Matthew 9 — GNB — Biblija.net

⁵ Is it easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? ⁶ I will prove to you, then, that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, pick up your bed, and go home!” ⁷ The man got up and went home. ⁸ When the people saw it, they were afraid, and praised God for giving such authority to people.

Jesus Calls Matthew

The Man with a Paralyzed Hand

⁹ Jesus left that place, and as he walked along, he saw a tax collector, named Matthew, sitting in his office. He said to him, “Follow me.” Matthew got up and followed him.

The Purpose of the Parables

¹⁰ While Jesus was having a meal in Matthew's house, many tax collectors and other outcasts came and joined Jesus and his disciples at the table. ¹¹ Some Pharisees saw this and asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with such people?” ¹² Jesus heard them and answered, “People who are well do not need a doctor, but only those who are sick. ¹³ Go and find out what is meant by the scripture that says: ‘It is kindness that I want, not animal sacrifices.’ I have not come to call respectable people, but outcasts.”

The Question about Fasting

¹⁴ Then the followers of John the Baptist came to Jesus, asking, “Why is it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples don't fast at all?”

God's Chosen Servant

¹⁵ Jesus answered, “Do you expect the guests at a wedding party to be sad as long as the bridegroom is with them? Of course not! But the day will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.

Coming Persecutions

¹⁶ “No one patches up an old coat with a piece of new cloth, for the new patch will shrink and make an even bigger hole in the coat. ¹⁷ Nor does anyone pour new wine into used wineskins, for the skins will burst, the wine will pour out, and the skins will be ruined. Instead, new wine is poured into fresh wineskins, and both will keep in good condition.”

The Official's Daughter and the Woman Who Touched Jesus' Cloak

Jesus Explains the Parable of the Sower

¹⁸ While Jesus was saying this, a Jewish official came to him, knelt down before him, and said, “My daughter has just died; but come and place your hands on her, and she will live.” ¹⁹ So Jesus got up and followed him, and his disciples went along with him.

The Unbelieving Towns

²⁰ A woman who had suffered from severe bleeding for twelve years came up behind Jesus and touched the edge of his cloak. ²¹ She said to herself, “If only I touch his cloak, I will get well.”

Jesus and Beelzebul

²² Jesus turned around and saw her, and said, “Courage, my daughter! Your faith has made you well.” At that very moment the woman became well. ²³ Then Jesus went into the official's house. When he saw the musicians for the funeral and the people all stirred up,

The Parable of the Weeds

²⁴ he said, “Get out, everybody! The little girl is not dead—she is only sleeping!” Then they all started making fun of him.

Come to Me and Rest

(Luke 10.21, 22)

²⁵ But as soon as the people had been put out, Jesus went into the girl's room and took hold of her hand, and she got up.

Whom to Fear

²⁶ The news about this spread all over that part of the country.

Jesus Heals Two Blind Men

²⁷ Jesus left that place, and as he walked along, two blind men started following him. “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” they shouted. ²⁸ When Jesus had gone indoors, the two blind men came to him, and he asked them, “Do you believe that I can heal you?” “Yes, sir!” they answered. ²⁹ Then Jesus touched their eyes and said, “Let it happen, then, just as you believe!”— ³⁰ and their sight was restored. Jesus spoke sternly to them, “Don't tell this to anyone!”

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

³¹ But they left and spread the news about Jesus all over that part of the country.

Jesus Heals a Man Who Could Not Speak

Confessing and Rejecting Christ

(Luke 12.8, 9)

³² As the men were leaving, some people brought to Jesus a man who could not talk because he had a demon.

A Tree and Its Fruit

The Parable of the Yeast

(Luke 13.20, 21)

³³ But as soon as the demon was driven out, the man started talking, and everyone was amazed. “We have never seen anything like this in Israel!” they exclaimed.

Not Peace, but a Sword

(Luke 12.51-53; 14.26, 27)

Jesus' Use of Parables

(Mark 4.33, 34)

³⁴ But the Pharisees said, “It is the chief of the demons who gives Jesus the power to drive out demons.”

Jesus Has Pity for the People

³⁵ Jesus went around visiting all the towns and villages. He taught in the synagogues, preached the Good News about the Kingdom, and healed people with every kind of disease and sickness.

