Matthew 13-17

New American Standard Bible 1995

Jesus Teaches in Parables

13 That day Jesus went out of ^(A)the house and was sitting ^(B)by the sea. ² And ^[a]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 spoke many things to them 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 immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil. ⁶ But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. ⁷ Others fell ^[b]among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out. ⁸ And others fell on the good soil and *yielded a crop, some a ^(E)hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty. ^9 (F)He who has ears, ^[c]let him hear.”

An Explanation

¹⁰ And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” ^11 [d]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 [e]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 men desired 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)Hear then 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 on whom seed was sown beside the road. ²⁰ The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man 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 arises because of the ^[j]word, immediately he ^[k](Q)falls away. ²² And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of ^(R)the ^[l]world and the ^(S)deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. ²³ And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some ^(T)a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.”

Tares among Wheat

²⁴ Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, “^(U)The kingdom of heaven ^[m]may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. ²⁵ But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed ^[n]tares among the wheat, and went away. ²⁶ But when the ^[o]wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also. ²⁷ The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? ^[p]How then does it have tares?’ ²⁸ And he said to them, ‘An ^[q]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; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them. ³⁰ Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; 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 man took and sowed in his field; ³² and this is smaller than all other seeds, but when it is full grown, it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that ^(Y)the birds of the ^[r]air come and nest in its branches.”

The Leaven

³³ He spoke another parable to them, “^(Z)The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in ^(AA)three ^[s]pecks of flour until it was all leavened.”

³⁴ All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, and He did not speak to them ^(AB)without a parable. ³⁵ This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:

The Tares 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 ^[t]tares 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 tares 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 ^[u]end of the age; and the reapers are angels. ⁴⁰ So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at ^(AK)the ^[v]end of the age. ^41 (AL)The Son of Man ^(AM)will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom ^[w]all ^(AN)stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, ⁴² and ^(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 as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. ^(AR)He who has ears, ^[x]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 joy over it he goes and ^(AT)sells all 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 all that he had and bought it.

A Dragnet

⁴⁷ “Again, ^(AV)the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea, and gathering fish of every kind; ⁴⁸ and when it was filled, they drew 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 ^[y]end of the age; the angels will come forth and ^[z]take out the wicked from among the righteous, ⁵⁰ and ^(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 ^[aa]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 things new and old.”

Jesus Revisits Nazareth

^53 (AZ)When Jesus had finished these parables, He departed from there. ^54 (BA)He came to ^[ab]His hometown and ^(BB)began teaching them in their synagogue, so that ^(BC)they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these ^[ac]miraculous powers? ⁵⁵ Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not ^(BD)His mother called Mary, and His ^(BE)brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? ⁵⁶ And ^(BF)His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” ⁵⁷ And they took ^(BG)offense at Him. But Jesus said to them, “^(BH)A prophet is not without honor except in his ^[ad]hometown and in his own household.” ⁵⁸ And He did not do many ^[ae]miracles there because of their unbelief.

John the Baptist Beheaded

14 ^(BI)At that ^[af]time ^(BJ)Herod the tetrarch heard the news about Jesus, ² and said to his servants, “^(BK)This is John the Baptist; ^[ag]he has risen 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 ^[ah]John as ^(BP)a prophet.

⁶ But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of ^(BQ)Herodias danced ^[ai]before them and pleased ^(BR)Herod, ⁷ so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. ⁸ Having been prompted by her mother, she *said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.” ⁹ Although he was grieved, the king commanded it to be given because of his oaths, and because of ^[aj]his dinner guests. ¹⁰ He sent 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 His disciples came and took away the body and buried ^[ak]it; and they went and reported to Jesus.

Five Thousand 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 ^[al]people heard of this, they followed Him on foot from the cities. ¹⁴ When He went ^[am]ashore, He ^(BT)saw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and ^(BU)healed their sick.

¹⁵ When it was evening, the disciples came to Him and said, “This place is desolate and the hour is already ^[an]late; so send the crowds away, that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” ¹⁶ But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat!” ¹⁷ They *said to Him, “We have here only ^(BV)five loaves and two fish.” ¹⁸ And He said, “Bring them here to Me.” ¹⁹ Ordering the ^[ao]people to ^[ap]sit down on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking 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. 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 He ^[aq]made the disciples get into the boat and 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 ^[ar]a long distance from the land, ^[as]battered by the waves; for the wind was ^[at](CA)contrary. ²⁵ And in ^(CB)the ^[au]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 ^[av]in fear. ²⁷ But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “^(CD)Take courage, it is I; ^(CE)do not be afraid.”

²⁸ Peter said to Him, “Lord, if 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 beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” ³¹ Immediately Jesus stretched out 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 certainly ^(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 ^[aw]recognized Him, they sent word into all that surrounding district and brought to Him all who were sick; ³⁶ and they implored Him that they might just touch ^(CJ)the fringe of His cloak; and as many as ^(CK)touched it were cured.

Tradition and Commandment

15 ^(CL)Then some Pharisees and scribes *came to Jesus ^(CM)from Jerusalem and said, ² “Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they ^(CN)do not wash their hands when they eat bread.” ³ And He answered and said to them, “Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? ⁴ For God said, ‘^(CO)Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘^(CP)He who speaks evil of father or mother is to ^[ax]be put to death.’ ⁵ But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever I have that would help you has been ^[ay]given to God,” ⁶ he is not to honor his father or his mother^[az].’ And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition. ⁷ You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you:

¹⁰ After Jesus called the crowd to Him, He said to them, “Hear and understand. ^11 (CS)It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.”

¹² Then the disciples *came and *said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were ^[ba]offended when they heard this statement?” ¹³ But He answered and said, “^(CT)Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted. ¹⁴ Let them alone; ^(CU)they are blind guides ^[bb]of the blind. And ^(CV)if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”

The Heart of Man

¹⁵ Peter ^[bc]said to Him, “^(CW)Explain the parable to us.” ^16 [bd]Jesus said, “Are you still lacking in understanding also? ¹⁷ Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is ^[be]eliminated? ¹⁸ But ^(CX)the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. ^19 (CY)For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, ^[bf]fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. ²⁰ These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man.”

The Syrophoenician Woman

^21 (CZ)Jesus went away from there, and withdrew into the district of ^(DA)Tyre and ^(DB)Sidon. ²² And a Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, ^(DC)Son of David; my daughter is cruelly ^(DD)demon-possessed.” ²³ But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and implored Him, saying, “Send her away, because she keeps shouting ^[bg]at us.” ²⁴ But He answered and said, “I was sent only to ^(DE)the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” ²⁵ But she came and ^(DF)began ^[bh]to bow down before Him, saying, “Lord, help me!” ²⁶ And He answered and said, “It is not ^[bi]good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” ²⁷ But she said, “Yes, Lord; ^[bj]but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” ²⁸ Then Jesus said to her, “O woman, ^(DG)your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed ^[bk]at once.

Healing Crowds

^29 (DH)Departing from there, Jesus went along by ^(DI)the Sea of Galilee, and having gone up on the mountain, He was sitting there. ³⁰ And ^[bl]large crowds came to Him, bringing with them those who were lame, crippled, blind, mute, and many others, and they laid them down at His feet; and ^(DJ)He healed them. ³¹ So the crowd marveled as they saw the mute speaking, the crippled ^[bm]restored, and the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they ^(DK)glorified the God of Israel.

Four Thousand Fed

^32 (DL)And Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, “^(DM)I feel compassion for the ^[bn]people, because they ^[bo]have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way.” ³³ The disciples *said to Him, “Where would we get so many loaves in this desolate place to satisfy such a large crowd?” ³⁴ And Jesus *said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven, and a few small fish.” ³⁵ And He directed the ^[bp]people to ^[bq]sit down on the ground; ³⁶ and He took the seven loaves and the fish; and ^(DN)giving thanks, He broke them and started giving them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. ³⁷ And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, seven large ^(DO)baskets full. ³⁸ And those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.

³⁹ And sending away the crowds, Jesus got into ^(DP)the boat and came to the region of ^(DQ)Magadan.

Pharisees Test Jesus

16 ^(DR)The ^(DS)Pharisees and Sadducees came up, and testing Jesus, they ^(DT)asked Him to show them a ^[br]sign from heaven. ² But He replied to them, “^[bs](DU)When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ ³ And in the morning, ‘There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ ^(DV)Do you know how to discern the ^[bt]appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times? ^4 (DW)An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a ^[bu]sign; and a ^[bv]sign will not be given it, except the sign of Jonah.” And He left them and went away.

⁵ And the disciples came to the other side of the sea, but they had forgotten to bring any bread. ⁶ And Jesus said to them, “Watch out and ^(DX)beware of the ^[bw]leaven of the ^(DY)Pharisees and Sadducees.” ⁷ They began to discuss this among themselves, saying, “He said that because we did not bring any bread.” ⁸ But Jesus, aware of this, said, “^(DZ)You men of little faith, why do you discuss among yourselves that you have no bread? ⁹ Do you not yet understand or remember ^(EA)the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets full you picked up? ¹⁰ Or ^(EB)the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many large baskets full you picked up? ¹¹ How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread? But ^(EC)beware of the ^[bx]leaven of the ^(ED)Pharisees and Sadducees.” ¹² Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the ^(EE)Pharisees and Sadducees.

