An Explanation for Parables

¹⁰ And the disciples came up and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” ¹¹ And ^[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 And ^[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 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 “^(H)Listen then to the parable of the sower. ¹⁹ When anyone hears ^(I)the ^[g]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 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 ^[h]word, immediately he ^[i](K)falls away. ²² And the one sown with seed among the thorns, this is the one who hears the word, and the anxiety of ^(L)the ^[j]world and the ^(M)deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it ^[k]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 ^(N)a hundred, some sixty, and some thirty times as much.”

^9 (A)Now His disciples began asking Him what this parable ^[a]meant. ¹⁰ And He said, “^(B)To you it has been granted to know the ^[b]mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest they are told in parables, so that ^[c](C)while seeing they may not see, and ^[d]while hearing they may not understand.

¹¹ “Now this is the parable: ^(D)the seed is the word of God. ¹² And those beside the road are the ones who have heard, then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they will not believe and be saved. ¹³ Those on the rocky soil are the ones who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and yet these do not have a firm root; ^[e]they believe for a while, and in a time of temptation they ^[f]fall away. ¹⁴ And the seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked by worries, riches, and pleasures of this life, and they bring no fruit to maturity. ¹⁵ But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word ^[g]with a good and virtuous heart, and hold it firmly, and produce fruit with ^[h]perseverance.

Parable of the Lamp

¹⁶ “Now ^(E)no one lights a lamp and covers it over with a container, or puts it under a bed; but he puts it on a lampstand so that those who come in may see the light. ^17 (F)For nothing is concealed that will not become evident, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light. ¹⁸ So take care how you listen; ^(G)for whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he ^[i]thinks he has will be taken away from him.”

²¹ And He was saying to them, “^(A)A lamp is not brought to be put under a ^[a]basket, or under a bed, is it? Is it not brought to be put on the lampstand? ^22 (B)For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light. ^23 (C)If anyone has ears to hear, ^[b]let him hear.” ²⁴ And He was saying to them, “Take care what you listen to. ^[c](D)By your standard of measure it will be measured to you; and more will be given you besides. ^25 (E)For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he has will 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 daily, and the seed sprouts and grows—how, he himself does not know. ²⁸ The soil produces crops by itself; first the stalk, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. ²⁹ Now when the crop permits, he immediately ^[d](F)puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

Weeds among Wheat

²⁴ Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, “^(A)The kingdom of heaven ^[a]is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. ²⁵ But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed ^[b]weeds among the wheat, and left. ²⁶ And when the ^[c]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? ^[d]How then does it have weeds?’ ²⁸ And he said to them, ‘^[e]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 ^(B)gather the wheat into my barn.”’”

Parable of the Mustard Seed

^30 (A)And He was saying, “How shall we ^[a](B)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 the smallest of 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, with the result that ^(C)the birds of the sky can nest under its shade.”

³³ And with many such parables He was speaking the word to them, so far as they were able to ^[b]understand it; ³⁴ and He did not speak to them ^(D)without a parable; but He was ^(E)explaining everything privately to His own disciples.