The Gospel According to St Matthew

 1 The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the ^asea side.

 2 And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.

 3 And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;

 4 And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:

 5 Some fell upon ^astony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:

 6 And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

 7 And some fell among ^athorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:

 8 But other fell into good ground, and ^abrought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.

 9 Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

 10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in ^aparables?

 11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the ^amysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

 12 ^aFor whosoever hath, to him shall be ^bgiven, and he shall have more ^cabundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.

 13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

 14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall ^ahear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:

 15 For this people’s ^aheart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their ^beyes they have ^cclosed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should ^dheal them.

 16 But blessed are your ^aeyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.

 17 For verily I say unto you, That many ^aprophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

 18 ¶^aHear ye therefore the parable of the sower.

 19 When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and ^aunderstandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and ^bcatcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.

 20 But he that received the seed into ^astony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;

 21 Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when ^atribulation or ^bpersecution ariseth because of the word, by and by ^che is offended.

 22 He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this ^aworld, and the ^bdeceitfulness of ^criches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.

 23 But he that received seed into the good ground is he that ^aheareth the word, and ^bunderstandeth it; which also beareth ^cfruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

 24 ¶Another ^aparable put he forth unto them, saying, The ^bkingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good ^cseed in his field:

 25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed ^atares among the wheat, and went his way.

 26 But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.

 27 So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?

 28 He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?

 29 But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.

 30 Let both grow together until the ^aharvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together ^bfirst the tares, and bind them in bundles to ^cburn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

 31 ¶Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a ^agrain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field:

 32 Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the ^abirds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.

 33 ¶Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto ^aleaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.

 34 All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them:

 35 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in ^aparables; I will utter things which have been kept ^bsecret from the foundation of the world.

 36 Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the ^atares of the field.

 37 He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good ^aseed is the Son of man;

 38 The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the ^atares are the children of the wicked one;

 39 The enemy that sowed them is the devil; ^athe ^bharvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.

 40 As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the ^aend of this world.

 41 The Son of man shall send forth his ^aangels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that ^boffend, and them which do iniquity;

 42 And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be ^awailing and ^bgnashing of teeth.

 43 Then shall the ^arighteous ^bshine forth as the ^csun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

 44 ¶Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto ^atreasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.

 45 ¶Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls:

 46 Who, when he had found one ^apearl of great price, went and sold ^ball that he had, and bought it.

 47 ¶Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and ^agathered of every kind:

 48 Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away.

 49 So shall it be at the ^aend of the ^bworld: the angels shall come forth, and ^csever the wicked from among the ^djust,

 50 ^aAnd shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

 51 Jesus saith unto them, Have ye understood all these things? They say unto him, Yea, Lord.

 52 Then said he unto them, Therefore every ^ascribe ^bwhich is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old.

 53 ¶And it came to pass, that when Jesus had finished these parables, he departed thence.

 54 And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were ^aastonished, and said, Whence hath this man this ^bwisdom, and these mighty works?

 55 Is not this the carpenter’s ^ason? is not his mother called Mary? and his ^bbrethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?

 56 And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things?

 57 And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without ^ahonour, save in his own country, and in his own house.

 58 And he did not many mighty works there because of their ^aunbelief.