Matthew 13:11-15
The Voice
Jesus: 11 The knowledge of the secrets of heaven has been given to you, but it has not been given to them. 12 Those who have something will be given more—and they will have abundance. Those who have nothing will lose what they have—they will be destitute. 13 I teach in parables so the people may look but not see, listen but not hear or understand.[a] 14 They are fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy:
You will listen, but you will not understand;
you will look, but you will not see.
15 The people’s hearts have turned to flab;
their ears are clogged;
their eyes are shut.
They will try to see, but they will not see;
they will try to hear, but they will not hear;
they will try to understand, but they will not comprehend.
If they, with their blindness and deafness, so choose, then I will heal them.[b]
Footnotes
Matthew 13:11-15
Amplified Bible, Classic Edition
11 And He replied to them, To you it has been given to know the secrets and mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.
12 For whoever has [spiritual knowledge], to him will more be given and he will [a]be furnished richly so that he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
13 This is the reason that I speak to them in parables: because [b]having the power of seeing, they do not see; and [c]having the power of hearing, they do not hear, nor do they grasp and understand.
14 In them indeed is [d]the process of fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah, which says: You shall indeed hear and hear but never grasp and understand; and you shall indeed look and look but never see and perceive.
15 For this nation’s heart has grown gross (fat and dull), and their ears heavy and difficult of hearing, and their eyes they have tightly closed, lest they see and perceive with their eyes, and hear and comprehend the sense with their ears, and grasp and understand with their heart, and turn and I should heal them.(A)
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Matthew 13:12 Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon.
- Matthew 13:13 Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon.
- Matthew 13:13 Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon.
- Matthew 13:14 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.
Matthew 13:11-15
The Message
11-15 He replied, “You’ve been given insight into God’s kingdom. You know how it works. Not everybody has this gift, this insight; it hasn’t been given to them. Whenever someone has a ready heart for this, the insights and understandings flow freely. But if there is no readiness, any trace of receptivity soon disappears. That’s why I tell stories: to create readiness, to nudge the people toward a welcome awakening. In their present state they can stare till doomsday and not see it, listen till they’re blue in the face and not get it. I don’t want Isaiah’s forecast repeated all over again:
Your ears are open but you don’t hear a thing.
Your eyes are awake but you don’t see a thing.
The people are stupid!
They stick their fingers in their ears
so they won’t have to listen;
They screw their eyes shut
so they won’t have to look,
so they won’t have to deal with me face-to-face
and let me heal them.
Matthew 13:11-15
Names of God Bible
11 Yeshua answered, “Knowledge about the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you. But it has not been given to the crowd. 12 Those who understand these mysteries will be given more knowledge, and they will excel in understanding them. However, some people don’t understand these mysteries. Even what they understand will be taken away from them. 13 This is why I speak to them this way. They see, but they’re blind. They hear, but they don’t listen. They don’t even try to understand. 14 So they make Isaiah’s prophecy come true:
‘You will hear clearly but never understand.
You will see clearly but never comprehend.
15 These people have become close-minded
and hard of hearing.
They have shut their eyes
so that their eyes never see.
Their ears never hear.
Their minds never understand.
And they never return to me for healing!’
Matthew 13:11-15
English Standard Version
11 And he answered them, (A)“To you it has been given to know (B)the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12 (C)For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, (D)even what he has will be taken away. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables, because (E)seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, (F)nor do they understand. 14 Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says:
(G)“‘“You will indeed hear but never understand,
and you will indeed see but never perceive.”
15 For this people's heart has grown dull,
and with their ears (H)they can barely hear,
and (I)their eyes they have closed,
lest they should see with their eyes
and hear with their ears
and (J)understand with their heart
and (K)turn, and I would heal them.’
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
