Matthew 13-16

New American Standard Bible

Jesus Teaches in Parables

13 On that day Jesus had gone out of ^(A)the house and was sitting ^(B)by the sea. ² And large crowds gathered to Him, so ^(C)He got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd was standing on the beach.

³ And He told them many things in ^(D)parables, saying, “Behold, the sower went out to sow; ⁴ and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up. ⁵ Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and they sprang up immediately, because they had no depth of soil. ⁶ But after the sun rose, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. ⁷ Others fell ^[a]among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out. ⁸ But others fell on the good soil and yielded a crop, some a ^(E)hundred, some sixty, and some thirty times as much. ^9 (F)The one who has ears, ^[b]let him hear.”

An Explanation for Parables

¹⁰ And the disciples came up and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” ¹¹ And ^[c]Jesus answered them, “^(G)To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. ^12 (H)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 ^(I)seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. ¹⁴ And ^[d]in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says,

^16 (L)But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. ¹⁷ For truly I say to you that ^(M)many prophets and righteous people longed 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 “^(N)Listen then to the parable of the sower. ¹⁹ When anyone hears ^(O)the ^[i]word of the kingdom and does not understand it, ^(P)the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one sown with seed beside the road. ²⁰ The one sown with seed on the rocky places, this is the one 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 occurs because of the ^[j]word, immediately he ^[k](Q)falls away. ²² And the one sown with seed among the thorns, this is the one who hears the word, and the anxiety of ^(R)the ^[l]world and the ^(S)deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it ^[m]becomes unfruitful. ²³ But the one sown with seed on the good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces, some ^(T)a hundred, some sixty, and some thirty times as much.”

Weeds among Wheat

²⁴ Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, “^(U)The kingdom of heaven ^[n]is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. ²⁵ But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed ^[o]weeds among the wheat, and left. ²⁶ And when the ^[p]wheat sprouted and produced grain, then the weeds also became evident. ²⁷ And the slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? ^[q]How then does it have weeds?’ ²⁸ And he said to them, ‘^[r]An 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; while you are gathering up the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. ³⁰ Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and at the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the weeds and bind them in bundles to burn them; but ^(V)gather the wheat into my barn.”’”

The Mustard Seed

³¹ He presented another parable to them, saying, “^(W)The kingdom of heaven is like ^(X)a mustard seed, which a person took and sowed in his field; ³² and this is smaller than all the other seeds, but when it is fully grown, it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that ^(Y)the birds of the sky come and nest in its branches.”

The Leaven

³³ He spoke another parable to them: “^(Z)The kingdom of heaven is like ^[s]leaven, which a woman took and hid in ^(AA)three ^[t]sata of flour until it was all leavened.”

³⁴ All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, and He did not speak anything to them ^(AB)without a parable. ³⁵ This was so that what was spoken through the prophet would be ^[u]fulfilled:

The Weeds Explained

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

Hidden Treasure

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

A Costly Pearl

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

A Dragnet

⁴⁷ “Again, ^(AV)the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered fish of every kind; ⁴⁸ and when it was filled, they pulled 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 ^(AW)the ^[ab]end of the age: the angels will come forth and remove the wicked from among the righteous, ⁵⁰ and they ^(AX)will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place ^(AY)there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

⁵¹ “Have you understood all these things?” They *said to Him, “Yes.” ⁵² And ^[ac]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 new things and old.”

Jesus Revisits Nazareth

^53 (AZ)When Jesus had finished these parables, He departed from there. ⁵⁴ And ^(BA)He came to ^[ad]His hometown and ^(BB)began teaching them in their synagogue, with the result that ^(BC)they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man acquire this wisdom and these ^[ae]miraculous powers? ⁵⁵ Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is ^(BD)His mother not called Mary, and His ^(BE)brothers, James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? ⁵⁶ And ^(BF)His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this man acquire all these things?” ⁵⁷ And they took ^(BG)offense at Him. But Jesus said to them, “^(BH)A prophet is not dishonored except in his ^[af]hometown and in his own household.” ⁵⁸ And He did not do many ^[ag]miracles there because of their unbelief.

John the Baptist Beheaded

14 ^[ah](BI)At that time ^[ai](BJ)Herod ^[aj]the tetrarch heard the news about Jesus, ² and said to his servants, “^(BK)This is John the Baptist; he himself has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”

³ For when ^(BL)Herod had John arrested, he bound him and put him ^(BM)in prison because of ^(BN)Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. ⁴ For John had been saying to him, “^(BO)It is not lawful for you to have her.” ⁵ Although Herod wanted to put him to death, he feared the crowd, because they regarded ^[ak]John as ^(BP)a prophet.

