Matthew - Chapter 13

1 Now on that day Yeshua went out from the house, and sat by the side of the sea. 2 And large crowds assembled around him so that he went up to sit on a boat, and the entire crowd was standing on the shore of the sea. 3 And he was speaking much with them in parables. And he said:

"Behold! A sower went out to sow, 4 and as he was sowing some of the seed fell upon the side of a path and a bird came and devoured it. 5 And other seed fell upon a rock, so that it did not have much soil and immediately it sprouted, because there was no depth to the ground. 6 But when the sun came it became hot and because it lacked root, it wilted and dried up. 7 And other seed fell into an area of thorns and when the thorns sprang up, they choked it. 8 And other seed fell on good ground and bore fruits, some a hundred, some sixty, and some thirty. 9 He that has ears to hear let him hear."

10 And his disciples approached him saying: "Why do you speak with them in parables?" 11 And he answered, and said to them: "To you it is given to know the mystery of the Kingdom of Heaven, but it is not given to them. 12 For to him who has, it shall be given, and it shall be increased to him; but from him that does not have, even what he does have shall be taken from him. 13 For this reason I will speak to them in parables, because they see and do not see, and they hear and do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, who said:

'You indeed hear,

but do not understand;

and indeed you see,

but do not perceive.

15 Make the heart of this people hard.

Make their ears hard of hearing, and shut their eyes;

lest they see with their eyes,

and hear with their ears,

and understand with their heart,

and turn again, and be healed.' *

16 "But to you, your eyes are blessed, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. 17 For truly I say to you, that many prophets and tzadikim have longed to see the things that you see, and they did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. 18 But you hear the parable of the seed. 19 Every one who hears the word of the Kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away the word that was sown in his heart; this is that which was sown on the side of the road. 20 And that which was sown on the stony area of earth, is he that hears the word, and at once accepts it with joy. 21 But having no root in him, he is of a short extent, and when trouble or persecution comes on account of the word, he is quickly offended. 22 And that which was sown in the thorny area is he that hears the word and the cares of this world and the deception of riches choke the word, and he becomes as one having no fruit. 23 But that which was sown on good ground, is he that hears my word and understands and produces fruit, some a hundred, some sixty, and some thirty."

24 He spoke another parable before them saying: "The Kingdom of heaven is like to a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 And when the people were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and left. 26 And when the blade sprang up and bore fruit, then the tares also appeared. 27 And the servants of the house of the master approached, saying to him: 'Our master, behold! Did you not sow good seed in your field? From where did the tares come?' 28 And he said to them, 'A man, an enemy, has done this.' The servants said to him: 'Do you desire for us to go pluck them out?' 29 But he said to them: 'No, in case, while you are plucking out the tares, you also uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest, I will say to the reapers: 'First pluck out the tares, and bind them in bundles to be burned; but gather the wheat into my store houses.'"

31 He spoke another parable before them saying: "The Kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, that a man took and sowed in his field. 32 And it is smaller than of all the small seeds; but when it grows, it is greater than all the small herbs, and becomes a tree, so that a bird of heaven comes and nests in its branches."

33 And he told them another parable: "The Kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and buried in three measures of flour, until all is leavened."

34 All these things Yeshua spoke in parables to the crowd and he did not speak with them without parables 35 so that it might be fulfilled that which was spoken through the prophet, who said:

"Hear my teaching, my people.

Turn your ears to the words of my mouth.

I will open my mouth in a parable.

I will reveal the secret things that were before the foundation of the world."*

36 Then Yeshua left the crowds, and went into the house and his talmidim drew near to him, and said: "Explain to us the parables of the tares and of the field." 37 And he answered, saying to them: "He who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world and the good seed are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the wicked One. 39 The enemy who sowed them is the accuser. The harvest is the end of the world and the reapers are the angels. 40 As therefore the tares are plucked and burned in the fire; this is how it will be in the end of this world. 41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will pluck out of his Kingdom all the stumbling blocks and all the workers of wickedness; 42 and they will cast them into the furnace of fire. And there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine as the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

44 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure that is hidden in a field which a man finds and hides in it, and from his joy he goes and sells everything that he owns, and buys that field again. 45 Again, the Kingdom of heaven is like a man who is a merchant, who was seeking after good pearls 46 and when he found a certain precious pearl, he went and sold everything that he owned, and bought it. 47 Again, the Kingdom of heaven is like a net that was cast into the sea, and every kind of fish was gathered into it. 48 And when it was full, they pulled it out to the seashore and they sat down and sorted them placing the good into containers, and the bad they threw away. 49 This is how it will be in the end of the world. The angels will go out and separate the wicked from among the righteous; 50 and they will cast them into a furnace of fire. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

51 Yeshua said to them: "Do you understand all of these things?" They say to him: "Yes, Maran."

52 He said to them: "Because of this every scribe who is instructed for the Kingdom of heaven is like a man who is the master of a house, who brings out from his treasures the new and the old."

53 So when Yeshua had finished these parables he departed from there. 54 And he came to his own city. And he taught them in their assemblies, in such a way that they were amazed, and they said: "From where has this wisdom and these miracles come? 55 Is this not the son of the carpenter? Is his mother not called Maryam, and his brothers Ya'aqub and Yosef and Shimon and Yudah? 56 And are not all of his sisters with us? From where, then, does this man obtain all these things?"

57 And they were offended by him. But Yeshua said to them: "There is no prophet who is ridiculed, except in his own city and in his own home." 58 And he did not do many miracles there, due to their unbelief.