49 who are my brothers? And he stretched forth his hand towards his disciples, and said: Behold my 50 mother and my brothers! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother.

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XIII. THE Same day went Jesus out of the house, 2 and sat by the sea-side. And great multitudes were gathered together to him, so that he went into the ship and sat down; and all the multitude stood on 3 the beach. And he spake many things to them in parables, saying:

4

Behold, the sower went forth to sow. And as he sowed, some fell by the way-side, and the fowls came 5 and devoured them. And others fell on the rocky places, where they had not much earth; and forthwith they sprang up, because they had not depth of 6 earth. And when the sun was up, they were scorch

ed; and because they had not root, they withered. 7 away. And others fell upon the thorns; and the

thorns came up, and choked them. And others fell on the good ground, and yielded fruit, some a hun9 dredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

10 And the disciples came and said to him: Why 11 speakest thou to them in parables? And he an

-V. 9. In some ancient copies: He that hath ears, let him hear.

swering said to them: To you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven; but to them it is not given. For whoever hath, to him shall 12 be given, and he shall have abundance; but whoever hath not, even what he hath shall be taken from him. Therefore speak I to them in parables; because see- 13 ing they see not, and hearing they hear not, nor understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophesy 14 of Isaiah, which says: With hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive. For the heart of 15 this people is become gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest haply they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and turn and I shall heal them.

But happy are your eyes, because they see; and 16 your ears, because they hear. For verily I say to 17 you, that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what ye are beholding, and saw not, and to hear what ye are hearing, and heard not.

Hear therefore the parable of the sower. 18 When any one hears the word of the kingdom, and 19 understands not, then comes the evil one and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is that which was sown by the way-side.

And that sown on the rocky places, this is he that 20

V. 11. Or, Because to you it is given

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hears the word, and immediately with joy receives 21 it; and has not root in himself, but is only for a time; and when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he is offended.

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And that sown among the thorns, this is he that hears the word, and the care of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it becomes 23 unfruitful. And that sown on the good ground, this is he that hears the word and understands; who bears fruit, and produces, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

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Another parable put he forth to them, saying: The kingdom of heaven is likened to a man that 25 sowed good seed in his field. But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed darnel among the wheat, 26 and went away. And when the blade sprang up

and produced fruit, then appeared the darnel also. 27 So the servants of the house-holder came and said

to him: Sir, didst thou not sow good seed in thy 28 field? From whence then has it darnel? He said to them: An enemy did this. The servants said to him: Wilt thou then that we go and gather them 29 up? He said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the darnel, 30 ye root up the wheat with them. Let both grow

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together until the harvest. And in time of harvest I will say to the reapers: Gather up first the darnel, and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn.

Another parable put he forth to them, saying:

The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard, which a man took and sowed in his field. Which 32 is least indeed of all seeds; but when it is grown, it is

greater than the herbs, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in its branches.

Another parable spake he to them: The king- 33 of heaven is like to leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.

All these things spake Jesus to the multitudes in 34 parables ; and without a parable he spake nothing to them. That it might be fulfilled which was spoken 35 through the prophet, saying: I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the foundation of the world.

Then having sent away the multitudes, he went 36 into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying: Explain to us the parable of the darnel of the field. And he answering said to them :

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He that sows the good seed is the Son of man. The field is the world. The good seed, these are the 38 sons of the kingdom; but the darnel are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy that sowed them is the 39 Devil. The harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are angels. As therefore the darnel 40 are gathered up and are burned with fire, so shall it be in the end of the world. The Son of man will 41

V. 36. or, Then leaving

send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all the causes of offence, and them that 42 do iniquity, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire; 43 there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then

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shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their father. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like to a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and concealed; and for joy thereof he goes and sells all that he has, and buys that field.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like to a mer46 chant seeking goodly pearls; and having found one pearl of great price, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.

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Again, the kingdom of heaven is like to a net, cast into the sea, and gathering together of every kind. 48 Which, when it was filled, they drew up upon the beach, and sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but 49 cast the bad away. So shall it be in the end of the world. The angels shall go forth, and shall separate 50 the wicked from among the just, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire; there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

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Have ye understood all these things? They say

V. 43. In some ancient copies: He that hath ears, let him hear.

V. 44. or, from his joy