Jesus Explains the Parable of the Weeds

³⁶ As he saw the crowds, his heart was filled with pity for them, because they were worried and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷ So he said to his disciples, “The harvest is large, but there are few workers to gather it in.

The Demand for a Miracle

³⁸ Pray to the owner of the harvest that he will send out workers to gather in his harvest.”

Jesus Heals a Paralyzed Man

The Twelve Apostles

The Messengers from John the Baptist

The Question about the Sabbath

The Parable of the Sower

¹ Jesus called his twelve disciples together and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and every sickness. ² These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James and his brother John, the sons of Zebedee; ³ Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew, the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; ⁴ Simon the Patriot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus.

The Mission of the Twelve

⁵ These twelve men were sent out by Jesus with the following instructions: “Do not go to any Gentile territory or any Samaritan towns. ⁶ Instead, you are to go to the lost sheep of the people of Israel. ⁷ Go and preach, ‘The Kingdom of heaven is near!’ ⁸ Heal the sick, bring the dead back to life, heal those who suffer from dreaded skin diseases, and drive out demons. You have received without paying, so give without being paid.

Jesus Calls Matthew

The Man with a Paralyzed Hand

⁹ Do not carry any gold, silver, or copper money in your pockets;

The Purpose of the Parables

¹⁰ do not carry a beggar's bag for the trip or an extra shirt or shoes or a walking stick. Workers should be given what they need. ¹¹ “When you come to a town or village, go in and look for someone who is willing to welcome you, and stay with him until you leave that place. ¹² When you go into a house, say, ‘Peace be with you.’ ¹³ If the people in that house welcome you, let your greeting of peace remain; but if they do not welcome you, then take back your greeting.

The Question about Fasting

¹⁴ And if some home or town will not welcome you or listen to you, then leave that place and shake the dust off your feet.

God's Chosen Servant

¹⁵ I assure you that on the Judgment Day God will show more mercy to the people of Sodom and Gomorrah than to the people of that town!

Coming Persecutions

¹⁶ “Listen! I am sending you out just like sheep to a pack of wolves. You must be as cautious as snakes and as gentle as doves. ¹⁷ Watch out, for there will be those who will arrest you and take you to court, and they will whip you in the synagogues.

The Official's Daughter and the Woman Who Touched Jesus' Cloak

Jesus Explains the Parable of the Sower

¹⁸ For my sake you will be brought to trial before rulers and kings, to tell the Good News to them and to the Gentiles. ¹⁹ When they bring you to trial, do not worry about what you are going to say or how you will say it; when the time comes, you will be given what you will say.

The Unbelieving Towns

²⁰ For the words you will speak will not be yours; they will come from the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. ²¹ “People will hand over their own brothers to be put to death, and fathers will do the same to their children; children will turn against their parents and have them put to death.

Jesus and Beelzebul

²² Everyone will hate you because of me. But whoever holds out to the end will be saved. ²³ When they persecute you in one town, run away to another one. I assure you that you will not finish your work in all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

The Parable of the Weeds

²⁴ “No pupil is greater than his teacher; no slave is greater than his master.

Come to Me and Rest

(Luke 10.21, 22)

²⁵ So a pupil should be satisfied to become like his teacher, and a slave like his master. If the head of the family is called Beelzebul, the members of the family will be called even worse names!

Whom to Fear

²⁶ “So do not be afraid of people. Whatever is now covered up will be uncovered, and every secret will be made known.

Jesus Heals Two Blind Men

²⁷ What I am telling you in the dark you must repeat in broad daylight, and what you have heard in private you must announce from the housetops. ²⁸ Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather be afraid of God, who can destroy both body and soul in hell. ²⁹ For only a penny you can buy two sparrows, yet not one sparrow falls to the ground without your Father's consent. ³⁰ As for you, even the hairs of your head have all been counted.

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

³¹ So do not be afraid; you are worth much more than many sparrows!

Jesus Heals a Man Who Could Not Speak

Confessing and Rejecting Christ

(Luke 12.8, 9)

³² “Those who declare publicly that they belong to me, I will do the same for them before my Father in heaven.

A Tree and Its Fruit

The Parable of the Yeast

(Luke 13.20, 21)

³³ But those who reject me publicly, I will reject before my Father in heaven.

