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.