An Explanation

¹⁰ And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” ^11 [a]Jesus answered them, “^(A)To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. ^12 (B)For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. ¹³ Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while ^(C)seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. ^14 [b]In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says,

^16 (F)But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. ¹⁷ For truly I say to you that ^(G)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.

The Sower Explained

¹⁸ “^(H)Hear then the parable of the sower. ¹⁹ When anyone hears ^(I)the ^[f]word of the kingdom and does not understand it, ^(J)the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road. ²⁰ The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; ²¹ yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the ^[g]word, immediately he ^[h](K)falls away. ²² And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of ^(L)the ^[i]world and the ^(M)deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. ²³ And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some ^(N)a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.”

Tares among Wheat

²⁴ Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, “^(O)The kingdom of heaven ^[j]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 ^[k]tares among the wheat, and went away. ²⁶ But when the ^[l]wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also. ²⁷ The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? ^[m]How then does it have tares?’ ²⁸ And he said to them, ‘An ^[n]enemy has done this!’ The slaves *said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’ ²⁹ But he *said, ‘No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them. 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 ^(P)gather the wheat into my barn.”’”

The Mustard Seed

³¹ He presented another parable to them, saying, “^(Q)The kingdom of heaven is like ^(R)a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; ³² and this is smaller than all other seeds, but when it is full grown, it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that ^(S)the birds of the ^[o]air come and nest in its branches.”

The Leaven

³³ He spoke another parable to them, “^(T)The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in ^(U)three ^[p]pecks of flour until it was all leavened.”

³⁴ All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, and He did not speak to them ^(V)without a parable. ³⁵ This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:

The Tares Explained

³⁶ Then He left the crowds and went into ^(X)the house. And His disciples came to Him and said, “^(Y)Explain to us the parable of the ^[q]tares of the field.” ³⁷ And He said, “The one who sows the good seed is ^(Z)the Son of Man, ³⁸ and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are ^(AA)the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are ^(AB)the sons of ^(AC)the evil one; ³⁹ and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is ^(AD)the ^[r]end of the age; and the reapers are angels. ⁴⁰ So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at ^(AE)the ^[s]end of the age. ^41 (AF)The Son of Man ^(AG)will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom ^[t]all ^(AH)stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, ⁴² and ^(AI)will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place ^(AJ)there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ^43 (AK)Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. ^(AL)He who has ears, ^[u]let him hear.

Hidden Treasure

⁴⁴ “^(AM)The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and ^(AN)sells all that he has and buys that field.

A Costly Pearl

⁴⁵ “Again, ^(AO)the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, ⁴⁶ and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.

A Dragnet

⁴⁷ “Again, ^(AP)the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea, and gathering fish of every kind; ⁴⁸ and when it was 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. ⁴⁹ So it will be at ^(AQ)the ^[v]end of the age; the angels will come forth and ^[w]take out the wicked from among the righteous, ⁵⁰ and ^(AR)will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place ^(AS)there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

⁵¹ “Have you understood all these things?” They *said to Him, “Yes.” ⁵² And ^[x]Jesus said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household, who brings out of his treasure things new and old.”

Jesus Revisits Nazareth

^53 (AT)When Jesus had finished these parables, He departed from there. ^54 (AU)He came to ^[y]His hometown and ^(AV)began teaching them in their synagogue, so that ^(AW)they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these ^[z]miraculous powers? ⁵⁵ Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not ^(AX)His mother called Mary, and His ^(AY)brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? ⁵⁶ And ^(AZ)His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” ⁵⁷ And they took ^(BA)offense at Him. But Jesus said to them, “^(BB)A prophet is not without honor except in his ^[aa]hometown and in his own household.” ⁵⁸ And He did not do many ^[ab]miracles there because of their unbelief.

² And He was teaching them many things in ^(A)parables, and was saying to them in His teaching, ³ “Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow; ⁴ as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up. ⁵ Other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil. ⁶ And after the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. ⁷ Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. ⁸ Other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.” ⁹ And He was saying, “^(B)He who has ears to hear, ^[a]let him hear.”

¹⁰ As soon as He was alone, ^[b]His followers, along with the twelve, began asking Him about the parables. ¹¹ And He was saying to them, “To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but ^(C)those who are outside get everything ^(D)in parables, ¹² so that ^(E)while seeing, they may see and not perceive, and while hearing, they may hear and not understand, otherwise they might return and be forgiven.”

Explanation

^13 (F)And He *said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand all the parables? ¹⁴ The sower sows the word. ¹⁵ These are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown; and when they hear, immediately ^(G)Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them. ¹⁶ In a similar way these are the ones on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy; ¹⁷ and they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they ^[c]fall away. ¹⁸ And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, ¹⁹ but the worries of ^(H)the ^[d]world, and the ^(I)deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. ²⁰ And those are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it and ^(J)bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.”

²¹ And He was saying to them, “^(K)A lamp is not brought to be put under a ^[e]basket, is it, or under a bed? Is it not brought to be put on the lampstand? ^22 (L)For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light. ^23 (M)If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” ²⁴ And He was saying to them, “Take care what you listen to. ^[f](N)By your standard of measure it will be measured to you; and more will be given you besides. ^25 (O)For whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.”

Parable of the Seed

²⁶ And He was saying, “The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil; ²⁷ and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows—how, he himself does not know. ²⁸ The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. ²⁹ But when the crop permits, he immediately ^[g](P)puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

Parable of the Mustard Seed

^30 (Q)And He said, “How shall we ^[h](R)picture the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it? ³¹ It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is smaller than all the seeds that are upon the soil, ³² yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and forms large branches; so that ^(S)the birds of the ^[i]air can nest under its shade.”

³³ With many such parables He was speaking the word to them, so far as they were able to hear it; ³⁴ and He did not speak to them ^(T)without a parable; but He was ^(U)explaining everything privately to His own disciples.

Jesus Stills the Sea

^35 (V)On that day, when evening came, He *said to them, “Let us go over to the other side.” ^36 [j]Leaving the crowd, they *took Him along with them ^(W)in the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him. ³⁷ And there *arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up. ³⁸ Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they *woke Him and *said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” ³⁹ And He got up and ^(X)rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” And the wind died down and ^[k]it became perfectly calm. ⁴⁰ And He said to them, “Why are you ^[l]afraid? ^(Y)Do you still have no faith?” ⁴¹ They became very much afraid and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”