Not Peace, but a Sword

(Luke 12.51-53; 14.26, 27)

Jesus' Use of Parables

(Mark 4.33, 34)

³⁴ “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the world. No, I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.

Jesus Has Pity for the People

³⁵ I came to set sons against their fathers, daughters against their mothers, daughters-in-law against their mothers-in-law;

Jesus Explains the Parable of the Weeds

³⁶ your worst enemies will be the members of your own family. ³⁷ “Those who love their father or mother more than me are not fit to be my disciples; those who love their son or daughter more than me are not fit to be my disciples.

The Demand for a Miracle

³⁸ Those who do not take up their cross and follow in my steps are not fit to be my disciples. ³⁹ Those who try to gain their own life will lose it; but those who lose their life for my sake will gain it.

Rewards

(Mark 9.41)

⁴⁰ “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. ⁴¹ Whoever welcomes God's messenger because he is God's messenger, will share in his reward. And whoever welcomes a good man because he is good, will share in his reward. ⁴² You can be sure that whoever gives even a drink of cold water to one of the least of these my followers because he is my follower, will certainly receive a reward.”

Jesus Heals a Paralyzed Man

The Twelve Apostles

The Messengers from John the Baptist

The Question about the Sabbath

The Parable of the Sower

¹ When Jesus finished giving these instructions to his twelve disciples, he left that place and went off to teach and preach in the towns near there. ² When John the Baptist heard in prison about the things that Christ was doing, he sent some of his disciples to him. ³ “Tell us,” they asked Jesus, “are you the one John said was going to come, or should we expect someone else?” ⁴ Jesus answered, “Go back and tell John what you are hearing and seeing:

The Mission of the Twelve

⁵ the blind can see, the lame can walk, those who suffer from dreaded skin diseases are made clean, the deaf hear, the dead are brought back to life, and the Good News is preached to the poor. ⁶ How happy are those who have no doubts about me!” ⁷ While John's disciples were leaving, Jesus spoke about him to the crowds: “When you went out to John in the desert, what did you expect to see? A blade of grass bending in the wind? ⁸ What did you go out to see? A man dressed up in fancy clothes? People who dress like that live in palaces!

Jesus Calls Matthew

The Man with a Paralyzed Hand

⁹ Tell me, what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes indeed, but you saw much more than a prophet.

The Purpose of the Parables

¹⁰ For John is the one of whom the scripture says: ‘God said, I will send my messenger ahead of you to open the way for you.’ ¹¹ I assure you that John the Baptist is greater than anyone who has ever lived. But the one who is least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than John. ¹² From the time John preached his message until this very day the Kingdom of heaven has suffered violent attacks, and violent men try to seize it. ¹³ Until the time of John all the prophets and the Law of Moses spoke about the Kingdom;

The Question about Fasting

¹⁴ and if you are willing to believe their message, John is Elijah, whose coming was predicted.

God's Chosen Servant

¹⁵ Listen, then, if you have ears!

Coming Persecutions

¹⁶ “Now, to what can I compare the people of this day? They are like children sitting in the marketplace. One group shouts to the other, ¹⁷ ‘We played wedding music for you, but you wouldn't dance! We sang funeral songs, but you wouldn't cry!’

The Official's Daughter and the Woman Who Touched Jesus' Cloak

Jesus Explains the Parable of the Sower

¹⁸ When John came, he fasted and drank no wine, and everyone said, ‘He has a demon in him!’ ¹⁹ When the Son of Man came, he ate and drank, and everyone said, ‘Look at this man! He is a glutton and wine drinker, a friend of tax collectors and other outcasts!’ God's wisdom, however, is shown to be true by its results.”

The Unbelieving Towns

²⁰ The people in the towns where Jesus had performed most of his miracles did not turn from their sins, so he reproached those towns. ²¹ “How terrible it will be for you, Chorazin! How terrible for you too, Bethsaida! If the miracles which were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, the people there would have long ago put on sackcloth and sprinkled ashes on themselves, to show that they had turned from their sins!

Jesus and Beelzebul

²² I assure you that on the Judgment Day God will show more mercy to the people of Tyre and Sidon than to you! ²³ And as for you, Capernaum! Did you want to lift yourself up to heaven? You will be thrown down to hell! If the miracles which were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would still be in existence today!

The Parable of the Weeds

²⁴ You can be sure that on the Judgment Day God will show more mercy to Sodom than to you!”

