1And on that day יהושע went out of the house and sat by the sea.

2And large crowds were gathered together to Him, so that He went into a boat and sat down. And all the crowd stood on the beach.

3And He spoke to them much in parables, saying, “See, the sower went out to sow.

4“And as he sowed, some indeed fell by the wayside, and the birds came and devoured them.

5“And others fell on rocky places, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil.

6“But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered.

7“And others fell among thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them.

8“And others fell on good soil and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

9“He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

10And the taught ones came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?”

11And He answering, said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the secrets of the reign of the heavens, but to them it has not been given.

12“For whoever possesses, to him more shall be given, and he shall have overflowingly; but whoever does not possess, even what he possesses shall be taken away from him.

13“Because of this I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.

14“And in them the prophecy of Yeshayahu is completely filled, which says, ‘Hearing you shall hear and by no means understand, and seeing you shall see and by no means perceive,

15for the heart of this people has become thickened, and their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their heart, and turn back, and I heal them.’

16“And blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear,

17for truly I say to you, that many prophets and righteous ones longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

18“You, then, hear the parable of the sower:

19“When anyone hears the word of the reign, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is that sown by the wayside.

20“And that sown on rocky places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy,

21yet he has no root in himself, but is short-lived, and when pressure or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.

22“And that sown among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the worry of this age and the deceit of riches choke the word, and it becomes fruitless.a

23“And that sown on the good soil is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields – some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”

24Another parable He put before them, saying, “The reign of the heavens has become like a man who sowed good seed in his field,

25but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed darnel among the wheat and went away.

26“And when the blade sprouted and bore fruit, then the darnel also appeared.

27“And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? From where then does it have the darnel?’

28“And he said to them, ‘A man, an enemy did this.’ And the servants said to him, ‘Do you wish then, that we go and gather them up?’

29“But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the darnel you also uproot the wheat with them.

30‘Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I shall say to the reapers, “First gather the darnel and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my granary.” ’ ”

31Another parable He put before them, saying, “The reign of the heavens is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field,

32which indeed is less than all the seeds, but when it is grown it is greater than the plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the heaven come and dwell in its branches.”

33Another parable He spoke to them, “The reign of the heavens is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal until all was leavened.”

34יהושע said all this to the crowds in parables, and He did not speak to them without a parable,

35so that what was spoken by the prophet might be filled, saying, “I shall open My mouth in parables, I shall pour forth what has been hidden from the foundation of the world.”

36Then, having sent the crowds away, יהושע went into the house. And His taught ones came to Him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the darnel of the field.”

37And He answering, said to them, “He who is sowing the good seed is the Son of Aḏam,

38and the field is the world. And the good seed, these are the sons of the reign, but the darnel are the sons of the wicked one,

39and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. And the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the messengers.

40“As the darnel, then, is gathered and burned in the fire, so it shall be at the end of this age.

41“The Son of Aḏam shall send out His messengers, and they shall gather out of His reign all the stumbling-blocks, and those doing lawlessness,

42and shall throw them into the furnace of fire – there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

43“Then the righteousa shall shine forth as the sun in the reign of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

44“Again, the reign of the heavens is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man having found it, hid, and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

45“Again, the reign of the heavens is like a man, a merchant, seeking fine pearls,

46who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

47“Again, the reign of the heavens is like a dragnet that was thrown into the sea and gathered some of every kind,

48which, when it was filled, they drew to shore. And they sat down and gathered the good into containers, but threw the rotten away.

49“Thus shall it be at the end of the age: the messengers shall come forth, and separate the wicked out of the midst of the righteous,

50and shall throw them into the furnace of fire – there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”

51יהושע said to them, “Have you understood all this?” They said to Him, “Yea, Master.”

52And He said to them, “Therefore every scholar of Scripture taught in the reign of the heavens is like a householder who brings out of his treasure matters, renewed, and old.”a

53And it came to be, when יהושע had ended these parables, that He left there.

54And when He had come to His own country, He taught them in their congregation, so that they were astonished and said, “Where did this One get this wisdom and miracles?

55“Is this not the son of the carpenter? Is not His mother called Miryam? And His brothers Ya‛aqoḇ and Yosĕph and Shim‛on and Yehuḏah?

56“And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this One get all this?”

57And they stumbled at Him. But יהושע said to them, “A prophet is not unappreciated except in his own country and in his own house.”

58And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.