⁶ But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of ^(BQ)Herodias danced ^[al]before them and pleased ^(BR)Herod, ⁷ so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. ⁸ And after being prompted by her mother, she *said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.” ⁹ And although he was grieved, the king commanded it to be given because of his oaths and ^[am]his dinner guests. ¹⁰ He sent word and had John beheaded in the prison. ¹¹ And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. ^12 [an]John’s disciples came and took away the body and buried ^[ao]it; and they went and reported to Jesus.

Five Thousand Men Fed

^13 (BS)Now when Jesus heard about John, He withdrew from there in a boat to a secluded place by Himself; and when the ^[ap]people heard about this, they followed Him on foot from the cities. ¹⁴ When He came ^[aq]ashore, He ^(BT)saw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and ^(BU)healed their sick.

¹⁵ Now when it was evening, the disciples came to Him and said, “This place is secluded and the hour is already past to eat; send the crowds away, so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” ¹⁶ But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go; you give them something to eat!” ¹⁷ They *said to Him, “We have nothing here except ^(BV)five loaves and two fish.” ¹⁸ And He said, “Bring them here to Me.” ¹⁹ And ordering the crowds to ^[ar]sit down on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looked up toward heaven. He ^(BW)blessed the food and breaking the loaves, He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. ²⁰ And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces: twelve full ^(BX)baskets. ²¹ There were about five thousand men who ate, besides women and children.

Jesus Walks on the Water

^22 (BY)Immediately afterward He compelled the disciples to get into the boat and to go ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the crowds away. ²³ After He had sent the crowds away, ^(BZ)He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone. ²⁴ But the boat was already ^[as]a long distance from the land, ^[at]battered by the waves; for the wind was ^[au](CA)contrary. ²⁵ And in ^(CB)the ^[av]fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea. ²⁶ When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is ^(CC)a ghost!” And they cried out ^[aw]in fear. ²⁷ But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “^(CD)Take courage, ^[ax]it is I; ^(CE)do not be afraid.”

²⁸ Peter responded and said to Him, “Lord, if ^[ay]it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” ²⁹ And He said, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water, and came toward Jesus. ³⁰ But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and when he began to sink, he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” ³¹ Immediately Jesus reached out with His hand and took hold of him, and *said to him, “^(CF)You of little faith, why did you doubt?” ³² When they got into the boat, the wind stopped. ³³ And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, “You are truly ^(CG)God’s Son!”

^34 (CH)When they had crossed over, they came to land at ^(CI)Gennesaret. ³⁵ And when the men of that place ^[az]recognized Him, they sent word into all that surrounding region and brought to Him all who were sick; ³⁶ and they pleaded with Him that they might just touch ^(CJ)the ^[ba]border of His cloak; and all who ^(CK)touched it were cured.

Tradition and Commandment

15 ^(CL)Then some Pharisees and scribes *came to Jesus ^(CM)from Jerusalem and said, ² “Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they ^(CN)do not wash their hands when they eat bread.” ³ And He answered and said to them, “Why do you yourselves also break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? ⁴ For God said, ‘^(CO)Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘^(CP)The one who speaks evil of father or mother is to ^[bb]be put to death.’ ⁵ But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever I have that would help you has been ^[bc]given to God,” ⁶ he is not to ^[bd]honor his father or mother.’ And by this you have invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition. ⁷ You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy about you, by saying:

¹⁰ After Jesus called the crowd to Him, He said to them, “Hear and understand! ^11 (CS)It is not what enters the mouth that defiles the person, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles the person.”

¹² Then the disciples came and *said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were ^[be]offended when they heard this statement?” ¹³ But He answered and said, “^(CT)Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant will be uprooted. ¹⁴ Leave them alone; ^(CU)they are blind guides ^[bf]of blind people. And ^(CV)if a person who is blind guides another who is blind, both will fall into a pit.”

The Heart of Man

¹⁵ Peter ^[bg]said to Him, “^(CW)Explain the parable to us.” ^16 [bh]Jesus said, “Are you also still lacking in understanding? ¹⁷ Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is ^[bi]eliminated? ¹⁸ But ^(CX)the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and those things defile the person. ^19 (CY)For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, acts of adultery, other immoral sexual acts, thefts, false testimonies, and ^[bj]slanderous statements. ²⁰ These are the things that defile the person; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the person.”

The Faith of a Canaanite Woman

^21 (CZ)Jesus went away from there, and withdrew into the region of ^(DA)Tyre and ^(DB)Sidon. ²² And a Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, ^(DC)Son of David; my daughter is severely ^(DD)demon-possessed.” ²³ But He did not answer her with even a word. And His disciples came up and urged Him, saying, “Send her away, because she keeps shouting ^[bk]at us!” ²⁴ But He answered and said, “I was sent only to ^(DE)the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” ²⁵ But she came and ^(DF)began ^[bl]to bow down before Him, saying, “Lord, help me!” ²⁶ Yet He answered and said, “It is not ^[bm]good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” ²⁷ And she said, “Yes, Lord; but please help, for even the dogs feed on the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” ²⁸ Then Jesus said to her, “O woman, ^(DG)your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed ^[bn]at once.

