You will listen and listen,
yet never understand;
and you will look and look,
yet never perceive.
15
For this people's heart has grown callous;
their ears are hard of hearing,
and they have shut their eyes;
otherwise they might see with their eyes
and hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts
and turn back —
and I would cure them.
16
“But your eyes are blessed because they do see, and your ears because they do hear!
17
For
•I assure you
: Many prophets and righteous people longed to see the things you see yet didn't see them; to hear the things you hear yet didn't hear them.
The Parable of the Sower Explained
18
“You, then, listen to the parable of the sower:
19
When anyone hears the word
about the kingdom and doesn't understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the one sown along the path.
20
And the one sown on rocky ground — this is one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy.
21
Yet he has no root in himself, but is short-lived. When pressure or persecution comes because of the word, immediately he stumbles.
22
Now the one sown among the thorns — this is one who hears the word, but the worries of this age and the seduction of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
23
But the one sown on the good ground — this is one who hears and understands the word, who does bear fruit and yields: some 100, some 60, some 30 times what was sown.”
The Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds
24
He presented another parable to them:
“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field.
25
But while people were sleeping, his enemy came, sowed weeds
among the wheat, and left.
26
When the plants sprouted and produced grain, then the weeds also appeared.
27
The landowner's
•slaves
came to him and said, ‘Master, didn't you sow good seed in your field? Then where did the weeds come from? '
28
“ ‘An enemy did this! ' he told them.
“ ‘So, do you want us to go and gather them up? ' the slaves asked him.
29
“ ‘No,' he said. ‘When you gather up the weeds, you might also uproot the wheat with them.
30
Let both grow together until the harvest. At harvest time I'll tell the reapers: Gather the weeds first and tie them in bundles to burn them, but store the wheat in my barn.' ”
The Parables of the Mustard Seed and of the Yeast
31
He presented another parable to them:
“The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field.
32
It's the smallest of all the seeds, but when grown, it's taller than the vegetables and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the sky come and nest in its branches.”
33
He told them another parable:
“The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into 50 pounds
of flour until it spread through all of it.”
Using Parables Fulfills Prophecy
34
Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables, and He would not speak anything to them without a parable,
35
so that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled:
I will open My mouth in parables;
I will declare things kept secret
from the foundation of the world.
Jesus Interprets the Wheat and the Weeds
36
Then He dismissed the crowds and went into the house. His disciples approached Him and said, “Explain the parable of the weeds in the field to us.”
37
He replied:
“The One who sows the good seed is the
•Son
of Man;
38
the field is the world; and the good seed — these are the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one,
39
and the enemy who sowed them is the Devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.
40
Therefore, just as the weeds are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age.
41
The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather from His kingdom everything that causes sin
and those
•guilty
of lawlessness.
42
They will throw them into the blazing furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
43
Then the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father's kingdom. Anyone who has ears
should listen!
The Parables of the Hidden Treasure and of the Priceless Pearl
44
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure, buried in a field, that a man found and reburied. Then in his joy he goes and sells everything he has and buys that field.
45
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls.
46
When he found one priceless
pearl, he went and sold everything he had, and bought it.
The Parable of the Net
47
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a large net thrown into the sea. It collected every kind of fish,
48
and when it was full, they dragged it ashore, sat down, and gathered the good fish into containers, but threw out the worthless ones.
49
So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out, separate the evil people from the righteous,
50
and throw them into the blazing furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
The Storehouse of Truth
51
“Have you understood all these things? ”
“Yes,” they told Him.
52
“Therefore,”
He said to them,
“every student of Scripture
instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who brings out of his storeroom what is new and what is old.”
53
When Jesus had finished these parables, He left there.
Rejection at Nazareth
54
He went to His hometown and began to teach them in their
•synagogue
, so that they were astonished and said, “How did this wisdom and these miracles come to Him?
55
Isn't this the carpenter's son? Isn't His mother called Mary, and His brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas?
