Matthew 13

⁴While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, He told them this parable:

⁵“A farmer went out to sow his seed. And as he was sowing, some seed fell along the path, where it was trampled, and the birds of the air devoured it.

¹That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea.

²Such large crowds gathered around Him that He got into a boat and sat down, while all the people stood on the shore.

¹Once again Jesus began to teach beside the sea, and such a large crowd gathered around Him that He got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people crowded along the shore.

²And He taught them many things in parables, and in His teaching He said,

³⁶Then Jesus dismissed 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.”

³Jesus got into the boat belonging to Simon and asked him to put out a little from shore. And sitting down, He taught the people from the boat.

³⁰Large crowds came to Him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and laid them at His feet, and He healed them.

⁴While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, He told them this parable:

⁵“A farmer went out to sow his seed. And as he was sowing, some seed fell along the path, where it was trampled, and the birds of the air devoured it.

¹⁰The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes and the allegiance of the nations is his.

²⁵Large crowds followed Him, having come from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.

¹Once again Jesus began to teach beside the sea, and such a large crowd gathered around Him that He got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people crowded along the shore.

²And He taught them many things in parables, and in His teaching He said,

³“Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed.

¹³Then Jesus said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand any of the parables?

²I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the beginning,

³³With many such parables Jesus spoke the word to them, to the extent that they could understand.

³⁴Jesus spoke all these things to the crowds in parables. He did not tell them anything without using a parable.

³⁵So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet: “I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden since the foundation of the world.”

¹Then the Lord sent Nathan to David, and when he arrived, he said, “There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor.

²The rich man had a great number of sheep and cattle,

¹⁸Consider, then, the parable of the sower:

¹⁹When anyone hears the message of the kingdom but does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path.

²⁶I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

¹⁹And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them; I will remove their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh,

¹²They made their hearts like flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the Lord of Hosts had sent by His Spirit through the earlier prophets. Therefore great anger came from the Lord of Hosts.

¹²“Do horses gallop on the cliffs? Does one plow the sea with oxen? But you have turned justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood—

²⁰The seed sown on rocky ground is the one who hears the word and at once receives it with joy.

¹¹For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its flower falls and its beauty is lost. So too, the rich man will fade away in the midst of his pursuits.

¹²Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him.

²¹But since he has no root, he remains for only a season. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away.

¹³The seeds on rocky ground are those who hear the word and receive it with joy, but they have no root. They believe for a season, but in the time of testing, they fall away.

¹⁰They will not hunger or thirst, nor will scorching heat or sun beat down on them. For He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water.

²³if indeed you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope of the gospel you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

¹⁷so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. Then you, being rooted and grounded in love,

¹⁸Others are like the seeds sown among the thorns. They hear the word,

¹⁹but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

³For this is what the Lord says to the men of Judah and Jerusalem: “Break up your unplowed ground, and do not sow among the thorns.

⁴Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and remove the foreskins of your hearts, O men of Judah and people of Jerusalem. Otherwise, My wrath will break out like fire and burn with no one to extinguish it, because of your evil deeds.”

¹⁸Both thorns and thistles it will yield for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.

²²The seed sown among the thorns is the one who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

⁸This is to My Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, proving yourselves to be My disciples.

¹⁵But the seeds on good soil are those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, cling to it, and by persevering produce a crop.

²³But the seed sown on good soil is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and produces a crop—a hundredfold, sixtyfold, or thirtyfold.”

¹²Now Isaac sowed seed in the land, and that very year he reaped a hundredfold. And the Lord blessed him,

²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

²³gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

¹¹filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

⁷He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to eat from the tree of life in the Paradise of God.

¹¹He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who overcomes will not be harmed by the second death.

¹⁵He who has ears, let him hear.

¹⁷He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will give the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone inscribed with a new name, known only to the one who receives it.

¹³He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

²²He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

³³With many such parables Jesus spoke the word to them, to the extent that they could understand.

³⁴He did not tell them anything without using a parable. But privately He explained everything to His own disciples.

¹⁰As soon as Jesus was alone with the Twelve and those around Him, they asked Him about the parable.

⁹Rather, as it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no heart has imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him.”

¹⁰But God has revealed it to us by the Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.

¹⁴The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

¹¹“Not everyone can accept this word,” He replied, “but only those to whom it has been given.

