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[1] And on that day Jesus went out of the house, and sat by the side of the sea.
[2] And great multitudes assembled around him; so that he embarked and seated himself in a ship, and all the multitude stood on the shore of the sea.
[3] An he discoursed with them much, by similitudes. And he said, Behold, a sower went forth to sow.
[4] And as he sowed, some [seed] fell upon the side of a path: and a bird came and devoured it.
[5] And other [seed] fell upon a rock, so that it had not much soil: and it sprung up forthwith, because there was no depth of earth.
[6] But when the sun was up it wilted. And, because it lacked root, it dried up.
[7] And other [seed] fell among thorns: and the thorns shot up, and choked it.
[8] And other [seed] fell on good ground; and bore fruits, some a hundredfold, some sixtyfold, and some thirtyfold.
[9] He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
[10] And his disciples came and said to him, Why discoursest thou to them in similitudes?
[11] And he answered, and said to them: Because, to you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
[12] For to him that hath, shall be given; and he shall abound: but from him that hath not, even what he hath shall be taken from him.
[13] For this cause I discourse to them in similitudes, because they see and do not see, and they hear and do not hear, nor understand.
[14] And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, who said: By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and by seeing ye see, and shall not know:
[15] For the heart of this people hath grown fat, and with their ears they have heard heavily, and their eyes they have closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and should hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should turn; and I should heal them.
[16] But happy are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear.
[17] For verily I say to you, That many prophets and righteous [men] longed to see what ye see, and did not see [it]; and to hear what ye hear, and did not hear [it].
[18] But hear ye the similitude of the seed.
[19] Every one that heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, the evil one cometh and snatcheth away the seed sowed in his heart: this is what was sowed by the side of the path.
[20] And that which was sowed on the rock, is he that heareth the word, and at once receiveth it with joy.
[21] Yet hath he no root in him, but is of short duration, and when there is trouble or persecution on account of the word, he soon stumbleth.
[22] And that which was sowed among thorns, is he that heareth the word; and care for this world and the deceptiveness of riches, choke the word; and he is without fruits.
[23] But that which was sowed on good ground, is he that heareth my word, and understandeth. and beareth fruits, and yieldeth, some a hundredfold, some sixtyfold, and some thirtyfold.
[24] Another similitude he proposed to them, and said: The kingdom of heaven is like to a man who sowed good seed in his field.
[25] And while people were asleep, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away.
[26] And when the plant shot up and bore fruits, then appeared also the tares.
[27] And the servants of the householder came, and said to him, Our lord, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? From whence are the tares in it.
[28] And he said to them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said to him, Is it thy pleasure that we go and gather them out?
[29] And he said to them, [No,] lest, while ye gather out the tares, ye also eradicate the wheat with them.
[30] Let them both grow together until the harvest; and at the time of harvest, I will say to the reapers, Gather out first the tares, and bind them in bundles to be burned; but the wheat gather ye into my granary.
[31] Another similitude proposed he to them, and said: The kingdom of heaven is like to a kernel of mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field.
[32] And this is the least of all seeds; but when it is grown, it is greater than all the herbs, and becometh a tree, so that a bird of heaven may come and nestle in its branches.
[33] Another similitude spake he to them, The kingdom of heaven is like the leaven, which a woman took and buried in three measures of meal, until the whole fermented.
[34] All these things Jesus discoursed to the multitude in similitudes; and without similitudes he did not discourse with them.
[35] That so might be fulfilled that which was spoken by the prophet, who said: I will open my mouth in similitudes; I will utter things concealed from before the foundation of the world.
[36] Then Jesus sent away the multitudes, and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, and said: Explain to us the similitude of the tares and the field.
[37] And he answered, and said to them: He that soweth the good seed, is the Son of God.
[38] And the field is the world. And the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked One.
[39] The enemy that sowed them, is Satan. The harvest is the end of the world : and the reapers are the angels.
[40] As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so will it be in the end of the world.
[41] The Son of man will send forth his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all the stumbling blocks, and all the doers of evil;
[42] and will cast them into a furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
[43] Then will the righteous shine as the sun, in the kingdom of their Father. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
[44] Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure that is hid in a field; which when a man findeth, he concealeth it, and, from his joy, he goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.
[45] Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchantman, who sought after rich pearls:
[46] and when he found one pearl of great price, he went and sold all that he had, and bought it.
[47] Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a sweep net, which was cast into the sea, and collected [fishes] of every kind.
[48] And when it was full, they drew it to the shores of the sea; and they sat down and culled over: and the good they put into vessels, and the bad they cast away.
[49] So will it be in the end of the world. The angels will go forth, and will sever the wicked from among the just;
[50] and will cast them into a furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
[51] Jesus said to them: Have ye understood all these things? They say to him: Yes, our Lord.
[52] He said to them: Therefore every Scribe who is instructed for the kingdom of heaven, is like a man who is master of a house, who bringeth forth from his treasures things new and old.
[53] And it was so, that when Jesus had ended these similitudes, he departed thence.
[54] And he entered into his own city. And he taught them in their synagogues, in such manner that they wondered, and said: Whence hath he this wisdom and [these] works of power?
[55] Is not this man the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary, and his brothers James and Joses and Simon and Judas?
[56] And all his sisters, are they not with us? Whence then hath this man all these things?
[57] And they were stumbled at him. But Jesus said to them: There is no prophet who is little, except in his own city and in his own house.
[58] And he did not perform there many works of power, because of their unbelief.
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