Peter’s Confession of Christ

^13 (EF)Now when Jesus came into the district of ^(EG)Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that ^(EH)the Son of Man is?” ¹⁴ And they said, “Some say ^(EI)John the Baptist; and others, ^[by](EJ)Elijah; but still others, ^[bz]Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” ¹⁵ He *said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” ¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are ^[ca](EK)the Christ, ^(EL)the Son of ^(EM)the living God.” ¹⁷ And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, ^(EN)Simon ^[cb]Barjona, because ^(EO)flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. ¹⁸ I also say to you that you are ^[cc](EP)Peter, and upon this ^[cd]rock I will build My church; and the gates of ^(EQ)Hades will not overpower it. ¹⁹ I will give you ^(ER)the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and ^(ES)whatever you bind on earth ^[ce]shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth ^[cf]shall have been loosed in heaven.” ^20 (ET)Then He ^[cg]warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was ^[ch](EU)the Christ.

Jesus Foretells His Death

^21 (EV)From that time ^[ci]Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and ^(EW)suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. ²² Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “^[cj]God forbid it, Lord! This shall never ^[ck]happen to You.” ²³ But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, ^(EX)Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on ^[cl]God’s interests, but man’s.”

Discipleship Is Costly

²⁴ Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and ^(EY)take up his cross and follow Me. ²⁵ For ^(EZ)whoever wishes to save his ^[cm]life will lose it; but whoever loses his ^[cn]life for My sake will find it. ²⁶ For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? ²⁷ For the ^(FA)Son of Man ^(FB)is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and ^(FC)will then ^[co]repay every man according to his ^[cp]deeds.

²⁸ “Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the ^(FD)Son of Man ^(FE)coming in His kingdom.”

The Transfiguration

17 ^(FF)Six days later Jesus *took with Him ^(FG)Peter and ^[cq]James and John his brother, and *led them up on a high mountain by themselves. ² And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light. ³ And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. ⁴ Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, ^(FH)I will make three ^[cr]tabernacles here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” ⁵ While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, ^(FI)a voice out of the cloud said, “^(FJ)This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!” ⁶ When the disciples heard this, they fell ^[cs]face down to the ground and were terrified. ⁷ And Jesus came to them and touched them and said, “Get up, and ^(FK)do not be afraid.” ⁸ And lifting up their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus Himself alone.

^9 (FL)As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, “^(FM)Tell the vision to no one until ^(FN)the Son of Man has ^(FO)risen from the dead.” ¹⁰ And His disciples asked Him, “Why then do the scribes say that ^(FP)Elijah must come first?” ¹¹ And He answered and said, “Elijah is coming and will restore all things; ¹² but I say to you that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did ^[ct]to him whatever they wished. So also ^(FQ)the Son of Man is going to suffer ^[cu]at their hands.” ¹³ Then the disciples understood that He had spoken to them about John the Baptist.

The Demoniac

^14 (FR)When they came to the crowd, a man came up to Jesus, falling on his knees before Him and saying, ¹⁵ “^[cv]Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a ^[cw](FS)lunatic and is very ill; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. ¹⁶ I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him.” ¹⁷ And Jesus answered and said, “You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me.” ¹⁸ And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was cured ^[cx]at once.

¹⁹ Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not drive it out?” ²⁰ And He *said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, ^(FT)if you have faith ^[cy]the size of ^(FU)a mustard seed, you will say to ^(FV)this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and ^(FW)nothing will be impossible to you. ²¹ [^[cz](FX)But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”]

^22 (FY)And while they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be ^[da]delivered into the hands of men; ²³ and ^(FZ)they will kill Him, and He will be raised on the third day.” And they were deeply grieved.

The Tribute Money

²⁴ When they came to Capernaum, those who collected ^(GA)the ^[db]two-drachma tax came to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay ^(GB)the ^[dc]two-drachma tax?” ²⁵ He *said, “Yes.” And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth collect ^(GC)customs or ^(GD)poll-tax, from their sons or from strangers?” ²⁶ When Peter said, “From strangers,” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are ^[dd]exempt. ²⁷ However, so that we do not ^[de](GE)offend them, go to the sea and throw in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up; and when you open its mouth, you will find ^[df]a shekel. Take that and give it to them for you and Me.”