1 On that day Joshua went out of the house, and sat by the seaside. 2 And large crowds gathered to Him, so that He entered into a boat and sat, and the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3 He spoke to them many things in riddles, saying, “Look, a farmer went out to sow. 4 As he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them. 5 Others fell on rocky ground, where they didn’t have much soil, and immediately they sprouted, because they had no depth of soil. 6 But when the sun had risen, they were scorched, and because they had no root, they withered away. 7 Others fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Others fell on good soil, and yielded fruit: some a hundred times as much, some sixty, and some thirty. 9 He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
10 And the apprenticies came and said to Him, “Why do you speak to them in riddles?”
11 And He answered them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but to them it hasn’t been given. 12 For whoever has, to him will be given, and he will have abundance, but whoever doesn’t have, even what he has will be taken away from him. 13 Therefore I speak to them in riddles, so that seeing they don’t see, and hearing, they don’t hear, nor do they understand. 14 And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says,
‘You will keep on hearing,
and won’t understand;
you will keep on seeing,
and won't recognize,
15 because the heart of this people has become dull,
and their ears are hard of hearing,
and they have closed their eyes;
so that they won’t recognize with their eyes,
and hear with their ears,
and understand with their heart,
and return;
and I would heal them.’
16 “But happy are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. 17 For most certainly I tell you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see the things which you see, and didn’t see them; and to hear the things which you hear, and didn’t hear them.
18 “Hear, then, the riddle of the farmer: 19 When anyone hears the word of the Kingdom, and doesn’t understand it, the evil one comes, and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown beside the road. 20 And the seed sown on the rocky places, this is he who hears the word, and immediately with receives it with joy. 21 But he doesn’t have a root in himself, but only lasts for a while. And when oppression or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. 22 And the seed sown among the thorns, this is he who hears the word, but the cares of this age and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. 23 And the seed sown on the good ground, this is he who hears the word, and understands it, who most certainly bears fruit, and produces, some one hundred times as much, some sixty, and some thirty.”
24 He presented another riddle to them, saying, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field, 25 but while people slept, his enemy came and sowed weeds also among the wheat, and went away. 26 But when the blade sprang up and produced fruit, then the weeds appeared also. 27 The servants of the householder came and said to him, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where did these weeds come from?’
28 “He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’
“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and gather them up?’
29 “But he said, ‘No, you might uproot the wheat with them while you gather up the weeds. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and in the harvest time I will tell the reapers, “First, gather up the weeds, and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”
31 He presented another riddle to them, saying, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field; 32 which indeed is smaller than all the seeds. But when it is grown, it is bigger than the herbs, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”
33 He spoke another riddle to them. “The Kingdom of Heaven is like fermented dough, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened.”
34 Joshua spoke all these things in riddles to the crowds; and without a riddle, He didn’t speak to them, 35 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying,
“I will open my mouth in riddles;
I will utter things hidden from the foundation of the world.”*
36 Then Joshua sent the multitudes away, and went into the house. His disciples came to Him, saying, “Explain to us the riddle of the weeds of the field.”
37 He answered them,“He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, 38 the field is the world; and the good seed, these are the children of the Kingdom; and the weeds are the children of the evil one. 39 The enemy who sowed them is the slanderer. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. 40 Therefore as the weeds are gathered up and burned with fire; so will it be at the end of this age. 41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather out of his Kingdom all things that cause stumbling, and those who do iniquity, 42 and will throw them into the furnace of fire. There the crying and the clenching of teeth will be. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
44 “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like treasure hidden in the field, which a man found, and hid. In his joy, he goes and sells all that he has, and buys that field.
45 “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who is a merchant seeking fine pearls, 46 who having 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 dragnet, that was cast into the sea, and gathered some fish of every kind, 48 which, when it was filled, they pulled up on the beach. They sat down, and gathered the good into containers, but the bad they threw away. 49 So will it be in the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from among the righteous, 50 and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There the crying and the clenching of teeth will be.” 51 Joshua said to them, “Have you understood all these things?”
They answered Him, “Yes, Master.”
52 He said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been made an apprentice in the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who is a householder, who brings out of his treasury things new and old.”
53 When Joshua had finished these riddles, He departed from there. 54 Coming into His own country, He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were amazed, and said, “Where did this Man get this wisdom, and these mighty works? 55 Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t His mother called Mary, and His brothers, Jacob, Joseph, Shimon, and Judah? 56 Aren’t all of His sisters with us? Where then did this Man get all of these things?” 57 So they were offended at Him.
But Joshua said to them,“A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown, and in his own house.” 58 He didn’t do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.