⁵Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

²⁷And as for you, the anointing you received from Him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But just as His true and genuine anointing teaches you about all things, so remain in Him as you have been taught.

²⁰You, however, have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.

²⁹For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. But the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.

²⁴He went on to say, “Pay attention to what you hear. With the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and even more will be added to you.

²⁵For whoever has will be given more. But whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”

¹⁸Pay attention, therefore, to how you listen. Whoever has will be given more, but whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken away from him.”

²⁴Then he told those standing by, ‘Take the mina from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.’

²⁵‘Master,’ they said, ‘he already has ten!’

²He cuts off every branch in Me that bears no fruit, and every branch that does bear fruit, He prunes to make it even more fruitful.

³You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.

⁵Therefore, keep in mind how far you have fallen. Repent and perform the deeds you did at first. But if you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.

²“Son of man, you are living in a rebellious house. They have eyes to see but do not see, and ears to hear but do not hear, for they are a rebellious house.

²¹“Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear.

¹⁸Listen, you deaf ones; look, you blind ones, that you may see!

¹⁹Who is blind but My servant, or deaf like the messenger I am sending? Who is blind like My covenant partner, or blind like the servant of the Lord?

³And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.

⁴The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

³You saw with your own eyes the great trials, and those miraculous signs and wonders.

⁴Yet to this day the Lord has not given you a mind to understand, eyes to see, or ears to hear.

¹⁶But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.

⁹And He replied: “Go and tell this people, ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’

¹⁰Make the hearts of this people calloused; deafen their ears and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

²“Son of man, you are living in a rebellious house. They have eyes to see but do not see, and ears to hear but do not hear, for they are a rebellious house.

¹⁴But their minds were closed. For to this day the same veil remains at the reading of the old covenant. It has not been lifted, because only in Christ can it be removed.

¹⁰He replied, “The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that, ‘though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.’

²⁵They disagreed among themselves and began to leave after Paul had made this final statement: “The Holy Spirit was right when He spoke to your fathers through Isaiah the prophet:

²⁶‘Go to this people and say, “You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.”

¹²so that, ‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven.’”

¹⁰Make the hearts of this people calloused; deafen their ears and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

¹¹But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder; they stopped up their ears from hearing.

¹²so that, ‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven.’”

⁴³Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you are unable to accept My message.

⁴⁴You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out his desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, refusing to uphold the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, because he is a liar and the father of lies.

²⁵He must gently reprove those who oppose him, in the hope that God may grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth.

²⁶Then they will come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, who has taken them captive to his will.

²“But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings, and you will go out and leap like calves from the stall.

²³Then Jesus turned to the disciples and said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see.

²⁴For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”

¹⁷that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in your knowledge of Him.

¹⁸I ask that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know the hope of His calling, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints,

¹⁷Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by My Father in heaven.

²⁹Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

¹⁸to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those sanctified by faith in Me.’

⁶For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

⁵⁶Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see My day. He saw it and was glad.”

¹³All these people died in faith, without having received the things they were promised. However, they saw them and welcomed them from afar. And they acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.

¹⁰Concerning this salvation, the prophets who foretold the grace to come to you searched and investigated carefully,

¹¹trying to determine the time and setting to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow.

²⁴For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”

³⁹These were all commended for their faith, yet they did not receive what was promised.

⁴⁰God had planned something better for us, so that together with us they would be made perfect.

⁵which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets.

⁶This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are fellow heirs, fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus.

¹¹He replied, “The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.

¹²Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.

¹¹Now this is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God.

¹²The seeds along the path are those who hear, but the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.

¹³Then Jesus said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand any of the parables?

¹⁴The farmer sows the word.

¹¹Now this is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God.

¹²The seeds along the path are those who hear, but the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.

¹We must pay closer attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.

³⁸The field is the world, and the good seed represents the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one,

¹⁸We know that anyone born of God does not keep on sinning; the One who was born of God protects him, and the evil one cannot touch him.

²³Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.

¹My son, if you accept my words and hide my commandments within you,

²if you incline your ear to wisdom and direct your heart to understanding,

³¹So My people come to you as usual, sit before you, and hear your words; but they do not put them into practice. Although they express love with their mouths, their hearts pursue dishonest gain.

³²Indeed, you are to them like a singer of love songs with a beautiful voice, who skillfully plays an instrument. They hear your words but do not put them into practice.

¹²Then they believed His promises and sang His praise.

