Matthew 13
A Story about a Farmer
1That same day Jesus left the house and went out beside Lake Galilee, where he sat down to teach. 2Such large crowds gathered around him that he had to sit in a boat, while the people stood on the shore. 3Then he taught them many things by using stories. He said: A farmer went out to scatter seed in a field. 4While the farmer was scattering the seed, some of it fell along the road and was eaten by birds. 5Other seeds fell on thin, rocky ground and quickly started growing because the soil wasn't very deep. 6But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched and dried up, because they did not have enough roots. 7Some other seeds fell where thornbushes grew up and choked the plants. 8But
a few seeds did fall on good ground where the plants produced a hundred
or sixty or thirty times as much as was scattered. 9If you have ears, pay attention!
Why Jesus Used Stories
10Jesus' disciples came to him and asked, "Why do you use nothing but stories when you speak to the people?"
11Jesus answered:
I have explained the secrets about the kingdom of heaven to you, but not to others. 12Everyone who has something will be given more. But people who don't have anything will lose even what little they have. 13I
use stories when I speak to them because when they look, they cannot
see, and when they listen, they cannot hear or understand. 14So God's promise came true, just as the prophet Isaiah had said,
"These people will listen
and listen,
but never understand.
They will look and look,
but never see.
15All of them have
stubborn minds!
Their ears are stopped up,
and their eyes are covered.
They cannot see or hear
or understand.
If they could,
they would turn to me,
and I would heal them."
16But God has blessed you, because your eyes can see and your ears can hear! 17Many
prophets and good people were eager to see what you see and to hear
what you hear. But I tell you that they did not see or hear.
Jesus Explains the Story about the Farmer
18Now listen to the meaning of the story about the farmer:
19The
seeds that fell along the road are the people who hear the message
about the kingdom, but don't understand it. Then the evil one comes and
snatches the message from their hearts. 20The seeds that fell on rocky ground are the people who gladly hear the message and accept it right away. 21But
they don't have deep roots, and they don't last very long. As soon as
life gets hard or the message gets them in trouble, they give up.
22The
seeds that fell among the thornbushes are also people who hear the
message. But they start worrying about the needs of this life and are
fooled by the desire to get rich. So the message gets choked out, and
they never produce anything. 23The
seeds that fell on good ground are the people who hear and understand
the message. They produce as much as a hundred or sixty or thirty times
what was planted.
Weeds among the Wheat
24Jesus then told them this story:
The kingdom of heaven is like what happened when a farmer scattered good seed in a field. 25But while everyone was sleeping, an enemy came and scattered weed seeds in the field and then left.
26When the plants came up and began to ripen, the farmer's servants could see the weeds. 27The servants came and asked, "Sir, didn't you scatter good seed in your field? Where did these weeds come from?"
28"An enemy did this," he replied.
His servants then asked, "Do you want us to go out and pull up the weeds?"
29"No!" he answered. "You might also pull up the wheat. 30Leave
the weeds alone until harvest time. Then I'll tell my workers to gather
the weeds and tie them up and burn them. But I'll have them store the
wheat in my barn."
Stories about a Mustard Seed and Yeast
31Jesus told them another story:
The kingdom of heaven is like what happens when a farmer plants a mustard seed in a field. 32Although
it is the smallest of all seeds, it grows larger than any garden plant
and becomes a tree. Birds even come and nest on its branches.
33Jesus also said:
The
kingdom of heaven is like what happens when a woman mixes a little
yeast into three big batches of flour. Finally, all the dough rises.
The Reason for Teaching with Stories
34Jesus used stories when he spoke to the people. In fact, he did not tell them anything without using stories. 35So God's promise came true, just as the prophet had said, "I will use stories
to speak my message
and to explain things
that have been hidden
since the creation
of the world."
Jesus Explains the Story about the Weeds
36After Jesus left the
crowd and went inside, his disciples came to him and said, "Explain to
us the story about the weeds in the wheat field." 37Jesus answered:
The one who scattered the good seed is the Son of Man. 38The
field is the world, and the good seeds are the people who belong to the
kingdom. The weed seeds are those who belong to the evil one, 39and the one who scattered them is the devil. The harvest is the end of time, and angels are the ones who bring in the harvest.
40Weeds are gathered and burned. That's how it will be at the end of time. 41The
Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather from his
kingdom everyone who does wrong or causes others to sin. 42Then he will throw them into a flaming furnace, where people will cry and grit their teeth in pain. 43But everyone who has done right will shine like the sun in their Father's kingdom. If you have ears, pay attention!
A Hidden Treasure
44The
kingdom of heaven is like what happens when someone finds a treasure
hidden in a field and buries it again. A person like that is happy and
goes and sells everything in order to buy that field.
A Valuable Pearl
45The kingdom of heaven is like what happens when a shop owner is looking for fine pearls. 46After finding a very valuable one, the owner goes and sells everything in order to buy that pearl.
A Fish Net
47The kingdom of heaven is like what happens when a net is thrown into a lake and catches all kinds of fish. 48When
the net is full, it is dragged to the shore, and the fishermen sit down
to separate the fish. They keep the good ones, but throw the bad ones
away. 49That's how it will be at the end of time. Angels will come and separate the evil people from the ones who have done right. 50Then those evil people will be thrown into a flaming furnace, where they will cry and grit their teeth in pain.
New and Old Treasures
51Jesus asked his disciples if they understood all these things. They said, "Yes, we do."
52So
he told them, "Every student of the Scriptures who becomes a disciple
in the kingdom of heaven is like someone who brings out new and old
treasures from the storeroom."
The People of Nazareth Turn against Jesus
53When Jesus had finished telling these stories, he left 54and
went to his hometown. He taught in their meeting place, and the people
were so amazed that they asked, "Where does he get all this wisdom and
the power to work these miracles? 55Isn't he the son of the carpenter? Isn't Mary his mother, and aren't James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas his brothers? 56Don't his sisters still live here in our town? How can he do all this?" 57So the people were very unhappy because of what he was doing.
But Jesus said, "Prophets are honored by everyone, except the people of their hometown and their own family." 58And because the people did not have any faith, Jesus did not work many miracles there.
