came out and coming he finds it empty, swept, and set in order. ⁴⁵Then he goes, and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. So shall it be also with this wicked generation.

⁴⁶While he was yet speaking to the multitudes, behold, his mother and his brothers were standing without, seeking to speak to him. ⁴⁷And one said to him: Behold, thy mother and thy brothers are standing without, seeking to speak to thee. ⁴⁸But he answering said to him that told him: Who is my mother, and who are my brothers? ⁴⁹And stretching forth his hand toward his disciples, he said: Behold my mother and my brothers! ⁵⁰For whoever shall do the will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother.

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

⁴Behold, the sower went forth to sow. And as he sowed, some fell by the way-side, and the birds came and devoured them. ⁵And others fell on the rocky places, where they had not much earth; and forthwith they sprang up, because they had not depth of earth. ⁶And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had not root, they withered away. ⁷And others fell upon the thorns; and the thorns came up, and choked them. ⁸And others fell on the good ground, and yielded fruit, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. ⁹He that has ears to hear, let him hear⁹.

¹⁰And the disciples came and said to him: Why dost thou speak to them in parables? ¹¹And he answering said to them: To you it is given¹¹ to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven; but to them it is not given. ¹²For whoever has, to him shall be given, and he shall have abundance; but whoever has not, even what he has shall be taken from him. ¹³Therefore I speak to them in parables; because seeing they see not, and hearing they hear not, nor understand. ¹⁴And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which says:

With the hearing ye will hear, and will not understand;

And seeing ye will see, and will not perceive.

¹⁵For the heart of 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.

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

¹⁸Hear therefore the parable of the sower. ¹⁹When any one hears the word of the kingdom, and 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.

²⁰And that sown on the rocky places, this is he that hears the word, and immediately with joy receives it; ²¹and 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.

²²And 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 unfruitful. ²³And 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.

²⁴Another parable he put forth to them, saying: The kingdom of heaven is likened to a man that sowed good seed in his field. ²⁵But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed darnel among the wheat, and went away. ²⁶And when the blade sprang up and produced fruit, then appeared the darnel also. ²⁷And the servants of the householder came and said to him: Sir, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? From whence then has it darnel? ²⁸He said to them: An enemy did this. The servants said to him: Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? ²⁹He said: Nay, lest while ye gather up the darnel, ye root up the wheat with them. ³⁰Let both grow 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.

³¹Another parable he put forth to them, saying: The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard, which a man took and sowed in his field. ³²Which is the 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.

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

³⁴All these things Jesus spoke to the multitudes in parables; and without a parable he spoke nothing to them; ³⁵that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying:

I will open my mouth in parables;

I will utter things hidden from the foundation of the world.

³⁶Then having sent away the multitudes³⁶, he went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying: Explain to us the parable of the darnel of the field. ³⁷And answering he said to them:

He that sows the good seed is the Son of man. ³⁸The field is the world. The good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; but the darnel are the sons of the evil one, ³⁹and the enemy that sowed them is the Devil. The harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are angels. ⁴⁰As therefore the darnel are gathered up and are burned with fire, so shall it be in the end of the world. ⁴¹The Son of man will send forth his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all the causes of offense, and those who do iniquity, ⁴²and will cast them into the furnace of fire; there will be the wailing, and the gnashing of teeth! ⁴³Then will the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He that has ears to hear, let him hear⁴³.