¹³Yet they soon forgot His works and failed to wait for His counsel.

³⁵John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you were willing for a season to bask in his light.

²And Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada the priest.

³⁴When He slew them, they would seek Him; they repented and searched for God.

³⁵And they remembered that God was their Rock, that God Most High was their Redeemer.

²For day after day they seek Me and delight to know My ways, like a nation that does what is right and does not forsake the justice of their God. They ask Me for righteous judgments; they delight in the nearness of God.”

⁶Blessed is the one who does not fall away on account of Me.”

⁸For if you possess these qualities and continue to grow in them, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁹But whoever lacks these traits is nearsighted to the point of blindness, having forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.

¹⁷so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. Then you, being rooted and grounded in love,

⁴What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? For your loyalty is like a morning mist, like the early dew that vanishes.

²⁸If you say, ‘Let us persecute him, since the root of the matter lies with him,’

³A man cannot be established through wickedness, but the righteous cannot be uprooted.

¹⁷Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be conceited and not to put their hope in the uncertainty of wealth, but in God, who richly provides all things for us to enjoy.

¹⁴The seeds that fell among the thorns are those who hear, but as they go on their way, they are choked by the worries, riches, and pleasures of this life, and their fruit does not mature.

⁹Those who want to be rich, however, fall into temptation and become ensnared by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction.

¹⁰For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. By craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.

¹⁸Others are like the seeds sown among the thorns. They hear the word,

¹⁹but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

¹⁵And He said to them, “Watch out! Guard yourselves against every form of greed, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

¹⁰because Demas, in his love of this world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia.

¹¹filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

³³Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is known by its fruit.

¹⁶You did not choose Me, but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will remain—so that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you.

²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

²³gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

¹³Planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God.

¹⁴In old age they will still bear fruit; healthy and green they will remain,

⁸Still other seed fell on good soil and produced a crop—a hundredfold, sixtyfold, or thirtyfold.

¹“At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.

⁴⁷Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was cast into the sea and caught all kinds of fish.

¹“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard.

²“The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son.

³⁷He replied, “The One who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.

²⁰Again He asked, “To what can I compare the kingdom of God?

⁸Be sober-minded and alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

³⁰Even from your own number, men will rise up and distort the truth to draw away disciples after them.

³¹Therefore be alert and remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.

¹Now there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves.

³⁹and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.

¹⁵See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God, and that no root of bitterness springs up to cause trouble and defile many.

⁹And the great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.

²⁶Jesus also said, “The kingdom of God is like a man who scatters seed on the ground.

²⁷Night and day he sleeps and wakes, and the seed sprouts and grows, though he knows not how.

¹⁷Now I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who create divisions and obstacles that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Turn away from them.

¹As God’s fellow workers, then, we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain.

¹⁸All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:

¹⁹that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s trespasses against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

²⁸And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, and those with gifts of healing, helping, administration, and various tongues.

²⁹Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles?

⁴Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships, and calamities;

¹⁰If Timothy comes, see to it that he has nothing to fear while he is with you, for he is doing the work of the Lord, just as I am.

³Although I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit, and I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did this, just as if I were present.

⁴When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, along with the power of the Lord Jesus,

¹⁴And we urge you, brothers, to admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, and be patient with everyone.

⁴⁹“Master,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in Your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not accompany us.”

⁵⁰“Do not stop him,” Jesus replied, “for whoever is not against you is for you.”

²²And indeed, have mercy on those who doubt;

²³save others by snatching them from the fire; and to still others show mercy tempered with fear, hating even the clothing stained by the flesh.

⁶The punishment imposed on him by the majority is sufficient for him.

⁷So instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.

¹²His winnowing fork is in His hand to clear His threshing floor and to gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

²⁴The sins of some men are obvious, going ahead of them to judgment; but the sins of others do not surface until later.

⁵Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.

⁶If anyone does not remain in Me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers. Such branches are gathered up, thrown into the fire, and burned.

¹⁸So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.”

³⁹and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.

⁴⁰As the weeds are collected and burned in the fire, so will it be at the end of the age.

¹⁸Then Jesus asked, “What is the kingdom of God like? To what can I compare it?

¹⁹It is like a mustard seed that a man tossed into his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air nested in its branches.”

²⁰“Because you have so little faith,” He answered. “For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

³⁰Then He asked, “To what can we compare the kingdom of God? With what parable shall we present it?

