10 And the disciplescame and said to Him, "Why* do You speak to them in parables?"
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Jesus answered them, "7To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted.
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"8For whoeverhas, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, evenwhat he has shall be takenaway from him.
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"Therefore* I speak to them in parables; because while 9seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.
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"In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says,'10YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING, BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND;YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE;
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11FOR THE HEART OF THISPEOPLE HAS BECOMEDULL,WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELYHEAR,AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES,OTHERWISE THEY WOULD SEE WITH THEIR EYES,HEAR WITH THEIR EARS,AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN,AND I WOULD HEAL THEM.'
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"12But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear.
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"For truly I say to you that 13manyprophets and righteousmendesired to seewhat you see, and did not see it, and to hearwhat you hear, and did not hear it.
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"When anyonehears15the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, 16the evil one comes and snatchesawaywhat has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sownbeside the road.
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"The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediatelyreceives it with joy;
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yet he hasno firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when afflictionorpersecutionarisesbecause of the word, immediately he 17fallsaway.
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"And the one on whom seed was sownamong the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of 18the world and the 19deceitfulness of wealthchoke the word, and it becomesunfruitful.
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"And the one on whom seed was sown on the goodsoil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; whoindeedbearsfruit and bringsforth, some20a hundredfold, somesixty, and somethirty."
Tares among Wheat
24 Jesus presentedanotherparable to them, saying, "21The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowedgoodseed in his field.
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"But while his men were sleeping, his enemycame and sowedtaresamong* the wheat, and wentaway.
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"But when the wheatsprouted and boregrain, then the taresbecameevidentalso.
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"The slaves of the landownercame and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sowgoodseed in your field? Howthen does it havetares?'
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"And he said to them, 'An enemy* has donethis!' The slavessaid to him, 'Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?'
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"But he said, 'No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them.
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'Allowboth to growtogetheruntil the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, "Firstgather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but 22gather the wheat into my barn."' "
The Mustard Seed
31 He presentedanotherparable to them, saying, "23The kingdom of heaven is like24a mustardseed, which a mantook and sowed in his field;
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and this is smaller than all other seeds, but when it is fullgrown, it is larger than the gardenplants and becomes a tree, so that 25THE BIRDS OF THE AIRcome and NEST IN ITS BRANCHES."
The Leaven
33 He spokeanotherparable to them, "26The kingdom of heaven is likeleaven, which a womantook and hid in 27threepecks of flouruntil it was allleavened."
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AllthesethingsJesusspoke to the crowds in parables, and He did not speak to them 28without a parable.
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This was to fulfillwhat was spokenthrough the prophet: "29I WILL OPEN MY MOUTH IN PARABLES; I WILL UTTERTHINGSHIDDENSINCE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD."
The Tares Explained
36Then He left the crowds and went into 30the house. And His disciplescame to Him and said, "31Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field."
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And He said, "The one who sows the goodseed is 32the Son of Man,
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and the field is the world; and as for the goodseed, these are 33the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are 34the sons of 35the evil one;
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and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is 36the end of the age; and the reapers are angels.
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"Sojust as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at 37the end of the age.
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"38The Son of Man39will sendforth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdomall40stumblingblocks, and those who commitlawlessness,
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and 41will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place42there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
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"43Then THE RIGHTEOUS WILL SHINEFORTH AS THE SUN in the kingdom of their Father. 44He who hasears, let him hear.
Hidden Treasure
44"45The kingdom of heaven is like a treasurehidden in the field, which a manfound and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and 46sellsall that he has and buys that field.
A Costly Pearl
45"Again, 47the kingdom of heaven is like a merchantseekingfinepearls,
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and upon findingonepearl of greatvalue, he went and soldall that he had and bought it.
A Dragnet
47"Again, 48the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnetcast into the sea, and gathering fish of everykind;
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and when it was filled, they drew it up on the beach; and they satdown and gathered the good fish into containers, but the bad they threwaway.
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"So it will be at 49the end of the age; the angels will comeforth and take out the wicked from among the righteous,
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and 50will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place51there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
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"Have you understoodallthesethings?" They said to Him, "Yes."
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And Jesus said to them, "Therefore*everyscribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household, whobrings out of his treasurethingsnew and old."
Jesus Revisits Nazareth
5352WhenJesus had finishedtheseparables, He departed from there.
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53He came to His hometown and 54began teaching them in their synagogue, so that 55they were astonished, and said, "Where did thisman get thiswisdom and these miraculouspowers?
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"Is not this the carpenter'sson? Is not 56His mothercalledMary, and His 57brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?
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"And 58His sisters, are they not all with us? Wherethen did thisman get allthesethings?"
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And they took59offense at Him. But Jesussaid to them, "60A prophet is not withouthonorexcept in his hometown and in his own household."
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And He did not domanymiraclestherebecause of their unbelief.