Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went inside. His disciples came to Him and said, Explain to us the parable of the tares in the field. Jesus answered and said, He that sows the good seed is the Son of man. The field is the world. The good seed are the children of the kingdom. The weeds are the children of the wicked one. The enemy that sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the world. The reapers are the angels. As the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth His angels. They shall clear out of His kingdom all that offends and does iniquity and cast it into a furnace. There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous shall shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear.
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man discovers it, he buries it again. Then joyfully he goes and sells all that he has to buy that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking good pearls. When he finds even one pearl of great price, he goes and sells all he has to buy it.
And the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was cast into the sea to gather every kind of fish. When it was full, they drew the net to shore. The good they gathered into vessels. But they cast the bad away. So shall it be at the end of the world. The angels shall come and sever the wicked from the just and cast them into the furnace where there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Jesus asked, Have ye understood all these things? They said, Yea, Lord. Then He said, Therefore, every scribe who is instructed about the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings forth out of his treasure things both new and old.
Jesus went into His own country. He taught in the synagogue. The people were astonished and said, Whence has He this wisdom and these mighty works? Is this not the carpenter's son? Is His mother not called Mary and His brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? Are His sisters not here with us? Where did this man get all these things?
They were offended by Him. Jesus told them that a prophet is not without honor except in His own country and in His own house. He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.
14
At that time Herod heard of the fame of Jesus. He said to his servants,
This is John the Baptist. He is risen from the dead and mighty works
show forth in him.
Herod had imprisoned John for the sake of Herodia, his brother Philip's
wife. He did this because John told Herod that it was not lawful for
Herod to have her. He would have immediately put John to death but
Herod feared the multitude, who counted John as a prophet.
But when Herod's birthday was celebrated, Herodias' daughter danced and greatly pleased Herod. He promised, with an oath, to give her whatever she asked. Having previously been instructed by her mother, she said, Give me John the Baptist's head on a charger. Herod was sorry. However, for the oath's sake and those who sat at dinner with him, he commanded it be given her. He had John beheaded in prison. Then his head was brought on a charger, presented to her, and she brought it to her mother. Then John's disciples came, took up the body, buried it, and reported it to Jesus.
When Jesus heard, He departed from there by boat to a desert place. When the people heard this, they followed Him on foot out of the cities. As Jesus went forth He saw a great multitude. He was moved with compassion toward them and He healed their sick. When it was evening, His disciples came to Him and said, This is a desert place and it is late. Send the multitude away so they may go into the villages and buy food. But Jesus said, They need not depart. Give them food to eat. They said, We have only five loaves and two fish. Jesus said, Bring them to me.