Matthew 13 (NMV)
1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat down by the sea.
2 Such large crowds gathered around Him that He got into a boat and sat down, while the whole crowd stood on the shore.
3 Then He told them many things in parables, saying: "Look, a farmer went out to sow seed.
4 As he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it.
5 Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly because the soil was shallow,
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 grew up and choked it.
8 Still other seed fell on good soil and produced a crop, some a hundred, some sixty, and some thirty times what was sown.
9 Let the one who has ears listen carefully."
10 Then the disciples came and asked Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?"
11 He answered, "Because the secrets of the kingdom of heaven have been given to you, but not to them.
12 For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. But whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.
13 That is why I speak to them in parables: Because seeing, they do not see; and hearing, they do not hear or understand.
14 In them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: 'You will hear clearly but never understand; you will see clearly but never perceive.
15 For this people's heart has grown dull; their ears can barely hear, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn back, and I would heal them.'
16 But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.
17 For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see and did not see it, and to hear what you hear and did not hear it.
18 So listen to the meaning of the parable of the farmer:
19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and doesn't understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path.
20 The seed sown on rocky ground is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy.
21 But they have no root and last only a short time. When pressure or suffering comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.
22 The seed sown among the thorns is the one who hears the word, but the worries of this age and the desire for more than God has provided choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
23 But the seed sown on good soil is the one who hears the word and understands it. They bear fruit and produce a harvest, one a hundred, another sixty, and another thirty times what was sown."
24 He presented another parable to them: "The kingdom of heaven is like a person who sowed good seed in his field.
25 But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came, sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away.
26 When the plants sprouted and produced grain, the weeds also appeared.
27 The servants of the landowner came and said to him, '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. 'Do you want us to go and pull them up?' they asked him.
29 No,' he said. 'If you pull up the weeds, you might uproot the wheat with them.
30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At harvest time I'll tell the reapers: First gather the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.'"
31 He told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a person took and planted in a field.
32 Although it is the smallest of all the seeds, when it grows it is larger than the garden plants 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 about sixty pounds of flour until it spread through all of it."
34 Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables, and He did not speak to them without using a parable,
35 so that what was spoken through the prophet would be fulfilled: "I will open my mouth in parables; I will declare things hidden since the creation of the world."
36 Then He left the crowds and went into the house. His disciples came to Him and said, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field."
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 stands for the children of the kingdom. The weeds are the children of the evil one,
39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels.
40 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 out of His kingdom everything that causes sin and those who practice unrestrained immorality.
42 They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and the grinding of teeth from unbearable torment.
43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let the one who has ears listen carefully.
44 "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a person found it, they hid it again, and with great joy went and sold all they had and bought that field.
45 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls.
46 When he found one very precious pearl, he went and sold everything he had and bought it.
47 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught all kinds of fish.
48 When it was full, they pulled it ashore, sat down, and sorted the good fish into containers, but threw out the bad.
49 That is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the evil from the righteous
50 and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and the grinding of teeth from unbearable torment.
51 "Have you understood all these things?" "Yes," they answered Him.
52 He said to them, "Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old."
53 When Jesus had finished these parables, He left that place.
54 He went to His hometown and began teaching in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, "Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?
55 Isn't this the carpenter's son? Isn't His mother called Mary, and aren't His brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas?
56 And aren't all His sisters with us? Where then did this man 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 own household."
58 And He did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.