Study Desk

And He told them many things in ^(C1)parables, saying, "Behold, the sower went out to sow;

and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up.

"Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and they sprang up immediately, because they had no depth of soil.

"But after the sun rose, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

"Others fell ^(F1)among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out.

"But others fell on the good soil and yielded a crop, some a ^(C1)hundred, some sixty, and some thirty times as much.

"^(C1)The one who has ears, ^(F1)let him hear."

And the disciples came up and said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?"

And ^(F1)Jesus answered them, "^(C1)To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted.

"^(C1)For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.

"Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while ^(C1)seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.

"And ^(F1)in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, '^(F2)(C1)YOU SHALL KEEP ON LISTENING, ^(F3)BUT SHALL NOT UNDERSTAND; AND ^(F4)YOU SHALL KEEP ON LOOKING, ^(F3)BUT SHALL NOT PERCEIVE;

^(C1)FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL, WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR, AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES, OTHERWISE THEY MIGHT SEE WITH THEIR EYES, HEAR WITH THEIR EARS, UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART, AND RETURN, AND I WOULD HEAL THEM.'

"^(C1)But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear.

"For truly I say to you that ^(C1)many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

"^(C1)Listen then to the parable of the sower.

"When anyone hears ^(C1)the ^(F1)word of the kingdom and does not understand it, ^(C2)the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one sown with seed beside the road.

"The one sown with seed on the rocky places, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy;

yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution occurs because of the ^(F1)word, immediately he ^(F2)(C1)falls away.

"And the one sown with seed among the thorns, this is the one who hears the word, and the anxiety of ^(C1)the ^(F1)world and the ^(C2)deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it ^(F2)becomes unfruitful.

"But the one sown with seed on the good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces, some ^(C1)a hundred, some sixty, and some thirty times as much."

Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, "^(C1)The kingdom of heaven ^(F1)is like a man who sowed good seed in his field.

"But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed ^(F1)weeds among the wheat, and left.

"And when the ^(F1)wheat sprouted and produced grain, then the weeds also became evident.

"And the slaves of the landowner came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? ^(F1)How then does it have weeds?'

"And he said to them, '^(F1)An enemy has done this!' The slaves ^(*)said to him, 'Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?'

"But he ^(*)said, 'No; while you are gathering up the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them.

'Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and at the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather up the weeds and bind them in bundles to burn them; but ^(C1)gather the wheat into my barn."'"

He presented another parable to them, saying, "^(C1)The kingdom of heaven is like ^(C2)a mustard seed, which a person took and sowed in his field;

and this is smaller than all the other seeds, but when it is fully grown, it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that ^(C1)THE BIRDS OF THE SKY come and NEST IN ITS BRANCHES."

He spoke another parable to them: "^(C1)The kingdom of heaven is like ^(F1)leaven, which a woman took and hid in ^(C2)three ^(F2)sata of flour until it was all leavened."

All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, and He did not speak anything to them ^(C1)without a parable.

This was so that what was spoken through the prophet would be ^(F1)fulfilled: "^(C1)I WILL OPEN MY MOUTH IN PARABLES; I WILL PROCLAIM THINGS HIDDEN SINCE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD."