The Father Revealed in the Son^(A)

²⁵ At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father,^(B) Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.^{(C) 26} Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.

²⁷ “All things have been committed to me^(D) by my Father.^(E) No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.^(F)

¹⁰ The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?”

¹¹ He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven^(A) has been given to you,^(B) but not to them. ¹² Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.^{(C) 13} This is why I speak to them in parables:

¹⁴ In them is fulfilled^(E) the prophecy of Isaiah:

¹⁶ But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.^{(G) 17} For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see^(H) but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.

¹¹ He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God^(A) has been given to you. But to those on the outside^(B) everything is said in parables ¹² so that,

¹³ Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? ¹⁴ The farmer sows the word.^{(D) 15} Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan^(E) comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. ¹⁶ Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. ¹⁷ But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. ¹⁸ Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; ¹⁹ but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth^(F) and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. ²⁰ Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.”

A Lamp on a Stand

²¹ He said to them, “Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don’t you put it on its stand?^{(G) 22} For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open.^{(H) 23} If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear.”^(I)

²⁴ “Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more.^{(J) 25} Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.”^(K)

The Parable of the Growing Seed

²⁶ He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like.^(L) A man scatters seed on the ground. ²⁷ Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. ²⁸ All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. ²⁹ As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”^(M)

The Parable of the Mustard Seed^(N)

³⁰ Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like,^(O) or what parable shall we use to describe it? ³¹ It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. ³² Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.”

³³ With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand.^{(P) 34} He did not say anything to them without using a parable.^(Q) But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.

Jesus Calms the Storm^(R)

³⁵ That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” ³⁶ Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat.^(S) There were also other boats with him.

¹⁰ He said, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you,^(A) but to others I speak in parables, so that,