Matthew 13

The Parable of the Sower

1That same day Jesus went out of the house #For ver. 1-15, see Mark 4:1-12; Luke 8:4-10and sat beside the sea. 2And great crowds gathered about him, #[Mark 3:9; Luke 5:1-3]so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3And #ver. 34 he told them many things in parables, saying: #[Isa. 55:10; Amos 9:13]“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, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, 6but #James 1:11 when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, #John 15:6they withered away. 7Other seeds fell among #Jer. 4:3thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some #ver. 23; Gen. 26:12a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9#See ch. 11:15He who has ears,#13:9 Some manuscripts add here and in verse 43 to hear let him hear.”

The Purpose of the Parables

10Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” 11And he answered them, #ch. 19:11; Col. 1:27; [1 Cor. 2:6-10; 1 John 2:20, 27]; See ch. 11:25 “To you it has been given to know #See Rom. 16:25the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12#ch. 25:29; Mark 4:25; Luke 8:18; 19:26; [John 15:2; James 4:6] For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, #[Rev. 2:5]even what he has will be taken away. 13This is why I speak to them in parables, because #Deut. 29:4; Jer. 5:21; Ezek. 12:2; Rom. 11:8; 2 Cor. 3:14; 4:4; [Isa. 42:19, 20] seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, #ver. 19, 51; ch. 15:10; 16:12; Mark 8:21nor do they understand. 14Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says:

# John 12:40; Acts 28:26, 27; Cited from Isa. 6:9, 10 “‘“You will indeed hear but never understand,

and you will indeed see but never perceive.”

15 For this people’s heart has grown dull,

and with their ears #[Heb. 5:11] they can barely hear,

and #[John 9:39, 41] their eyes they have closed,

lest they should see with their eyes

and hear with their ears

and #[Rom. 10:10] understand with their heart

and # See Luke 22:32 turn, and I would heal them.’

16 But # Luke 10:23, 24; [ch. 16:17] blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. 17#[See ver. 16 above] For truly, I say to you, #Heb. 11:13; 1 Pet. 1:10-12; [John 8:56]many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

The Parable of the Sower Explained

18 # For ver. 18-23, see Mark 4:13-20; Luke 8:11-15 “Hear then the parable of the sower: 19When anyone hears the word of #ver. 38; ch. 4:23; 8:12 the kingdom and #See ver. 13 does not understand it, #John 17:15; Eph. 6:16; 2 Thess. 3:3; 1 John 2:13, 14; 3:12; 5:18, 19the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. 20As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately #[Isa. 58:2; Ezek. 33:31, 32; Mark 6:20; John 5:35]receives it with joy, 21yet he has no root in himself, but #Gal. 1:6; [Hos. 6:4; Gal. 5:7] endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately #See ch. 11:6he falls away.#13:21 Or stumbles 22As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but #See ch. 6:25 the cares of #2 Tim. 4:10 the world and #1 Tim. 6:9, 10, 17; [ch. 19:23; Mark 10:23; Acts 5:1-11; Heb. 3:13]the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 23As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and #[See ver. 19 above] understands it. He indeed #Hos. 14:8; John 15:5, 16; Phil. 1:11; Col. 1:6 bears fruit and yields, in one case #ver. 8a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”

The Parable of the Weeds

24He put another parable before them, saying, #ver. 37-42; [Mark 4:26-29]“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, 25but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds#13:25 Probably darnel, a wheat-like weed among the wheat and went away. 26So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. 27And the servants#13:27 Or bondservants; also verse 28 of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ 28He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ 29But he said, #[1 Cor. 4:5]‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. 30Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, #ch. 3:12“Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”

The Mustard Seed and the Leaven

31He put another parable before them, saying, #For ver. 31, 32, see Mark 4:30-32; Luke 13:18, 19 “The kingdom of heaven is like #ch. 17:20; Luke 17:6a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. 32It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”

33He told them another parable. #Luke 13:20, 21 “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in #Gen. 18:6 three measures of flour, till it was #1 Cor. 5:6; Gal. 5:9all leavened.”

Prophecy and Parables

34 # ver. 3; Mark 4:33, 34; [John 16:25, 29] All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable. 35This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet:#13:35 Some manuscripts Isaiah the prophet

# Cited from Ps. 78:2 “I will open my mouth in parables;

# [ver. 11; Rom. 16:25, 26; 1 Cor. 2:7] I will utter what has been hidden #ch. 25:34; Luke 11:50; [John 17:24; Eph. 1:4; 1 Pet. 1:20]since the foundation of the world.”

The Parable of the Weeds Explained

36Then he left the crowds and went into #ver. 1 the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, #ver. 24-30; [ch. 15:15]“Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” 37He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38The field is the world, and the good seed is #[ver. 43] the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are #John 8:44; Acts 13:10; 1 John 3:10; [ch. 23:15]; See ver. 19the sons of the evil one, 39and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. #Joel 3:13; Rev. 14:15 The harvest is #ver. 49; ch. 24:3; 28:20; [Dan. 12:13; Heb. 9:26]the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. 40Just as the weeds #John 15:6; [ch. 3:12] are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at #[See ver. 39 above]the end of the age. 41#ch. 24:31 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all #ch. 18:7; [Zeph. 1:3] causes of sin and #ch. 7:23all law-breakers, 42#ver. 50; Rev. 9:2; [Rev. 19:20; 20:10] and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place #See ch. 8:12there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43Then #Prov. 4:18; Dan. 12:3; [1 Cor. 15:41, 42] the righteous will shine like the sun #[ver. 38; ch. 25:34; 26:29; Luke 12:32] in the kingdom of their Father. #See ch. 11:15He who has ears, let him hear.

The Parable of the Hidden Treasure

44 “The kingdom of heaven # Prov. 2:4 is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy # [ch. 25:9; Prov. 23:23; Phil. 3:7, 8] he goes and sells all that he has and # [Isa. 55:1; Rev. 3:18] buys that field.

The Parable of the Pearl of Great Value

45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, 46who, on finding #ch. 7:6 one pearl of great value, #[See ver. 44 above] went and sold all that he had and #[See ver. 44 above]bought it.

The Parable of the Net

47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is # ch. 4:19 like a net that was thrown into the sea and # [ver. 38; ch. 22:10; 25:2] gathered fish of every kind. 48When it was full, #John 21:11men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad. 49So it will be at #See ver. 39 the end of the age. The angels will come out and #ch. 25:32; [ver. 41]separate the evil from the righteous 50#See ver. 42and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place #See ver. 42there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

New and Old Treasures

51 # ver. 10-16; [John 10:6; 16:29] “Have you understood all these things?” They said to him, “Yes.” 52And he said to them, “Therefore every #ch. 23:34 scribe #ch. 28:19 who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who #[ch. 12:35]brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

53And when Jesus had finished these parables, he went away from there, 54#For ver. 54-58, see Mark 6:1-6; [Luke 4:16-30] and coming to #ch. 2:23; Luke 4:23 his hometown #See ch. 4:23 he taught them in their synagogue, so that #See ch. 7:28they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? 55#[Luke 4:22; John 6:42] Is not this #[Mark 6:3] the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not #See ch. 12:46his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? 56And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” 57And #See ch. 11:6 they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, #Luke 4:24; John 4:44; [Jer. 11:21; 12:6; John 7:5]“A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.” 58And he did not do many mighty works there, #[ch. 17:20]because of their unbelief.

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