¹And on that day, Jesus went out from the house and sat by the sea, ²and large crowds gathered together around him, so he went on board a boat and sat down, while the whole crowd was standing on the shore. ³And he told them many things in parables, and he said, “A sower once went out to sow, ⁴and as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up. ⁵Other seed fell on stony ground, where it did not have much soil, and it quickly sprang up through not having depth of soil, ⁶but when the sun rose, it was scorched, and because it did not have a root, it withered. ⁷And other seed fell in the thorn bushes, and the thorn plants came up and smothered it. ⁸But other seed fell on good ground, and it yielded produce: some a hundredfold return, some a sixtyfold, and some a thirtyfold. ⁹He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” ¹⁰Then the disciples came to him and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” ¹¹He answered and said to them, “To you it is granted to know the secrets of the kingdom of the heavens, but to them it is not granted. ¹²For whoever has something, to him will be given more, and it will be in abundance, but whoever does not have anything, even that which he has will be taken from him. ¹³This is why I speak to them in parables, because although seeing, they do not see, and although hearing, they do not hear, nor do they understand. ¹⁴And the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled in them, which says, ¹⁶But blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear. ¹⁷For truly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see, but they did not see, and to hear what you hear, but they did not hear. ¹⁸So hear the meaning of the parable of the sower. ¹⁹When anyone hears the word of the kingdom but does not understand, the evil one comes and seizes what was sown in his heart. This is he who was sown by the wayside. ²⁰But he who was sown on the stony ground is he who, hearing the word immediately receives it with joy, ²¹but he does not have root in himself, but is for a season, and when tribulation or persecution comes on account of the word, he quickly stumbles. ²²And as for him who was sown in the thorn bushes, this is he who hears the word, but for whom the care of this age and the deceit of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. ²³But he who was sown on the good ground is the one who hears the word and understands it – one who indeed bears fruit – and one produces a hundredfold, while another sixtyfold, and another thirtyfold.” ²⁴He put another parable to them and said, “The kingdom of the heavens is comparable to a man who sows good seed in his field. ²⁵But while the men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went away again, ²⁶and when the grains sprouted and produced fruit, then the tares appeared as well. ²⁷Then when the servants of the master of the house went to him, they said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? From where then is it infested with tares?’ ²⁸So he said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ Then the servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go out, and we will gather them up?’ ²⁹But he said, ‘No, don't, in case when gathering the tares you uproot the wheat together with them. ³⁰Leave both to grow up together until the harvest, and at the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, «Gather first the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up, but gather the wheat into my storehouse.» ’ ” ³¹He put another parable to them and said, “The kingdom of the heavens is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, ³²which is the smallest of all seeds, but when it grows, it is bigger than other vegetables, and it becomes a tree, so that the birds of the sky come and settle on its branches.” ³³He told them another parable: “The kingdom of the heavens is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three sack measures of flour, until it was all leavened.” ³⁴Jesus spoke all these things in parables to the crowds, and he didn't speak to them without a parable, ³⁵in order that that which was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled, when he said, ³⁶Then Jesus left the crowds and went to the house. And his disciples came to him and said, “Explain the parable of the tares in the field to us.” ³⁷So he answered and said to them, “The sower of the good seed is the son of man. ³⁸The field is the world; the good seed is what represents the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the evil one. ³⁹The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the consummation of the age; the harvesters are the angels. ⁴⁰So just as the tares are gathered and burned in a fire, so it will be at the consummation of this age. ⁴¹The son of man will send his angels, and they will gather up out of his kingdom all causes of offence, and those who commit iniquity, ⁴²and they will throw them into the fiery furnace. There, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ⁴³Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. ⁴⁴Again, the kingdom of the heavens is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid, and for the joy of it went away and sold everything he had and bought that field. ⁴⁵Again, the kingdom of the heavens is like a merchant seeking good quality pearls, ⁴⁶who, finding one very expensive pearl, went away and sold everything he had and bought it. ⁴⁷Again, the kingdom of the heavens is like a dragnet which was cast in the sea and caught all sorts of species, ⁴⁸which, when it was full, they brought to land on the shore and sat down and gathered the good fish into containers, but they threw the rotten fish out. ⁴⁹So will it be in the consummation of the age. The angels will go out and separate the evil ones from the midst of the righteous, ⁵⁰and they will throw them into the fiery furnace. There, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” ⁵¹Jesus said to them, “Did you understand all these things?” And they said to him, “Yes, Lord.” ⁵²But he said to them, “On account of this, every scribe who has been schooled in the kingdom of the heavens is like a master of a house who brings out of his storehouse new things and old.” ⁵³And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these parables, that he moved on from there, ⁵⁴and he came to his native district, and he taught them in their synagogue, in consequence of which they were amazed and said, “Where does this man get this wisdom and these powers from? ⁵⁵Isn't he the carpenter's son? Isn't his mother called Mary, and his brothers, James and Joses, Simon and Judas? ⁵⁶And are not his sisters all in our company? Where then does this man get all these things from?” ⁵⁷And they were offended at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honour except in his native district and in his house”, ⁵⁸and he did not perform many miracles there, because of their unbelief.

Reference(s) in Chapter 13: v.14 ↔ Isaiah 6:9 ● v.15 ↔ Isaiah 6:10 ● v.35 ↔ Psalm 78:2.