Matthew 13:1-19

Common English Bible

Setting for the parables

13 That day Jesus went out of the house and sat down beside the lake. ²Such large crowds gathered around him that he climbed into a boat and sat down. The whole crowd was standing on the shore.

Parable of the soils

³He said many things to them in parables: “A farmer went out to scatter seed. ⁴As he was scattering seed, some fell on the path, and birds came and ate it. ⁵Other seed fell on rocky ground where the soil was shallow. They sprouted immediately because the soil wasn’t deep. ⁶But when the sun came up, it scorched the plants, and they dried up because they had no roots. ⁷Other seed fell among thorny plants. The thorny plants grew and choked them. ⁸Other seed fell on good soil and bore fruit, in one case a yield of one hundred to one, in another case a yield of sixty to one, and in another case a yield of thirty to one. ⁹Everyone who has ears should pay attention.”

Why Jesus speaks in parables

¹⁰Jesus’ disciples came and said to him, “Why do you use parables when you speak to the crowds?”

¹¹Jesus replied, “Because they haven’t received the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but you have. ¹²For those who have will receive more and they will have more than enough. But as for those who don’t have, even the little they have will be taken away from them. ¹³This is why I speak to the crowds in parables: although they see, they don’t really see; and although they hear, they don’t really hear or understand. ¹⁴What Isaiah prophesied has become completely true for them:

You will hear, to be sure, but never understand;
        and you will certainly see but never recognize what you are seeing.
¹⁵    For this people’s senses have become calloused,
        and they’ve become hard of hearing,
        and they’ve shut their eyes
            so that they won’t see with their eyes
            or hear with their ears
            or understand with their minds,
                and change their hearts and lives that I may heal them.^[a]

¹⁶“Happy are your eyes because they see. Happy are your ears because they hear. ¹⁷I assure you that many prophets and righteous people wanted to see what you see and hear what you hear, but they didn’t.

Explanation of the parable of the farmer

¹⁸“Consider then the parable of the farmer. ¹⁹Whenever people hear the word about the kingdom and don’t understand it, the evil one comes and carries off what was planted in their hearts. This is the seed that was sown on the path.

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