Matthew 13 :: Darby Translation (DBY)

Jesus Teaches in Parables

(Mar 4:1–9; Luk 8:4–8 )

Mat 13:1And that same day Jesus went out from the house and sat down by the sea.

Mat 13:2And great crowds were gathered together to him, so that going on board ship himself he sat down, and the whole crowd stood on the shore.

Mat 13:3

Mat 13:3And he spoke to them many things in parables, saying, Behold, the sower went out to sow:

Mat 13:4

Mat 13:4and as he sowed, some grains fell along the way, and the birds came and devoured them;

Mat 13:5

Mat 13:5and others fell upon the rocky places where they had not much earth, and immediately they sprang up out of the ground because of not having any depth of earth,

Mat 13:6

Mat 13:6but when the sun rose they were burned up, and because of not having any root were dried up;

Mat 13:7

Mat 13:7and others fell upon the thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them;

Mat 13:8

Mat 13:8and others fell upon the good ground, and produced fruit, one a hundred, one sixty, and one thirty.

Mat 13:9

Mat 13:9He that has ears, let him hear.

An Explanation

(Mar 4:10–12; Luk 8:9, 10 )

Mat 13:10

Mat 13:10And the disciples came up and said to him, Why speakest thou to them in parables?

Mat 13:11

Mat 13:11And he answering said to them, Because to you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of the heavens, but to them it is not given;

Mat 13:12

Mat 13:12for whoever has, to him shall be given, and he shall be caused to be in abundance; but he who has not, even what he has shall be taken away from him.

Mat 13:13

Mat 13:13For this cause I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear nor understand;

Mat 13:14

Mat 13:14and in them is filled up the prophecy of Esaias, which says, Hearing ye shall hear and shall not understand, and beholding ye shall behold and not see;

Mat 13:15

Mat 13:15for the heart of this people has grown fat, and they have heard heavily with their ears, and they have closed their eyes as asleep, lest they should see with the eyes, and hear with the ears, and understand with the heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

Mat 13:16

Mat 13:16But blessed are *your* eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear;

Mat 13:17

Mat 13:17for verily I say unto you, that many prophets and righteous men have desired to see the things which ye behold and did not see them, and to hear the things which ye hear and did not hear them.

The Sower Explained

(Mar 4:13–20; Luk 8:11–15 )

Mat 13:18

Mat 13:18*Ye*, therefore, hear the parable of the sower.

Mat 13:19

Mat 13:19From every one who hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the wicked one comes and catches away what was sown in his heart: this is he that is sown by the wayside.

Mat 13:20

Mat 13:20But he that is sown on the rocky places -- this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy,

Mat 13:21

Mat 13:21but has no root in himself, but is for a time only; and when tribulation or persecution happens on account of the word, he is immediately offended.

Mat 13:22

Mat 13:22And he that is sown among the thorns -- this is he who hears the word, and the anxious care of this life, and the deceit of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.

Mat 13:23

Mat 13:23But he that is sown upon the good ground -- this is he who hears and understands the word, who bears fruit also, and produces, one a hundred, one sixty, and one thirty.

Tares among Wheat

Mat 13:24

Mat 13:24Another parable set he before them, saying, The kingdom of the heavens has become like a man sowing good seed in his field;

Mat 13:25

Mat 13:25but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed darnel amongst the wheat, and went away.

Mat 13:26

Mat 13:26But when the blade shot up and produced fruit, then appeared the darnel also.

Mat 13:27

Mat 13:27And the bondmen of the householder came up and said to him, Sir, hast thou not sown good seed in thy field? whence then has it darnel?

Mat 13:28

Mat 13:28And he said to them, A man that is an enemy has done this. And the bondmen said to him, Wilt thou then that we should go and gather it up?

Mat 13:29

Mat 13:29But he said, No; lest in gathering the darnel ye should root up the wheat with it.

Mat 13:30

Mat 13:30Suffer both to grow together unto the harvest, and in time of the harvest I will say to the harvestmen, Gather first the darnel, and bind it into bundles to burn it; but the wheat bring together into my granary.

