Parable of the Soils
THE same day Jesus went out of the house, and sat by the sea side.
2 And great crowds gathered together to Him, so that He went into a boat, and sat; and the whole crowd stood on the shore.
3 And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: “Behold, a sower went forth to sow;
4 And when he sowed, some seeds fell along side the way, and the birds came and devoured them up:
5 Some fell upon rocky ground, where they had not much earth: and immediately they sprouted up, because they had no deepness of earth:
6 And when the sun rose up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.
7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:
8 But others fell upon good ground, and brought forth fruit: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
9 Whomever has ears to hear, let him hear!”
Purpose of Parables
10 And the disciples came, and said to Him: “Why do you speak to them in parables?”
11 He answered and said to them: “Because it is given to you, to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven; but to them it is not given.
12 For whosoever has: to him shall be given, and he shall have an abundance; but whosoever has not: from him shall be taken away, even what he has!
13 Therefore I speak to them in parables: for seeing, they see not; and hearing, they hear not, nor do they understand.
14 And on them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which saith: ‘Hearing, you shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing, you shall see, and shall not perceive:
15 For this people’s heart is waxed dull, and their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed: lest at any time, they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should turn back, and I should heal them.’
16 But blessed are your eyes: for they see; and your ears: for they hear.
17 For truly I say to you: That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which you see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which you hear, and have not heard them.”
Parable of the Soils Explained
18 ¶ “Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower:
19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and understands it not: then comes the evil-one, and seizes away that which was sown in his heart. This is he, which received seed by the side of the way.
20 But he that received the seed upon rocky ground: the same is he that hears the word, and immediately with joy, receives it;
21 Yet he has no root within himself, but is only, for a little while: for when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls.
22 Also, he that received seed among the thorns: is he that hears the word, and the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches: choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.
23 But he that received seed upon the good ground: is he that hears the word, and understands it; which also bears fruit, and brings it forth: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”
Parable of the Wheat and Tares
24 ¶ Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is likened to a man which sowed good seed in his field:
25 But while the men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
26 But when the blade sprouted up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.
27 So the servants of the master of the house, came and said to him: ‘lord, did not you sow good seed in your field? from where then, has it tares?’
28 He said to them: ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him: ‘Do you will then, that we go and pick them out?’
29 But he said: ‘No; lest while you pick out the tares, you also up root the wheat with them.
30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest, I will say to the reapers: Gather together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.'”
Parable of the Mustard Seed
31 ¶ Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is likened to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field:
32 Which indeed is the smallest of all seeds: but when it is grown: it is the largest among herbs, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.”
Parable of the Leaven
33 ¶ Another parable He spoke to them: “The kingdom of heaven is likened to leaven: which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, until the whole was leavened.”
Parables in Prophecy
34 ¶ All these things spoke Jesus, to the crowds in parables; and without a parable, He spoke not to them:
35 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying: “I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret, from the foundation of the world.”
Parable of the Tares Explained
36 ¶ Then Jesus sent the crowds away, and went into the house: and His disciples came to Him, saying: “Explain to us, the parable of the tares of the field.”
37 He answered and said to them: “He that sows the good seed, is the Son of man;
38 The field is the world; the good seed, be the sons of the kingdom; but the tares be the sons of the evil-one.
39 The enemy that sowed them, is the Devil; the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are angels.
40 Therefore, as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be at the end of this age.
41 The Son of man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that cause to stumble, and those which perform lawlessness.
42 And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: at that place, shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
43 Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun, in the kingdom of their Father. Whomever has ears to hear, let him hear!”
Parable of the Hidden Treasure
44 ¶ “Again, the kingdom of heaven is likened to treasure hidden in a field: the which, when a man has found, he hides, and for joy thereof: goes and sells all that he has, and buys that field.”
Parable of the Pearl
45 ¶ “Again, the kingdom of heaven is likened to a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls:
46 Who, when he had found one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.”
Parable of the Dragnet
47 ¶ “Again, the kingdom of heaven is likened to a drag net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind:
48 Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the worthless away.
49 So shall it be at the end of the age: the angels shall come forth, and separate the evil from among the righteous,
50 And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: at that place, shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”
51 Jesus said to them: “Have you understood all these things?” They say to Him: “Yes, Lord.”
52 Then He said to them: “Therefore, every scribe which is instructed into the kingdom of heaven, is likened to a man that is master of a house: whom brings forth out of his treasure things new and old.”
53 ¶ And it came to pass, that when Jesus had finished these parables, He departed from there.
Jesus Rejected at Nazareth
54 ¶ And when He had come into His hometown, He taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said: “From where has this man, this wisdom and powerful works?
55 Is this not the carpenter’s son? is not His mother called Mary? and His brothers, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judah?
56 And His sisters: are they not all with us? From where then has this man, all these things?”
57 And they were offended by Him. And Jesus said to them: “A prophet is not without honour, except in his hometown, and in His own house!”
58 And He did not, many powerful works there, because of their unbelief.