THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER

13 On that day Jesus went out of the house and was sitting by the sea.f 2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat down, while the whole crowd stood on the shore.g

3 Then he told them many things in parables,h saying, “Consider the sower who went out to sow. 4 As he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. 5 Other seed fell on rocky ground where it didn’t have much soil, and it grew up quickly since the soil wasn’t deep. 6 But when the sun came up, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it. 8 Still other seed fell on good ground and produced fruit: some a hundred, some sixty, and some thirty times what was sown.i 9 Let anyone who has earsA listen.”j

WHY JESUS USED PARABLES

10 Then the disciplesk came up and asked him, “Why are you speaking to them in parables?”l

11 He answered, “Because the secrets of the kingdom of heaven have been given for you to know,m but it has not been given to them. 12 For whoever has, more will be given to him, and he will have more than enough; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.n 13 That is why I speak to them in parables, because looking they do not see,o and hearing they do not listen or understand.p 14 Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled in them, which says:

You will listen and listen,

but never understand;

you will look and look,

but never perceive.q

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, and

understand with their hearts,

and turn back—

and I would heal them.B,r

16 “Blessed are your eyess because they do see, and your ears because they do hear.t 17 For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see the things you see but didn’t see them, to hear the things you hear but didn’t hear them.u

THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER EXPLAINED

18 “So listen to the parable of the sower:v 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.w 20 And the one sown on rocky ground—this is one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy.x 21 But he has no root and is short-lived. When distress or persecutiony comes because of the word, immediately he falls away. 22 Now the one sown among the thorns—this is one who hears the word, but the worries of this agez and the deceitfulnessA of wealthaa 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 produce fruit and yields: some a hundred, some sixty, some thirty 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.ab 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 servantsac 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 pull them up?’ the servants asked him.

29 “ ‘No,’ he said. ‘When you pull 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 collect the wheat in my barn.’ ”

THE PARABLES OF THE MUSTARD SEED AND OF THE LEAVEN

31 Hea presented another parable to them: “The kingdom of heavenb 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 garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the sky come and nest in its branches.”c

33 He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like leavenB that a woman took and mixed into fifty poundsC of flour until all of it was leavened.”d

USING PARABLES FULFILLS PROPHECY

34 Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables, and he did not tell them anything without a parable,e 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.D,E,f

JESUS INTERPRETS THE PARABLE OF THE WHEAT AND THE WEEDS

36 Then he left the crowds and went into the house. His disciples approached him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”g

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 children of the kingdom. The weeds are the children of the evil one,h 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.i 40 Therefore, just as the weeds are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age.j 41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather from his kingdom all who cause sinA and those guilty of lawlessness.B,k 42 They will throw them into the blazing furnacel where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.m 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s kingdom. Let anyone who has earsC listen.n

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.o

45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls. 46 When he found one pricelessD pearl, he went and sold everything he had and bought it.p

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,q 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,r 50 and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.s

THE STOREHOUSE OF TRUTH

51 “Have you understood all these things?”E

They answered him, “Yes.”

52 “Therefore,” he said to them, “every teacher of the lawF who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom treasures new and old.”t

REJECTION AT NAZARETH

53 When Jesus had finished these parables, he left there. 54 He went to his hometownu and began to teach them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?v 55 Isn’t this the carpenter’s son?w Isn’t his mother called Mary, and his brothers James,x Joseph,* Simon, and Judas?y 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.

Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his household.”a 58 And he did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.

JOHN THE BAPTIST BEHEADED

14 At that timeb Herod the tetrarchc 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 miraculous powers are at work in him.”d

3 For Herod had arrested John, chainedH him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife,e 4 since John had been telling him, “It’s not lawfulf for you to have her.” 5 Though Herod wanted to kill John, he feared the crowd since they regarded John as a prophet.g

6 When Herod’s birthday celebration came, Herodias’s daughter danced before themA and pleased Herod. 7 So he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. 8 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,B buried it, and went and reported to Jesus.

