That same day Jesus left the house and sat down beside the sea. 2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while all the people stood on the shore. 3 He told them many things in parables.
“Listen,” he said. “A farmer went out to plant his seed. 4 As he scattered it, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky ground where there wasn’t much soil. It sprang up quickly because the soil was shallow, 6 but when the sun rose, the plants were scorched. They had no root, so they withered. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it. 8 But some fell on good soil and produced grain — some a hundred times what was planted, some sixty, some thirty. 9 Whoever has ears, let them hear.”
10 The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to them in parables?”
11 He answered, “Because the secrets of the kingdom of heaven have been given to you to know, but to them it has not been given. 12 Whoever has will be given more, and have plenty. But whoever does not have — even what they have will be taken from them. 13 That is why I speak to them in parables: because they look but don’t see, and they hear but don’t listen or understand. 14 In them Isaiah’s prophecy is coming true:
‘You will hear and hear but never understand, and you will look and look but never see. 15 For this people’s heart has grown thick, and their ears are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and turn — and I would heal them.’[1]
16 But your eyes are fortunate, because they see — and your ears, because they hear. 17 Amen, I tell you, many prophets and people who did right longed to see what you see and didn’t see it, and to hear what you hear and didn’t hear it.”
18 “So listen to what the parable of the farmer means. 19 When anyone hears the message of the kingdom and doesn’t understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was planted in their heart. That is the seed planted along the path. 20 The seed planted on rocky ground — that is the person who hears the message and immediately receives it with joy, 21 but has no root inside. They last only a little while. When trouble or persecution comes because of the message, they fall away at once. 22 The seed planted among thorns — that is the person who hears the message, but the worries of this age and the lie of wealth choke the message, and it produces nothing. 23 But the seed planted on good soil — that is the person who hears the message and understands it. They truly bear fruit and produce a crop: some a hundred times what was planted, some sixty, some thirty.”
24 Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who planted good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and scattered weeds among the wheat and slipped away.[2] 26 When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, the weeds appeared too.
27 “The landowner’s slaves came and said to him, ‘Sir, didn’t you plant good seed in your field? Where did the weeds come from?’
28 “He told them, ‘An enemy did this.’
“The slaves asked, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’
29 “‘No,’ he said. ‘If you pull up the weeds, you might uproot the wheat along with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At harvest time I’ll tell the workers: Gather the weeds first and tie them in bundles to be burned. Then bring the wheat into my barn.’”
31 He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man took and planted in his field. 32 It’s the smallest of all seeds, but when it grows, it’s larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree — so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”
33 He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into three measures of flour until it worked all the way through.”
34 Jesus said all these things to the crowds in parables. He didn’t speak to them without a parable. 35 This fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet:
“I will open my mouth in parables; I will declare things hidden since the world was made.”[3]
36 Then he left the crowds and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”
37 He answered, “The one who plants the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world. The good seed — these are the children of the kingdom. The weeds are the children of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who planted them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.
40 “Just as the weeds are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and everyone who does wrong, 42 and throw them into the blazing furnace — where there will be sobbing and grinding of teeth. 43 Then those who did right will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear.”
44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again. Then, full of joy, he went and sold everything he had and bought that field.”
45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46 When he found one pearl of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.”
47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net let down into the sea that caught fish of every kind. 48 When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up onto the shore. They sat down and sorted the good fish into containers but threw the bad ones away. 49 That’s how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from those who did right 50 and throw them into the blazing furnace — where there will be sobbing and grinding of teeth.”
51 “Have you understood all these things?”
“Yes,” they said.
52 He said to them, “So then, every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a homeowner who brings out of his storeroom treasures both new and old.”[4]
53 When Jesus had finished these parables, he left that place. 54 He came to his hometown and began teaching the people in their synagogue. They were astonished.
“Where did this man get this wisdom and these miracles?” they said. 55 “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother called Mary, and his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas?[5] 56 Aren’t all his sisters here with us? Where then did he get all this?”
57 And they took offense at him.
But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor — except in his own hometown and in his own house.”
58 And he didn’t do many miracles there because of their unbelief.
Notes
Note 1. These lines come from Isaiah 6:9–10, part of the passage where the prophet is first commissioned and warned that the people will hear without understanding and see without perceiving. Matthew quotes them in the wording of the old Greek version. ↩
Note 2. The Greek word is zizania, usually identified as darnel — a weed that looks almost identical to wheat while the two are young, and whose seeds are toxic. The plants can only be told apart once the heads form. Sowing darnel in a rival’s field was a recognized form of sabotage in the ancient world. ↩
Note 3. Matthew calls this a prophet’s words, but the line is from Psalm 78:2, a psalm traditionally attributed to Asaph — a temple singer whom Chronicles also calls a “seer.” Matthew’s Greek matches neither the Hebrew nor the standard Greek version of the psalm exactly. ↩
Note 4. The Greek word is grammateus, a scribe — in this society the trained professionals who copied, taught, and interpreted the Jewish law, holding real influence over the community. ↩
Note 5. The Greek tektōn is broader than our word “carpenter.” It named a skilled builder or craftsman — someone who worked in wood, and often in stone as well — not necessarily a maker of furniture. ↩