New Testament in a Year
Jesus tells a story about a small seed
31 Jesus told the people another story. He said, ‘I will tell you again what the kingdom of heaven is like. It is like a very small seed of the plant called mustard. A man took this seed and he planted it in his field. 32 It is the smallest seed that there is. But when it starts to grow, it will become bigger than the largest bush. It will become a tree. The wild birds will come and they will build their nests among the branches of that tree.’
Jesus tells a story about yeast
33 Jesus told the people another story. He said, ‘The kingdom of heaven is also like this. It is like how yeast works. A woman took the yeast and she mixed it into three large bowls of flour. Then the yeast went through all the flour so that it grew big.’[a]
34 Jesus told the crowds of people all these things. But he only used stories to teach them. 35 So what God's prophet had said long ago now became true:
‘I will use stories when I speak to them.
And I will teach them secret things.
People have never learned these things before, since the world began.’[b]
Jesus explains the story about the weeds
36 Then Jesus told the crowds of people to go away. He went into the house where he was staying. His disciples also went into the house with him. They said to him, ‘Explain to us the story about the weeds that were growing in the field.’
37 Jesus replied, ‘The Son of Man is like the farmer who planted the good seed in the field. 38 The field is like the world. The good seeds are like the people who belong to God's kingdom. The weeds are like the people who belong to the Devil. 39 The Devil is the bad person who planted the weed seeds in the field. The time for harvest is like the end of time. God's angels are the workers who cut the plants down.
40 In the story, the workers cut down the weeds and they burned them in the fire. When this world comes to an end, it will happen like that. 41 The Son of Man will send his workers, who are his angels. They will remove from his kingdom everything that causes sin. They will take away everyone who does evil things. 42 The angels will throw those bad people into the great fire. There the people will cry and they will bite their teeth together.[c] 43 The people who obeyed God will shine like the sun. They will be in the kingdom of their Father. You have ears, so listen well to what I say!’
Jesus tells a story about a man who found valuable things in the ground
44 ‘I can tell you again what the kingdom of heaven is like,’ Jesus said. ‘The kingdom of heaven is like some valuable things that a man buried in a field. Another man found it, but then he covered it over again with dirt. The second man was very happy and he went away. He sold everything that he had. Then he went and bought the field with the valuable things in it.’[d]
Jesus tells a story about some valuable stones
45 ‘I will tell you again what the kingdom of heaven is like,’ Jesus said. ‘A trader looks for beautiful stones that he can buy. 46 One day he found a very valuable stone that someone wanted to sell. So he went away and he sold everything that he had. Then he went and he bought that very valuable stone.’
47 Jesus also said, ‘I can tell you again what the kingdom of heaven is like. Some men had nets to catch fish in. They threw their nets into the lake and they caught many different kinds of fish. 48 When the net was full of fish, the men pulled it up onto the shore. Then they sat down. Some of the fish were good to eat, and they put these fish into baskets. Some of the fish were not good to eat, and they threw these fish away. 49 This is what will happen when the world's time comes to an end. God will send his angels. They will put wicked people in one place. And they will put God's righteous people in a separate place. 50 The angels will throw the wicked people into the great fire. There those people will weep and they will bite their teeth together.’[e]
51 Then Jesus asked his disciples, ‘Have you understood all these things?’ They replied, ‘Yes, we have.’
52 Jesus said to them, ‘Some teachers of God's Law have now learned about the kingdom of heaven. These men are like the master of a house who takes things out of the room where he keeps them. Some of the valuable things he brings out are new and some of them are old.’
53 When Jesus had finished telling these stories, he went away from that place.
Jesus goes to Nazareth
54 Jesus returned to his own town. He taught the Jewish people in their meeting room there. The people were very surprised about the things that he taught them. They said to each other, ‘We do not know how this man learned all these things. And we do not know how he does all these powerful things. 55 We know who he is. He is the son of the carpenter here.[f] Mary is his mother. We also know his brothers, James, Joseph, Simon and Judas. 56 All his sisters also live here in the town among us. So then, where did he learn all these things?’ 57 So the people there did not accept Jesus.
Jesus said to them, ‘If a man is a prophet from God, people everywhere will say good things about him. But the people in his own town will not accept him. Even the people of his own house will not say good things about him.’
58 Jesus did not do many powerful things in that town because the people would not believe in him.
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