THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW

THE NEW TESTAMENT
TRANSLATED FROM
THE SYRIAC PESHITO VERSION BY JAMES MURDOCK

Chapter 13

(Mat 13:1) And on that day Jesus went out of the house, and sat by the side of the sea.

(Mat 13:2) And great multitudes assembled around him; so that he embarked and seated himself in a ship, and all the multitude stood on the shore of the sea.

(Mat 13:3) An he discoursed with them much, by similitudes. And he said, Behold, a sower went forth to sow.

(Mat 13:4) And as he sowed, some [seed] fell upon the side of a path: and a bird came and devoured it.

(Mat 13:5) And other [seed] fell upon a rock, so that it had not much soil: and it sprung up forthwith, because there was no depth of earth.

(Mat 13:6) But when the sun was up it wilted. And, because it lacked root, it dried up.

(Mat 13:7) And other [seed] fell among thorns: and the thorns shot up, and choked it.

(Mat 13:8) And other [seed] fell on good ground; and bore fruits, some a hundredfold, some sixtyfold, and some thirtyfold.

(Mat 13:9) He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

(Mat 13:10) And his disciples came and said to him, Why discoursest thou to them in similitudes?

(Mat 13:11) And he answered, and said to them: Because, to you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

(Mat 13:12) For to him that hath, shall be given; and he shall abound: but from him that hath not, even what he hath shall be taken from him.

(Mat 13:13) For this cause I discourse to them in similitudes, because they see and do not see, and they hear and do not hear, nor understand.

(Mat 13:14) And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, who said: By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and by seeing ye see, and shall not know:

(Mat 13:15) For the heart of this people hath grown fat, and with their ears they have heard heavily, and their eyes they have closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and should hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should turn; and I should heal them.

(Mat 13:16) But happy are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear.

(Mat 13:17) For verily I say to you, That many prophets and righteous [men] longed to see what ye see, and did not see [it]; and to hear what ye hear, and did not hear [it].

(Mat 13:18) But hear ye the similitude of the seed.

(Mat 13:19) Every one that heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, the evil one cometh and snatcheth away the seed sowed in his heart: this is what was sowed by the side of the path.

(Mat 13:20) And that which was sowed on the rock, is he that heareth the word, and at once receiveth it with joy.

(Mat 13:21) Yet hath he no root in him, but is of short duration, and when there is trouble or persecution on account of the word, he soon stumbleth.

(Mat 13:22) And that which was sowed among thorns, is he that heareth the word; and care for this world and the deceptiveness of riches, choke the word; and he is without fruits.

(Mat 13:23) But that which was sowed on good ground, is he that heareth my word, and understandeth. and beareth fruits, and yieldeth, some a hundredfold, some sixtyfold, and some thirtyfold.

(Mat 13:24) Another similitude he proposed to them, and said: The kingdom of heaven is like to a man who sowed good seed in his field.

(Mat 13:25) And while people were asleep, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away.

(Mat 13:26) And when the plant shot up and bore fruits, then appeared also the tares.

(Mat 13:27) And the servants of the householder came, and said to him, Our lord, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? From whence are the tares in it.

(Mat 13:28) And he said to them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said to him, Is it thy pleasure that we go and gather them out?

(Mat 13:29) And he said to them, [No,] lest, while ye gather out the tares, ye also eradicate the wheat with them.

(Mat 13:30) Let them both grow together until the harvest; and at the time of harvest, I will say to the reapers, Gather out first the tares, and bind them in bundles to be burned; but the wheat gather ye into my granary.

(Mat 13:31) Another similitude proposed he to them, and said: The kingdom of heaven is like to a kernel of mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field.

(Mat 13:32) And this is the least of all seeds; but when it is grown, it is greater than all the herbs, and becometh a tree, so that a bird of heaven may come and nestle in its branches.

(Mat 13:33) Another similitude spake he to them, The kingdom of heaven is like the leaven, which a woman took and buried in three measures of meal, until the whole fermented.

(Mat 13:34) All these things Jesus discoursed to the multitude in similitudes; and without similitudes he did not discourse with them.

(Mat 13:35) That so might be fulfilled that which was spoken by the prophet, who said: I will open my mouth in similitudes; I will utter things concealed from before the foundation of the world.

(Mat 13:36) Then Jesus sent away the multitudes, and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, and said: Explain to us the similitude of the tares and the field.

(Mat 13:37) And he answered, and said to them: He that soweth the good seed, is the Son of God.

(Mat 13:38) And the field is the world. And the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked One.

(Mat 13:39) The enemy that sowed them, is Satan. The harvest is the end of the world: and the reapers are the angels.

(Mat 13:40) As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so will it be in the end of the world.

(Mat 13:41) The Son of man will send forth his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all the stumbling blocks, and all the doers of evil;

(Mat 13:42) and will cast them into a furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

(Mat 13:43) Then will the righteous shine as the sun, in the kingdom of their Father. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

(Mat 13:44) Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure that is hid in a field; which when a man findeth, he concealeth it, and, from his joy, he goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.

(Mat 13:45) Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchantman, who sought after rich pearls:

(Mat 13:46) and when he found one pearl of great price, he went and sold all that he had, and bought it.

(Mat 13:47) Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a sweep net, which was cast into the sea, and collected [fishes] of every kind.

(Mat 13:48) And when it was full, they drew it to the shores of the sea; and they sat down and culled over: and the good they put into vessels, and the bad they cast away.

(Mat 13:49) So will it be in the end of the world. The angels will go forth, and will sever the wicked from among the just;

(Mat 13:50) and will cast them into a furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

(Mat 13:51) Jesus said to them: Have ye understood all these things? They say to him: Yes, our Lord.

(Mat 13:52) He said to them: Therefore every Scribe who is instructed for the kingdom of heaven, is like a man who is master of a house, who bringeth forth from his treasures things new and old.

(Mat 13:53) And it was so, that when Jesus had ended these similitudes, he departed thence.

(Mat 13:54) And he entered into his own city. And he taught them in their synagogues, in such manner that they wondered, and said: Whence hath he this wisdom and [these] works of power?

(Mat 13:55) Is not this man the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary, and his brothers James and Joses and Simon and Judas?

(Mat 13:56) And all his sisters, are they not with us? Whence then hath this man all these things?

(Mat 13:57) And they were stumbled at him. But Jesus said to them: There is no prophet who is little, except in his own city and in his own house.

(Mat 13:58) And he did not perform there many works of power, because of their unbelief.