New Testament in a Year

A Story about a Farmer^(A)

13 That same day Yeshua left the house and sat down by the Sea of Galilee. ² The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat. He sat in the boat while the entire crowd stood on the shore. ³ Then he used stories as illustrations to tell them many things.

He said, “Listen! A farmer went to plant seed. ⁴ Some seeds were planted along the road, and birds came and devoured them. ⁵ Other seeds were planted on rocky ground, where there was little soil. The plants sprouted quickly because the soil wasn’t deep. ⁶ But when the sun came up, they were scorched. They withered because their roots weren’t deep enough. ⁷ Other seeds were planted among thornbushes, and the thornbushes grew up and choked them. ⁸ But other seeds were planted on good ground and produced grain. They produced one hundred, sixty, or thirty times as much as was planted. ⁹ Let the person who has ears listen!”

¹⁰ The disciples asked him, “Why do you use stories as illustrations when you speak to people?”

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:

¹⁶ “Blessed are your eyes because they see and your ears because they hear. ¹⁷ I can guarantee this truth: Many prophets and many of God’s people longed to see what you see but didn’t see it, to hear what you hear but didn’t hear it.

¹⁸ “Listen to what the story about the farmer means. ¹⁹ Someone hears the word about the kingdom but doesn’t understand it. The evil one comes at once and snatches away what was planted in him. This is what the seed planted along the road illustrates. ²⁰ The seed planted on rocky ground is the person who hears the word and accepts it at once with joy. ²¹ Since he doesn’t have any root, he lasts only a little while. When suffering or persecution comes along because of the word, he immediately falls from faith. ²² The seed planted among thornbushes is another person who hears the word. But the worries of life and the deceitful pleasures of riches choke the word so that it can’t produce anything. ²³ But the seed planted on good ground is the person who hears and understands the word. This type produces crops. They produce one hundred, sixty, or thirty times as much as was planted.”

A Story about Weeds in the Wheat

²⁴ Yeshua used another illustration. He said, “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who planted good seed in his field. ²⁵ But while people were asleep, his enemy planted weeds in the wheat field and went away. ²⁶ When the wheat came up and formed kernels, weeds appeared.

²⁷ “The owner’s workers came to him and asked, ‘Sir, didn’t you plant good seed in your field? Where did the weeds come from?’

²⁸ “He told them, ‘An enemy did this.’

“His workers asked him, ‘Do you want us to pull out the weeds?’

²⁹ “He replied, ‘No. If you pull out the weeds, you may pull out the wheat with them. ³⁰ Let both grow together until the harvest. When the grain is cut, I will tell the workers to gather the weeds first and tie them in bundles to be burned. But I’ll have them bring the wheat into my barn.’”