Also, in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: By hearing ye shall
hear and shall not understand. And by seeing ye shall see and shall not
perceive. For the people's hearts are hardened. Their ears are dull of
hearing. They have closed their eyes. They do not see or hear for fear
they will be converted and have to change their hearts.
But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear.
Many prophets and righteous men have desired to see the things you see
and they have not seen them. They have desired to hear the things you
hear, and have not heard them. So, again, listen to the parable of the
sower.
When any one hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it,
the wicked one snatches away all that was sown in his heart. This is
the one who received seed by the wayside. Now he who received the seed
in the stony places, received the word with joy. But he has no deep
root and endures only for a while. When tribulation or persecution
arises he is uprooted. Now the one who received seed among the thorns
hears the word but is too much ensnared by things of this world and the
deceitfulness of riches. The understanding of the word is choked out
and he becomes unfruitful. Finally, the one who received seed in the
good ground is he who hears the word, understands it, and bears fruit.
He brings forth a hundredfold or sixty or thirty.
He spoke another parable saying, The kingdom of heaven is like a man
who sowed good seed in his field. But, during the night, his enemy came
and sowed weeds among the wheat then slipped away. When the blades
sprang up and brought forth fruit, weeds appeared also. The
householder's servants came to him and asked, Sir, did you not sow good
seed in the field? Where did the tares come from? The householder
answered, An enemy has done this. The servants then asked, Shall we go
and pull them up? But he said, No; if you gather up the tares, you will
uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest.
Then, at harvest time, I will tell the reapers to gather the weeds,
bind them in bundles, and burn them first. Then the wheat goes into the
shelter.
Jesus told another parable, The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of
mustard seed. A man sowed it in his field. Now this, indeed, is the
least of all seeds. However, when it is grown, it is the largest among
all the herbs. It grows like a tree so the birds of the air can come
and lodge in its branches.
Another parable: The kingdom of heaven is like leaven. A woman took a
little, hid it in three measures of meal and, at last, all was
leavened. All these things Jesus spoke in parables to the multitude.
Thus it might be fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet: I will open
my mouth in parables. I will utter things which have been kept secret
from the foundation of the world.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account