a house-master, who brings out new things and old^[aj] things from his treasure”.

The Hometown People Are Astounded At Jesus, But Unbelieving

⁵³ And it came about that when Jesus finished these parables, He went-away from there. ⁵⁴ And having come into His hometown^[ak], He was teaching them in their synagogue, so that they were astounded and saying “From where did this wisdom and the miracles come to this One? ⁵⁵ Is not this One the son of the carpenter? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Jude^[al]? ⁵⁶ And His sisters, are they not all with us? From where then did all these things come to this One?” ⁵⁷ And they were taking-offense^[am] at Him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without-honor except in his hometown and in his house”. ⁵⁸ And He did not do many^[an] miracles there because of their unbelief.