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¹ On that day Jesus went out of the house, and sat by the seaside.² And there were gathered to him great multitudes, so that he entered into a boat, and sat; and all the multitude stood on the beach.³ And he spoke to them many things in parables, saying, Look, the sower went forth to sow;⁴ and as he sowed, some [seeds] fell by the wayside, and the birds came and devoured them:⁵ and others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much earth: and right away they sprang up, because they had no deepness of earth:⁶ and when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.⁷ And others fell on the thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked them:⁸ and others fell on the good ground, and yielded fruit, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.⁹ He that has ears, let him hear.¹⁰ And the disciples came, and said to him, Why do you speak to them in parables?¹¹ And he answered and said to them, To you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.¹² For whoever has, to him shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but whoever does not have, from him shall be taken away even that which he has.¹³ Therefore I speak to them in parables; because seeing they don't see, and hearing they don't hear, neither do they understand.¹⁴ And to them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which says, By hearing you shall hear, and shall in no way understand; And seeing you shall see, and shall in no way perceive:¹⁵ For this people's heart has waxed gross, And their ears are dull of hearing, And their eyes they have closed; Lest perhaps they should perceive with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart, And should turn again, And I should heal them.¹⁶ But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear.¹⁷ For truly I say to you, that many prophets and righteous men desired to see the things which you see, and did not see them; and to hear the things which you hear, and did not hear them.¹⁸ Then hear you the parable of the sower.¹⁹ When any one hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, [then] the evil [one] comes, and snatches away that which has been sown in his heart. This is he that was sown by the wayside.²⁰ And he that was sown on the rocky places, this is he that hears the word, and right away with joy receives it;²¹ yet he does not have root in himself, but endures for awhile; and when tribulation or persecution rises because of the word, right away he stumbles.²² And he that was sown among the thorns, this is he that hears the word; and the care of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.²³ And he that was sown on the good ground, this is he that hears the word, and understands it; who truly bears fruit, and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

²⁴ He set another parable before them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened to a man that sowed good seed in his field:²⁵ but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares also among the wheat, and went away.²⁶ But when the blade sprang up and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.²⁷ And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, Sir, didn't you sow good seed in your field? from where then has it tares?²⁸ And he said to them, A hostile man has done this. And the slaves say to him, Will you then that we go and gather them up?²⁹ But he says, No; lest perhaps while you gather up the tares, you root up the wheat with them.³⁰ Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather up first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn.³¹ Another parable he set before them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field:³² which indeed is less than all seeds; but when it is grown, it is greater than the herbs, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the heaven come and lodge in the branches thereof.³³ Another parable he spoke to them; The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, until it was all leavened.³⁴ All these things Jesus spoke in parables to the multitudes; and without a parable he spoke nothing to them:³⁵ that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the foundation of the world.³⁶ Then he left the multitudes, and went into the house: and his disciples came to him, saying, Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.³⁷ And he answered and said, He that sows the good seed is the Son of man;³⁸ and the field is the world; and the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil [one];³⁹ and the enemy that sowed them is the devil: and the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are angels.⁴⁰ As therefore the tares are gathered up and burned with fire; so it shall be in the end of the world.⁴¹ The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that cause stumbling, and those that do iniquity,⁴² and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.⁴³ Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He that has ears, let him hear.

⁴⁴ The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field; which a man found, and hid; and in his joy he goes and sells all that he has, and buys that field.⁴⁵ Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a man that is a merchant seeking goodly pearls:⁴⁶ and having found one pearl of great price, he went and sold all that he had, and bought it.⁴⁷ Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind:⁴⁸ which, when it was filled, they drew up on the beach; and they sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but the bad they cast away.⁴⁹ So it shall be in the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the righteous,⁵⁰ and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.⁵¹ Have you understood all these things? They say to him, Yes.⁵² And he said to them, Therefore every scribe who has been made a disciple to the kingdom of heaven is like a man that is a householder, who brings forth out of his treasure things new and old.

⁵³ And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these parables, he departed from there.⁵⁴ And coming into his own country he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, From where has this man this wisdom, and these mighty works?⁵⁵ Isn't this the carpenter's son? isn't his mother called Mary? and his brothers, James, and Joseph, and Simon, and Judas?⁵⁶ And his sisters, are they not all with us? From where then has this man all these things?⁵⁷ And they were offended in him. But Jesus said to them, A prophet is not without honor, save in his own country, and in his own house.⁵⁸ And he did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.