10 And the disciplescame and said to Him, "Why* do You speak to them in parables?"
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Jesus answered them, "1To 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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"2For 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 3seeing 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,'4YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING, BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND;YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE;
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5FOR 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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"6But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear.
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"For truly I say to you that 7manyprophets 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 anyonehears9the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, 10the 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 11fallsaway.
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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 12the world and the 13deceitfulness 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, some14a hundredfold, somesixty, and somethirty."
Tares among Wheat
24 Jesus presentedanotherparable to them, saying, "15The 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 16gather the wheat into my barn."' "
The Mustard Seed
31 He presentedanotherparable to them, saying, "17The kingdom of heaven is like18a 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 19THE BIRDS OF THE AIRcome and NEST IN ITS BRANCHES."
The Leaven
33 He spokeanotherparable to them, "20The kingdom of heaven is likeleaven, which a womantook and hid in 21threepecks of flouruntil it was allleavened."
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AllthesethingsJesusspoke to the crowds in parables, and He did not speak to them 22without a parable.
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This was to fulfillwhat was spokenthrough the prophet: "23I 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 24the house. And His disciplescame to Him and said, "25Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field."
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And He said, "The one who sows the goodseed is 26the Son of Man,
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and the field is the world; and as for the goodseed, these are 27the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are 28the sons of 29the evil one;
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and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is 30the 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 31the end of the age.
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"32The Son of Man33will sendforth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdomall34stumblingblocks, and those who commitlawlessness,
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and 35will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place36there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
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"37Then THE RIGHTEOUS WILL SHINEFORTH AS THE SUN in the kingdom of their Father. 38He who hasears, let him hear.
Hidden Treasure
44"39The kingdom of heaven is like a treasurehidden in the field, which a manfound and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and 40sellsall that he has and buys that field.
A Costly Pearl
45"Again, 41the 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, 42the 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 43the end of the age; the angels will comeforth and take out the wicked from among the righteous,
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and 44will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place45there 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."