The Mustard Seed

(Mar 4:30–32; Luk 13:18, 19 )

Mat 13:31

Mat 13:31Another parable set he before them, saying, The kingdom of the heavens is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field;

Mat 13:32

Mat 13:32which is less indeed than all seeds, but when it is grown is greater than herbs, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of heaven come and roost in its branches.

The Leaven

(Luk 13:20, 21 )

Mat 13:33

Mat 13:33He spoke another parable to them: The kingdom of the heavens is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal until it had been all leavened.

Mat 13:34

Mat 13:34All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, and without a parable he did not speak to them,

Mat 13:35

Mat 13:35so that that should be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the world's foundation.

The Tares Explained

Mat 13:36

Mat 13:36Then, having dismissed the crowds, he went into the house; and his disciples came to him, saying, Expound to us the parable of the darnel of the field.

Mat 13:37

Mat 13:37But he answering said, He that sows the good seed is the Son of man,

Mat 13:38

Mat 13:38and the field is the world; and the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom, but the darnel are the sons of the evil one;

Mat 13:39

Mat 13:39and the enemy who has sowed it is the devil; and the harvest is the completion of the age, and the harvestmen are angels.

Mat 13:40

Mat 13:40As then the darnel is gathered and is burned in the fire, thus it shall be in the completion of the age.

Mat 13:41

Mat 13:41The Son of man shall send his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all offences, and those that practise lawlessness;

Mat 13:42

Mat 13:42and they shall cast them into the furnace of fire; there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.

Mat 13:43

Mat 13:43Then the righteous shall shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He that has ears, let him hear.

Hidden Treasure

Mat 13:44

Mat 13:44The kingdom of the heavens is like a treasure hid in the field, which a man having found has hid, and for the joy of it goes and sells all whatever he has, and buys that field.

A Costly Pearl

Mat 13:45

Mat 13:45Again, the kingdom of the heavens is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls;

Mat 13:46

Mat 13:46and having found one pearl of great value, he went and sold all whatever he had and bought it.

A Dragnet

Mat 13:47

Mat 13:47Again, the kingdom of the heavens is like a seine which has been cast into the sea, and which has gathered together of every kind,

Mat 13:48

Mat 13:48which, when it has been filled, having drawn up on the shore and sat down, they gathered the good into vessels and cast the worthless out.

Mat 13:49

Mat 13:49Thus shall it be in the completion of the age: the angels shall go forth and sever the wicked from the midst of the just,

Mat 13:50

Mat 13:50and shall cast them into the furnace of fire; there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.

Mat 13:51

Mat 13:51Jesus says to them, Have ye understood all these things? They say to him, Yea, Lord.

Mat 13:52

Mat 13:52And he said to them, For this reason every scribe discipled to the kingdom of the heavens is like a man that is a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old.

Jesus Revisits Nazareth

(Mar 6:1–6; Luk 4:16–30 )

Mat 13:53

Mat 13:53And it came to pass when Jesus had finished these parables he withdrew thence.

Mat 13:54

Mat 13:54And having come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, Whence has this man this wisdom and these works of power?

Mat 13:55

Mat 13:55Is not this the son of the carpenter? Is not his mother called Mary, and his brethren James, and Joseph, and Simon, and Judas?

Mat 13:56

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

Mat 13:57

Mat 13:57And they were offended in him. And Jesus said to them, A prophet is not without honour, unless in his country and in his house.

Mat 13:58

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

In 1867, John Nelson Darby translated the New Testament from Greek into English. Further revisions were done in 1872 and 1884. Darby’s work was first published as The Holy Scriptures: A New Translation from the Original Languages by J. N. Darby. After Darby’s death in 1882, some of his students worked together to produce the complete Darby Bible based on the Masoretic Hebrew text, Darby’s German (Elberfelder), and the French (Pau) translations. In 1890, the first complete Darby Bible was published in English. This translation of the Bible is in the public domain.