Come to Me and Rest

(Luke 10.21, 22)

²⁵ At that time Jesus said, “Father, Lord of heaven and earth! I thank you because you have shown to the unlearned what you have hidden from the wise and learned.

Whom to Fear

²⁶ Yes, Father, this was how you were pleased to have it happen.

Jesus Heals Two Blind Men

²⁷ “My Father has given me all things. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. ²⁸ “Come to me, all of you who are tired from carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke and put it on you, and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in spirit; and you will find rest. ³⁰ For the yoke I will give you is easy, and the load I will put on you is light.”

Jesus Heals a Paralyzed Man

The Twelve Apostles

The Messengers from John the Baptist

The Question about the Sabbath

The Parable of the Sower

¹ Not long afterward Jesus was walking through some wheat fields on a Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, so they began to pick heads of wheat and eat the grain. ² When the Pharisees saw this, they said to Jesus, “Look, it is against our Law for your disciples to do this on the Sabbath!” ³ Jesus answered, “Have you never read what David did that time when he and his men were hungry? ⁴ He went into the house of God, and he and his men ate the bread offered to God, even though it was against the Law for them to eat it—only the priests were allowed to eat that bread.

The Mission of the Twelve

⁵ Or have you not read in the Law of Moses that every Sabbath the priests in the Temple actually break the Sabbath law, yet they are not guilty? ⁶ I tell you that there is something here greater than the Temple. ⁷ The scripture says, ‘It is kindness that I want, not animal sacrifices.’ If you really knew what this means, you would not condemn people who are not guilty; ⁸ for the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

Jesus Calls Matthew

The Man with a Paralyzed Hand

⁹ Jesus left that place and went to a synagogue,

The Purpose of the Parables

¹⁰ where there was a man who had a paralyzed hand. Some people were there who wanted to accuse Jesus of doing wrong, so they asked him, “Is it against our Law to heal on the Sabbath?” ¹¹ Jesus answered, “What if one of you has a sheep and it falls into a deep hole on the Sabbath? Will you not take hold of it and lift it out? ¹² And a human being is worth much more than a sheep! So then, our Law does allow us to help someone on the Sabbath.” ¹³ Then he said to the man with the paralyzed hand, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and it became well again, just like the other one.

The Question about Fasting

¹⁴ Then the Pharisees left and made plans to kill Jesus.

God's Chosen Servant

¹⁵ When Jesus heard about the plot against him, he went away from that place; and large crowds followed him. He healed all the sick

Coming Persecutions

¹⁶ and gave them orders not to tell others about him. ¹⁷ He did this so as to make come true what God had said through the prophet Isaiah:

The Official's Daughter and the Woman Who Touched Jesus' Cloak

Jesus Explains the Parable of the Sower

¹⁸ “Here is my servant, whom I have chosen,
the one I love, and with whom I am pleased.
I will send my Spirit upon him,
and he will announce my judgment to the nations.
¹⁹ He will not argue or shout,
or make loud speeches in the streets.

The Unbelieving Towns

²⁰ He will not break off a bent reed,
nor put out a flickering lamp.
He will persist until he causes justice to triumph,
²¹ and on him all peoples will put their hope.”

Jesus and Beelzebul

²² Then some people brought to Jesus a man who was blind and could not talk because he had a demon. Jesus healed the man, so that he was able to talk and see. ²³ The crowds were all amazed at what Jesus had done. “Could he be the Son of David?” they asked.

The Parable of the Weeds

²⁴ When the Pharisees heard this, they replied, “He drives out demons only because their ruler Beelzebul gives him power to do so.”

Come to Me and Rest

(Luke 10.21, 22)

²⁵ Jesus knew what they were thinking, and so he said to them, “Any country that divides itself into groups which fight each other will not last very long. And any town or family that divides itself into groups which fight each other will fall apart.

Whom to Fear

²⁶ So if one group is fighting another in Satan's kingdom, this means that it is already divided into groups and will soon fall apart!

Jesus Heals Two Blind Men

²⁷ You say that I drive out demons because Beelzebul gives me the power to do so. Well, then, who gives your followers the power to drive them out? What your own followers do proves that you are wrong! ²⁸ No, it is not Beelzebul, but God's Spirit, who gives me the power to drive out demons, which proves that the Kingdom of God has already come upon you. ²⁹ “No one can break into a strong man's house and take away his belongings unless he first ties up the strong man; then he can plunder his house. ³⁰ “Anyone who is not for me is really against me; anyone who does not help me gather is really scattering.