³¹It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds sown upon the earth.

⁶And the Lord answered, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.

²⁴Jesus put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field.

⁹Then He proceeded to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard, rented it out to some tenants, and went away for a long time.

⁶All the birds of the air nested in its branches, and all the beasts of the field gave birth beneath its boughs; all the great nations lived in its shade.

¹²Its leaves were beautiful, its fruit was abundant, and upon it was food for all. Under it the beasts of the field found shelter, in its branches the birds of the air nested, and from it every creature was fed.

²³I will plant it on the mountain heights of Israel so that it will bear branches; it will yield fruit and become a majestic cedar. Birds of every kind will nest under it, taking shelter in the shade of its branches.

²⁴Then all the trees of the field will know that I am the Lord. I bring the tall tree down and make the low tree tall. I dry up the green tree and make the withered tree flourish. I, the Lord, have spoken, and I have done it.’”

²⁰When they heard this, they glorified God. Then they said to Paul, “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the law.

²⁰This is what the Lord of Hosts says: “Peoples will yet come—the residents of many cities—

²¹and the residents of one city will go to another, saying: ‘Let us go at once to plead before the Lord and to seek the Lord of Hosts. I myself am going.’

¹⁸I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obedience by word and deed,

¹⁹by the power of signs and wonders, and by the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.

⁹A little leaven works through the whole batch of dough.

⁶Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven works through the whole batch of dough?

⁷Get rid of the old leaven, that you may be a new unleavened batch, as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.

²¹It is like leaven that a woman took and mixed into three measures of flour, until all of it was leavened.”

¹³For it is God who works in you to will and to act on behalf of His good purpose.

¹⁴Do everything without complaining or arguing,

⁶So Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, “Quick! Prepare three seahs of fine flour, knead it, and bake some bread.”

¹⁸The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining brighter and brighter until midday.

³³With many such parables Jesus spoke the word to them, to the extent that they could understand.

³⁴He did not tell them anything without using a parable. But privately He explained everything to His own disciples.

²⁵I have spoken these things to you in figures of speech. An hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you this way, but will tell you plainly about the Father.

¹³This is why I speak to them in parables: ‘Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.’

²I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the beginning,

⁹and to illuminate for everyone the stewardship of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things.

²⁰He was known before the foundation of the world, but was revealed in the last times for your sake.

²¹Through Him you believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and glorified Him; and so your faith and hope are in God.

²⁵Now to Him who is able to strengthen you by my gospel and by the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery concealed for ages past

²⁶but now revealed and made known through the writings of the prophets by the command of the eternal God, in order to lead all nations to the obedience that comes from faith—

⁷No, we speak of the mysterious and hidden wisdom of God, which He destined for our glory before time began.

²⁴Father, I want those You have given Me to be with Me where I am, that they may see the glory You gave Me because You loved Me before the foundation of the world.

¹¹He replied, “The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.

¹⁷Then some of His disciples asked one another, “Why is He telling us, ‘In a little while you will not see Me, and then after a little while you will see Me’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?”

¹⁸They kept asking, “Why is He saying, ‘a little while’? We do not understand what He is saying.”

¹That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea.

⁹And about four thousand men were present. And when Jesus had dismissed the crowd,

⁴⁵Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of Him to Bethsaida, while He dismissed the crowd.

¹⁷After Jesus had left the crowd and gone into the house, His disciples inquired about the parable.

⁵What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? They are servants through whom you believed, as the Lord has assigned to each his role.

⁶I planted the seed and Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.

⁸But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

²⁷The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’

²⁴Jesus put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field.

¹⁶Whoever listens to you listens to Me; whoever rejects you rejects Me; and whoever rejects Me rejects the One who sent Me.”

⁴¹The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will weed out of His kingdom every cause of sin and all who practice lawlessness.

⁴⁴You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out his desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, refusing to uphold the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, because he is a liar and the father of lies.

¹⁰and said, “O child of the devil and enemy of all righteousness, you are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery! Will you never stop perverting the straight ways of the Lord?

¹⁸For as I have often told you before, and now say again even with tears: Many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.

¹⁹Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and their glory is in their shame. Their minds are set on earthly things.

⁸The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the very start. This is why the Son of God was revealed, to destroy the works of the devil.

⁹Anyone born of God refuses to practice sin, because God’s seed abides in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God.