56
And His sisters, aren't they all with us? So where does He get all these things? ”
57
And they were
•offended
by Him.
But Jesus said to them,
“A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his household.”
58
And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.
Matthew
John the Baptist Beheaded
14
At that time
•Herod
the tetrarch heard the report about Jesus.
2
“This is John the Baptist! ” he told his servants. “He has been raised from the dead, and that's why supernatural powers are at work in him.”
3
For Herod had arrested John, chained him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife,
4
since John had been telling him, “It's not lawful for you to have her! ”
5
Though he wanted to kill him, he feared the crowd, since they regarded him as a prophet.
6
But when Herod's birthday celebration came, Herodias's daughter danced before them and pleased Herod.
7
So he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask.
8
And prompted by her mother, she answered, “Give me John the Baptist's head here on a platter! ”
9
Although the king regretted it, he commanded that it be granted because of his oaths and his guests.
10
So he sent orders and had John beheaded in the prison.
11
His head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, who carried it to her mother.
12
Then his disciples came, removed the corpse, buried it, and went and reported to Jesus.
Feeding 5,000
13
When Jesus heard about it, He withdrew from there by boat to a remote place to be alone. When the crowds heard this, they followed Him on foot from the towns.
14
As He stepped ashore, He saw a huge crowd, felt compassion for them, and healed their sick.
15
When evening came, the disciples approached Him and said, “This place is a wilderness, and it is already late. Send the crowds away so they can go into the villages and buy food for themselves.”
16
“They don't need to go away,”
Jesus told them.
“You give them something to eat.”
17
“But we only have five loaves and two fish here,” they said to Him.
18
“Bring them here to Me,”
He said.
19
Then He commanded the crowds to sit down on the grass. He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed them. He broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.
20
Everyone ate and was filled. Then they picked up 12 baskets full of leftover pieces!
21
Now those who ate were about 5,000 men, besides women and children.
Walking on the Water
22
Immediately He made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, while He dismissed the crowds.
23
After dismissing the crowds, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. When evening came, He was there alone.
24
But the boat was already over a mile from land, battered by the waves, because the wind was against them.
25
Around three in the morning, He came toward them walking on the sea.
26
When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified. “It's a ghost! ” they said, and cried out in fear.
27
Immediately Jesus spoke to them.
“Have courage! It is I. Don't be afraid.”
28
“Lord, if it's You,” Peter answered Him, “command me to come to You on the water.”
29
“Come! ”
He said.
And climbing out of the boat, Peter started walking on the water and came toward Jesus.
30
But when he saw the strength of the wind, he was afraid. And beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me! ”
31
Immediately Jesus reached out His hand, caught hold of him, and said to him,
“You of little faith, why did you doubt? ”
32
When they got into the boat, the wind ceased.
33
Then those in the boat worshiped Him and said, “Truly You are the Son of God! ”
Miraculous Healings
34
Once they crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret.
35
When the men of that place recognized Him, they alerted the whole vicinity and brought to Him all who were sick.
36
They were begging Him that they might only touch the
•tassel
on His robe. And as many as touched it were made perfectly well.
Matthew
The Tradition of the Elders
15
Then
•Pharisees
and
•scribes
came from Jerusalem to Jesus and asked,
2
“Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they don't wash their hands when they eat! ”
3
He answered them,
“And why do you break God's commandment because of your tradition?
4
For God said:
Honor your father and your mother;
and,
The one who speaks evil of father or mother
must be put to death.
5
But you say, ‘Whoever tells his father or mother, “Whatever benefit you might have received from me is a gift committed to the temple” —
6
he does not have to honor his father.'
In this way, you have revoked God's word
because of your tradition.
7
Hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you when he said:
8
These people
honor Me with their lips,
but their heart is far from Me.
9
They worship Me in vain,
teaching as doctrines the commands of men.
”
Defilement Is from Within
10
Summoning the crowd, He told them,
“Listen and understand:
11
It's not what goes into the mouth that defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.”