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

³¹ For this reason I tell you: people can be forgiven any sin and any evil thing they say; but whoever says evil things against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.

Jesus Heals a Man Who Could Not Speak

Confessing and Rejecting Christ

(Luke 12.8, 9)

³² Anyone who says something against the Son of Man can be forgiven; but whoever says something against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven—now or ever.

A Tree and Its Fruit

The Parable of the Yeast

(Luke 13.20, 21)

³³ “To have good fruit you must have a healthy tree; if you have a poor tree, you will have bad fruit. A tree is known by the kind of fruit it bears.

Not Peace, but a Sword

(Luke 12.51-53; 14.26, 27)

Jesus' Use of Parables

(Mark 4.33, 34)

³⁴ You snakes—how can you say good things when you are evil? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.

Jesus Has Pity for the People

³⁵ A good person brings good things out of a treasure of good things; a bad person brings bad things out of a treasure of bad things.

Jesus Explains the Parable of the Weeds

³⁶ “You can be sure that on the Judgment Day you will have to give account of every useless word you have ever spoken. ³⁷ Your words will be used to judge you—to declare you either innocent or guilty.”

The Demand for a Miracle

³⁸ Then some teachers of the Law and some Pharisees spoke up. “Teacher,” they said, “we want to see you perform a miracle.” ³⁹ “How evil and godless are the people of this day!” Jesus exclaimed. “You ask me for a miracle? No! The only miracle you will be given is the miracle of the prophet Jonah.

Rewards

(Mark 9.41)

⁴⁰ In the same way that Jonah spent three days and nights in the big fish, so will the Son of Man spend three days and nights in the depths of the earth. ⁴¹ On the Judgment Day the people of Nineveh will stand up and accuse you, because they turned from their sins when they heard Jonah preach; and I tell you that there is something here greater than Jonah! ⁴² On the Judgment Day the Queen of Sheba will stand up and accuse you, because she traveled all the way from her country to listen to King Solomon's wise teaching; and I assure you that there is something here greater than Solomon!

The Return of the Evil Spirit

(Luke 11.24-26)

⁴³ “When an evil spirit goes out of a person, it travels over dry country looking for a place to rest. If it can't find one,

The Parable of the Hidden Treasure

⁴⁴ it says to itself, ‘I will go back to my house.’ So it goes back and finds the house empty, clean, and all fixed up.

The Parable of the Pearl

⁴⁵ Then it goes out and brings along seven other spirits even worse than itself, and they come and live there. So when it is all over, that person is in worse shape than at the beginning. This is what will happen to the evil people of this day.”

Jesus' Mother and Brothers

(Mark 3.31-35; Luke 8.19-21)

⁴⁶ Jesus was still talking to the people when his mother and brothers arrived. They stood outside, asking to speak with him.

The Parable of the Net

⁴⁷ So one of the people there said to him, “Look, your mother and brothers are standing outside, and they want to speak with you.” ⁴⁸ Jesus answered, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” ⁴⁹ Then he pointed to his disciples and said, “Look! Here are my mother and my brothers! ⁵⁰ Whoever does what my Father in heaven wants is my brother, my sister, and my mother.”

Jesus Heals a Paralyzed Man

The Twelve Apostles

The Messengers from John the Baptist

The Question about the Sabbath

The Parable of the Sower

¹ That same day Jesus left the house and went to the lakeside, where he sat down to teach. ² The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it, while the crowd stood on the shore. ³ He used parables to tell them many things. “Once there was a man who went out to sow grain. ⁴ As he scattered the seed in the field, some of it fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.

The Mission of the Twelve

⁵ Some of it fell on rocky ground, where there was little soil. The seeds soon sprouted, because the soil wasn't deep. ⁶ But when the sun came up, it burned the young plants; and because the roots had not grown deep enough, the plants soon dried up. ⁷ Some of the seed fell among thorn bushes, which grew up and choked the plants. ⁸ But some seeds fell in good soil, and the plants bore grain: some had one hundred grains, others sixty, and others thirty.”

