19. “When anyone hears the word of the reign, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is that sown by the wayside.
20. “And that sown on rocky places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy,
21. yet he has no root in himself, but is short-lived, and when pressure or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.
22. “And that sown among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the worry of this age and the deceit of riches choke the word, and it becomes fruitless.
23. “And that sown on the good soil is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields – some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”
24. Another parable He put before them, saying, “The reign of the heavens has become like a man who sowed good seed in his field,
25. but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed darnel among the wheat and went away.
26. “And when the blade sprouted and bore fruit, then the darnel also appeared.
27. “And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? From where then does it have the darnel?’
28. “And he said to them, ‘A man, an enemy did this.’ And the servants said to him, ‘Do you wish then, that we go and gather them up?’
29. “But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the darnel you also uproot the wheat with them.
30. ‘Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I shall say to the reapers, “First gather the darnel and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my granary.” ’ ”
31. Another parable He put before them, saying, “The reign of the heavens is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field,
32. which indeed is less than all the seeds, but when it is grown it is greater than the plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the heaven come and dwell in its branches.”
33. Another parable He spoke to them, “The reign of the heavens is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal until all was leavened.”
34. יהושע said all this to the crowds in parables, and He did not speak to them without a parable,
35. so that what was spoken by the prophet might be filled, saying, “I shall open My mouth in parables, I shall pour forth what has been hidden from the foundation of the world.”
36. Then, having sent the crowds away, יהושע went into the house. And His taught ones came to Him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the darnel of the field.”