Healing Crowds

^29 (DH)Departing from there, Jesus went along ^(DI)the Sea of Galilee, and after going up on the mountain, He was sitting there. ³⁰ And ^[bo]large crowds came to Him bringing with them those who were limping, had impaired limbs, were blind, or were unable to speak, and many others, and they laid them down at His feet; and ^(DJ)He healed them. ³¹ So the crowd was astonished as they saw those who were unable to speak talking, those with impaired limbs ^[bp]restored, those who were limping walking around, and those who were blind seeing; and they ^(DK)glorified the God of Israel.

Four Thousand Men Fed

^32 (DL)Now Jesus called His disciples to Him and said, “^(DM)I feel compassion for the ^[bq]people, because they ^[br]have remained with Me now for three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way.” ³³ The disciples *said to Him, “Where would we get so many loaves in this desolate place to satisfy such a large crowd?” ³⁴ And Jesus *said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven, and a few small fish.” ³⁵ And He directed the ^[bs]people to ^[bt]sit down on the ground; ³⁶ and He took the seven loaves and the fish; and after ^(DN)giving thanks, He broke them and started giving them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. ³⁷ And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, seven large ^(DO)baskets full. ³⁸ And those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.

³⁹ And sending away the crowds, Jesus got into ^(DP)the boat and came to the region of ^(DQ)Magadan.

Pharisees and Sadducees Test Jesus

16 ^(DR)The ^(DS)Pharisees and Sadducees came up, and putting Jesus to the test, they ^(DT)asked Him to show them a ^[bu]sign from heaven. ² But He replied to them, “^[bv](DU)When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ ³ And in the morning, ‘There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ ^(DV)You know how to discern the ^[bw]appearance of the sky, but are you unable to discern the signs of the times? ^4 (DW)An evil and adulterous generation wants a ^[bx]sign; and so a ^[by]sign will not be given to it, except the sign of Jonah.” And He left them and went away.

⁵ And the disciples came to the other side of the sea, but they had forgotten to bring any bread. ⁶ And Jesus said to them, “Watch out and ^(DX)beware of the ^[bz]leaven of the ^(DY)Pharisees and Sadducees.” ⁷ They began to discuss this among themselves, saying, “He said that because we did not bring any bread.” ⁸ But Jesus, aware of this, said, “^(DZ)You men of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread? ⁹ Do you not yet understand nor remember ^(EA)the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets you picked up? ¹⁰ Nor ^(EB)the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many large baskets you picked up? ¹¹ How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you about bread? But ^(EC)beware of the ^[ca]leaven of the ^(ED)Pharisees and Sadducees.” ¹² Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the ^[cb]leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the ^(EE)Pharisees and Sadducees.

Peter’s Confession of Christ

^13 (EF)Now when Jesus came into the region of ^(EG)Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that ^(EH)the Son of Man is?” ¹⁴ And they said, “Some say ^(EI)John the Baptist; and others, ^[cc](EJ)Elijah; and still others, ^[cd]Jeremiah, or one of the other prophets.” ¹⁵ He *said to them, “But who do you yourselves say that I am?” ¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are ^(EK)the ^[ce]Christ, ^(EL)the Son of ^(EM)the living God.” ¹⁷ And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, ^(EN)Simon ^[cf]Barjona, because ^(EO)flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. ¹⁸ And I also say to you that you are ^[cg](EP)Peter, and upon this ^[ch]rock I will build My church; and the gates of ^(EQ)Hades will not overpower it. ¹⁹ I will give you ^(ER)the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and ^(ES)whatever you ^[ci]bind on earth ^[cj]shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you ^[ck]loose on earth ^[cl]shall have been loosed in heaven.” ^20 (ET)Then He gave the disciples strict orders that they were to tell no one that He was ^(EU)the ^[cm]Christ.

Jesus Foretells His Death

^21 (EV)From that time ^[cn]Jesus began to ^[co]point out to His disciples that it was necessary for Him to go to Jerusalem and to ^(EW)suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and to be killed, and to be raised up on the third day. ²² And yet Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “^[cp]God forbid it, Lord! This shall never ^[cq]happen to You!” ²³ But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, ^(EX)Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on ^[cr]God’s purposes, but men’s.”

Discipleship Is Costly

²⁴ Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, ^(EY)take up his cross, and follow Me. ²⁵ For ^(EZ)whoever wants to save his ^[cs]life will lose it; but whoever loses his ^[ct]life for My sake will find it. ²⁶ For what good will it do a person if he gains the whole world, but ^[cu]forfeits his soul? Or what will a person give in exchange for his soul? ²⁷ For the ^(FA)Son of Man ^(FB)is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and ^(FC)will then repay every person according to his ^[cv]deeds.

²⁸ “Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the ^(FD)Son of Man ^(FE)coming in His kingdom.”