Jesus Calls Matthew

The Man with a Paralyzed Hand

⁹ And Jesus concluded, “Listen, then, if you have ears!”

The Purpose of the Parables

¹⁰ Then the disciples came to Jesus and asked him, “Why do you use parables when you talk to the people?” ¹¹ Jesus answered, “The knowledge about the secrets of the Kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. ¹² For the person who has something will be given more, so that he will have more than enough; but the person who has nothing will have taken away from him even the little he has. ¹³ The reason I use parables in talking to them is that they look, but do not see, and they listen, but do not hear or understand.

The Question about Fasting

¹⁴ So the prophecy of Isaiah applies to them:
‘This people will listen and listen, but not understand;
they will look and look, but not see,

God's Chosen Servant

¹⁵ because their minds are dull,
and they have stopped up their ears
and have closed their eyes.
Otherwise, their eyes would see,
their ears would hear,
their minds would understand,
and they would turn to me, says God,
and I would heal them.’

Coming Persecutions

¹⁶ “As for you, how fortunate you are! Your eyes see and your ears hear. ¹⁷ I assure you that many prophets and many of God's people wanted very much to see what you see, but they could not, and to hear what you hear, but they did not.

The Official's Daughter and the Woman Who Touched Jesus' Cloak

Jesus Explains the Parable of the Sower

¹⁸ “Listen, then, and learn what the parable of the sower means. ¹⁹ Those who hear the message about the Kingdom but do not understand it are like the seeds that fell along the path. The Evil One comes and snatches away what was sown in them.

The Unbelieving Towns

²⁰ The seeds that fell on rocky ground stand for those who receive the message gladly as soon as they hear it. ²¹ But it does not sink deep into them, and they don't last long. So when trouble or persecution comes because of the message, they give up at once.

Jesus and Beelzebul

²² The seeds that fell among thorn bushes stand for those who hear the message; but the worries about this life and the love for riches choke the message, and they don't bear fruit. ²³ And the seeds sown in the good soil stand for those who hear the message and understand it: they bear fruit, some as much as one hundred, others sixty, and others thirty.”

The Parable of the Weeds

²⁴ Jesus told them another parable: “The Kingdom of heaven is like this. A man sowed good seed in his field.

Come to Me and Rest

(Luke 10.21, 22)

²⁵ One night, when everyone was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away.

Whom to Fear

²⁶ When the plants grew and the heads of grain began to form, then the weeds showed up.

Jesus Heals Two Blind Men

²⁷ The man's servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, it was good seed you sowed in your field; where did the weeds come from?’ ²⁸ ‘It was some enemy who did this,’ he answered. ‘Do you want us to go and pull up the weeds?’ they asked him. ²⁹ ‘No,’ he answered, ‘because as you gather the weeds you might pull up some of the wheat along with them. ³⁰ Let the wheat and the weeds both grow together until harvest. Then I will tell the harvest workers to pull up the weeds first, tie them in bundles and burn them, and then to gather in the wheat and put it in my barn.’”

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

³¹ Jesus told them another parable: “The Kingdom of heaven is like this. A man takes a mustard seed and sows it in his field.

Jesus Heals a Man Who Could Not Speak

Confessing and Rejecting Christ

(Luke 12.8, 9)

³² It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it grows up, it is the biggest of all plants. It becomes a tree, so that birds come and make their nests in its branches.”

A Tree and Its Fruit

The Parable of the Yeast

(Luke 13.20, 21)

³³ Jesus told them still another parable: “The Kingdom of heaven is like this. A woman takes some yeast and mixes it with a bushel of flour until the whole batch of dough rises.”

Not Peace, but a Sword

(Luke 12.51-53; 14.26, 27)

Jesus' Use of Parables

(Mark 4.33, 34)

³⁴ Jesus used parables to tell all these things to the crowds; he would not say a thing to them without using a parable.

Jesus Has Pity for the People

³⁵ He did this to make come true what the prophet had said,
“I will use parables when I speak to them;
I will tell them things unknown since the creation of the world.”

Jesus Explains the Parable of the Weeds

³⁶ When Jesus had left the crowd and gone indoors, his disciples came to him and said, “Tell us what the parable about the weeds in the field means.” ³⁷ Jesus answered, “The man who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man;

The Demand for a Miracle