²³For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.

¹⁵And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

⁴⁹So will it be at the end of the age: The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous

¹⁵Then another angel came out of the temple, crying out in a loud voice to the One seated on the cloud, “Swing Your sickle and reap, because the time has come to harvest, for the crop of the earth is ripe.”

¹⁶So the One seated on the cloud swung His sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.

³¹When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit on His glorious throne.

¹³Swing the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, trample the grapes, for the winepress is full; the wine vats overflow because their wickedness is great.

²⁰But the beast was captured along with the false prophet, who on its behalf had performed signs deceiving those who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. Both the beast and the false prophet were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur.

²⁵But while everyone was asleep, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and slipped away.

³⁹and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.

³¹And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

²⁷But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who practices an abomination or a lie, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

⁷Woe to the world for the causes of sin. These stumbling blocks must come, but woe to the man through whom they come!

¹Now there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves.

²Many will follow in their depravity, and because of them the way of truth will be defamed.

⁴⁹So will it be at the end of the age: The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous

⁶And again, when God brings His firstborn into the world, He says: “Let all God’s angels worship Him.”

⁷Now about the angels He says: “He makes His angels winds, His servants flames of fire.”

⁵⁰and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

¹⁰And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, into which the beast and the false prophet had already been thrown. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

¹⁴Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death—the lake of fire.

¹⁵And if anyone was found whose name was not written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

¹²But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

²³In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham from afar, with Lazarus by his side.

²⁴So he cried out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. For I am in agony in this fire.’

²⁰But the beast was captured along with the false prophet, who on its behalf had performed signs deceiving those who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. Both the beast and the false prophet were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur.

³Then the wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever and ever.

³²Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom.

³⁴Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

⁴¹The sun has one degree of splendor, the moon another, and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.

⁴²So will it be with the resurrection of the dead: What is sown is perishable; it is raised imperishable.

¹⁵He who has ears, let him hear.

²²But I saw no temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.

²³And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, because the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its lamp.

²if you incline your ear to wisdom and direct your heart to understanding,

³if you truly call out to insight and lift your voice to understanding,

³in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

⁷But whatever was gain to me I count as loss for the sake of Christ.

⁸More than that, I count all things as loss compared to the surpassing excellence of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ

²¹For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

³³In the same way, any one of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be My disciple.

²⁴By faith Moses, when he was grown, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.

²⁵He chose to suffer oppression with God’s people rather than to experience the fleeting enjoyment of sin.

¹⁰Receive my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than pure gold.

¹¹For wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire compares with her.

²⁶What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?

¹³Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who acquires understanding,

¹⁴for she is more profitable than silver, and her gain is better than fine gold.

¹⁸Coral and quartz are unworthy of mention; the price of wisdom is beyond rubies.

²⁴Jesus put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field.

¹⁸With me are riches and honor, enduring wealth and righteousness.

¹⁹My fruit is better than gold, pure gold, and my harvest surpasses choice silver.

²⁸“Look,” said Peter, “we have left all we had to follow You.”

²⁹“Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God

⁸Though I am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,

⁴if you seek it like silver and search it out like hidden treasure,

²⁴But I consider my life of no value to me, if only I may finish my course and complete the ministry I have received from the Lord Jesus—the ministry of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.

³in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

⁴⁴The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and in his joy he went and sold all he had and bought that field.

⁶If anyone does not remain in Me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers. Such branches are gathered up, thrown into the fire, and burned.

²For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,

³unloving, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, without love of good,

⁹Go therefore to the crossroads and invite to the banquet as many as you can find.’

¹⁰So the servants went out into the streets and gathered everyone they could find, both evil and good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

³For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires.

⁴So they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

¹Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world.

²By this you will know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,

¹⁷“Come, follow Me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”

³⁰Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat into my barn.’”

¹²His winnowing fork is in His hand to clear His threshing floor and to gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

⁴⁰As the weeds are collected and burned in the fire, so will it be at the end of the age.

⁴¹The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will weed out of His kingdom every cause of sin and all who practice lawlessness.

¹²And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne. And books were opened, and one of them was the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their deeds, as recorded in the books.

¹³The sea gave up its dead, and Death and Hades gave up their dead, and each one was judged according to his deeds.

³⁹and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.

³¹And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

⁷and to grant relief to you who are oppressed and to us as well. This will take place when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels

⁸in blazing fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

¹²‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ But the man was speechless.

