¹On that day after Jesus went out of the house, he sat by the lake. ²And such a large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat to sit while the whole crowd stood on the shore. ³He told them many things in parables, saying: “Listen! A sower went out to sow. ⁴And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. ⁵Other seeds fell on rocky ground where they did not have much soil. They sprang up quickly because the soil was not deep. ⁶But when the sun came up, they were scorched, and because they did not have sufficient root, they withered. ⁷Other seeds fell among the thorns, and they grew up and choked them. ⁸But other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundred times as much, some sixty, and some thirty. ⁹The one who has ears had better listen!” ¹⁰Then the disciples came to him and said, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” ¹¹He replied, “You have been given the opportunity to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but they have not. ¹²For whoever has will be given more, and will have an abundance. But whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. ¹³For this reason I speak to them in parables: Although they see they do not see, and although they hear they do not hear nor do they understand. ¹⁴And concerning them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: “‘You will listen carefully yet will never understand, you will look closely yet will never comprehend. ¹⁵For the heart of this people has become dull;they are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes, so that they would not see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’ ¹⁶“But your eyes are blessed because they see, and your ears because they hear. ¹⁷For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.¹⁸“So listen to the parable of the sower: ¹⁹When anyone hears the word about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches what was sown in his heart; this is the seed sown along the path. ²⁰The seed sown on rocky ground is the person who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. ²¹But he has no root in himself and does not endure; when trouble or persecution comes because of the word, immediately he falls away. ²²The seed sown among thorns is the person who hears the word, but worldly cares and the seductiveness of wealth choke the word, so it produces nothing. ²³But as for the seed sown on good soil, this is the person who hears the word and understands. He bears fruit, yielding a hundred, sixty, or thirty times what was sown.” ²⁴He presented them with another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a person who sowed good seed in his field. ²⁵But while everyone was sleeping, an enemy came and sowed darnel among the wheat and went away. ²⁶When the plants sprouted and produced grain, then the darnel also appeared. ²⁷So the slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Then where did the darnel come from?’ ²⁸He said, ‘An enemy has done this!’ So the slaves replied, ‘Do you want us to go and gather it?’²⁹But he said, ‘No, since in gathering the darnel you may uproot the wheat along with it.³⁰Let both grow together until the harvest. At harvest time I will tell the reapers, “First collect the darnel and tie it in bundles to be burned, but then gather the wheat into my barn.”’” ³¹He gave them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. ³²It is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest garden plant and becomes a tree, so that the wild birds come and nest in its branches.” ³³He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with three measures of flour until all the dough had risen.” ³⁴Jesus spoke all these things in parables to the crowds; he did not speak to them without a parable. ³⁵This fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet: “I will open my mouth in parables, I will announce what has been hidden from the foundation of the world.”³⁶Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him saying, “Explain to us the parable of the darnel in the field.” ³⁷He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. ³⁸The field is the world and the good seed are the people of the kingdom. The poisonous weeds are the people of the evil one, ³⁹and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. ⁴⁰As the poisonous weeds are collected and burned with fire, so it will be at the end of the age. ⁴¹The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather from his kingdom everything that causes sin as well as all lawbreakers. ⁴²They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ⁴³Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. The one who has ears had better listen! ⁴⁴“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure, hidden in a field, that a person found and hid. Then because of joy he went and sold all that he had and bought that field. ⁴⁵“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. ⁴⁶When he found a pearl of great value, he went out and sold everything he had and bought it. ⁴⁷“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was cast into the sea that caught all kinds of fish.⁴⁸When it was full, they pulled it ashore, sat down, and put the good fish into containers and threw the bad away. ⁴⁹It will be this way at the end of the age. Angels will come and separate the evil from the righteous ⁵⁰and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ⁵¹“Have you understood all these things?” They replied, “Yes.”⁵²Then he said to them, “Therefore every expert in the law who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his treasure what is new and old.” ⁵³Now when Jesus finished these parables, he moved on from there. ⁵⁴Then he came to his hometown and began to teach the people in their synagogue. They were astonished and said, “Where did this man get such wisdom and miraculous powers? ⁵⁵Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother named Mary? And aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? ⁵⁶And aren’t all his sisters here with us? So where did he get all this?” ⁵⁷And so they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own house.” ⁵⁸And he did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.