FEEDING OF THE FIVE THOUSAND

13 When Jesus heard about it,h 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 When he went ashore,C he saw a large crowd, had compassion on them, and healed their sick.i

15 When evening came, the disciplesj approached him and said, “This place is deserted, and it is already late.D Send the crowds away so that 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.k 20 Everyone ate and was satisfied. They picked up twelve baskets full of leftover pieces.l 21 Now those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

WALKING ON THE WATER

22 Immediatelym heE 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. Well into the night, he was there alone.n 24 Meanwhile, the boat was already some distanceF from land,G battered by the waves, because the wind was against them. 25 Jesus came toward them walking on the seao very early in the morning.H 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost!” they said, and they cried out in fear.

27 Immediately Jesus spoke to them. “Have courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”p

28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter answered him, “command me to come to you on the water.”

29 He said, “Come.”

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,I 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?”q

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.”r

MIRACULOUS HEALINGS

34 When they had crossed over,s they came to shore at Gennesaret.t 35 When the men of that place recognized him, they alerted the whole vicinity and brought to him all who were sick. 36 They begged him that they might only touch the end of his robe, and as many as touched it were healed.u

THE TRADITION OF THE ELDERS

15 Thenv Jesus was approached by Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem, who asked,w 2 “Why do your disciplesx break the tradition of the elders? For they don’t wash their hands when they eat.”A,a

3 He answered them, “Why do you break God’s commandment because of your tradition? 4 For God said:B Honor your father and your mother;C,b and, Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must be put to death.D,c 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.’E In this way, you have nullified the word of GodF because of your tradition. 7 Hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you when he said:

8 This peopleG honors me with their lips,

but their heart is far from me.

9 They worship me in vain,

teaching as doctrines human commands.”* d

DEFILEMENT IS FROM WITHIN

10 Summoning the crowd, he told them, “Listen and understand: 11 It’s not what goes into the mouth that defilese a person, but what comes out of the mouth—this defiles a person.”f

12 Then the disciples came up and told him, “Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said?”

13 He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father didn’t plant will be uprooted.g 14 Leave them alone! They are blind guides.I And if the blind guide the blind, both will fall into a pit.”h

15 Then Peter said, “Explain this parable to us.”i

16 “Do you still lack understanding?” heJ asked. 17 “Don’t you realizeK that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is eliminated?L 18 But what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and this defiles a person.j 19 For from the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false testimonies,k slander.l 20 These are the things that defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile a person.”m

A GENTILE MOTHER’S FAITH

21 When Jesus left there,n he withdrew to the area of Tyre and Sidon.o 22 Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came and kept crying out,A “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely tormented by a demon.”p

23 Jesus did not say a word to her. His disciplesq approached him and urged him, “Send her away because she’s crying out after us.”

24 He replied, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”r

25 But she came, knelt before him, and said, “Lord, help me!”

26 He answered, “It isn’t right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”s

27 “Yes, Lord,” she said, “yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”

28 Then Jesus replied to her, “Woman, your faith is great. Let it be done for you as you want.” And from that momentB her daughter was healed.t

HEALING MANY PEOPLE

29 Moving on from there,u Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee.v He went up on a mountain and sat there, 30 and large crowds came to him, including the lame, the blind, the crippled, those unable to speak, and many others. They put them at his feet, and he healed them. 31 So the crowd was amazed when they saw those unable to speak talking, the crippled restored, the lame walking, and the blind seeing,w and they gave glory to the God of Israel.

FEEDING OF THE FOUR THOUSAND

32 Jesus called his disciples and said,x “I have compassion on the crowd, because they’ve already stayed with me three days and have nothing to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry, otherwise they might collapse on the way.”

33 The disciples said to him, “Where could we get enough bread in this desolate placey to feed such a crowd?”

34 “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked them.

“Seven,” they said, “and a few small fish.”

35 After commanding the crowd to sit down on the ground, 36 he took the seven loaves and the fish, gave thanks, broke them, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.z 37 They all ate and were satisfied. They collected the leftover pieces—seven large baskets full. 38 Now there were four thousand men who had eaten, besides women and children. 39 After dismissing the crowds, he got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan.C,a