¹³Then the king told the servants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

¹⁹After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them.

²⁰The servant who had received the five talents came and presented five more. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’

¹⁰he too will drink the wine of God’s anger, poured undiluted into the cup of His wrath. And he will be tormented in fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb.

¹¹And the smoke of their torment rises forever and ever. Day and night there is no rest for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name.”

²⁷And he will answer, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you are from. Depart from me, all you evildoers.’

²⁸There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves are thrown out.

⁴²And they will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

¹²But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

¹⁰And the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness, and men began to gnaw their tongues in anguish

¹¹and curse the God of heaven for their pains and sores. Yet they did not repent of their deeds.

⁵⁰The master of that servant will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour he does not anticipate.

⁵¹Then he will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

³⁴He did not tell them anything without using a parable. But privately He explained everything to His own disciples.

¹⁹When anyone hears the message of the kingdom but does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path.

¹¹He replied, “The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.

¹⁷“Do you not yet realize that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then is eliminated?

¹⁵So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by the prophet Daniel (let the reader understand),

⁴⁴“Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.”

⁴⁵But they did not understand this statement. It was veiled from them so that they could not comprehend it, and they were afraid to ask Him about it.

⁷Beloved, I am not writing to you a new commandment, but an old one, which you have had from the beginning. This commandment is the message you have heard.

⁸Then again, I am also writing to you a new commandment, which is true in Him and also in you. For the darkness is fading and the true light is already shining.

⁹He must hold firmly to the faithful word as it was taught, so that he can encourage others by sound teaching and refute those who contradict it.

¹⁶All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for instruction, for conviction, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

¹⁷so that the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work.

⁴Such confidence before God is ours through Christ.

⁵Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim that anything comes from us, but our competence comes from God.

⁶In the same way, urge the younger men to be self-controlled.

⁷In everything, show yourself to be an example by doing good works. In your teaching show integrity, dignity,

³⁵The good man brings good things out of his good store of treasure, and the evil man brings evil things out of his evil store of treasure.

²⁸When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were astonished at His teaching,

³³With many such parables Jesus spoke the word to them, to the extent that they could understand.

³⁴He did not tell them anything without using a parable. But privately He explained everything to His own disciples.

¹⁵The Jews were amazed and asked, “How did this man attain such learning without having studied?”

¹⁶“My teaching is not My own,” Jesus replied. “It comes from Him who sent Me.

²⁸When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were astonished at His teaching,

¹Jesus went on from there and came to His hometown, accompanied by His disciples.

²When the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard Him were astonished. “Where did this man get these ideas?” they asked. “What is this wisdom He has been given? And how can He perform such miracles?

²³and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophets: “He will be called a Nazarene.”

¹⁶Then Jesus came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. As was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath. And when He stood up to read,

¹⁷the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. Unrolling it, He found the place where it was written:

²³Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.

³Isn’t this the carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? Aren’t His sisters here with us as well?” And they took offense at Him.

⁴²They were asking, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How then can He say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”

²³Jesus Himself was about thirty years old when He began His ministry. He was regarded as the son of Joseph, the son of Heli,

⁴⁷Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw where His body was placed.

²²All spoke well of Him and marveled at the gracious words that came from His lips. “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?” they asked.

²⁵Near the cross of Jesus stood His mother and her sister, as well as Mary the wife of Clopas and Mary Magdalene.

⁴⁴Now He Himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.

²⁴Then He added, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in his hometown.

⁶Blessed is the one who does not fall away on account of Me.”

³He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. Like one from whom men hide their faces, He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.

⁶¹Aware that His disciples were grumbling about this teaching, Jesus asked them, “Does this offend you?

⁷Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel, to Him who was despised and abhorred by the nation, to the Servant of rulers: “Kings will see You and rise, and princes will bow down, because of the Lord, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen You.”

⁵So He could not perform any miracles there, except to lay His hands on a few of the sick and heal them.

⁶And He was amazed at their unbelief. And He went around from village to village, teaching the people.

²⁰That is correct: They were broken off because of unbelief, but you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid.

¹²See to it, brothers, that none of you has a wicked heart of unbelief that turns away from the living God.

¹³But exhort one another daily, as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.

²⁵But I tell you truthfully that there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and great famine swept over all the land.

²⁶Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to the widow of Zarephath in Sidon.