Section XVII

¹¹²⁰⁴ And he set forth to them another parable, and said, The kingdom of heaven is² like a man who sowed good seed in his field;¹²⁰⁵ but when men slept, his enemy came³ and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away.¹²⁰⁶ And when the blade sprang up⁴ and brought forth fruit, there were noticed the tares also.¹²⁰⁷ And the servants of the master of the house came, and said unto him, Our lord, didst thou not sow good⁵ [Arabic, p. 66] seed in thy field? whence are there tares in it?¹²⁰⁸ He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. His servants said unto him, Wilt thou that we go⁶ and separate it?¹²⁰⁹ He said unto them, Perhaps,¹²¹⁰ when ye separate the tares, ye would⁷ root up with them wheat also.¹²¹¹ Leave them to grow both together until the harvest: and in the time of the harvest I will say unto the reapers, Separate the tares first, and bind them in bundles to be burned with fire; and gather the wheat into my barns.

[8, 9]¹²¹² And he set forth to them another parable, and said,¹²¹³ To what is the kingdom of¹⁰ God like? and to what shall I liken it? and in what parable shall I set it forth?¹²¹⁴ It¹¹ is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and planted in his field:¹²¹⁵ and of the number of the things that are sown in the earth it is smaller than all of the things¹² which are sown, which are upon the earth;¹²¹⁶ but when it is grown, it is greater than all the herbs, and produceth large branches, so that the birds of heaven make their nests in its branches.

[13, 14]¹²¹⁷ And he set forth to them another parable:¹²¹⁸ To what shall I liken the kingdom of¹⁵ God?¹²¹⁹ It is like the leaven which a woman took, and kneaded into three measures of flour, until the whole of it was leavened.

¹⁶¹²²⁰ And Jesus spake all that to the multitudes by way of parables, according as they¹⁷ were able to hear.¹²²¹ And without parables spake he not unto them; that the saying of the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled:

I will open my mouth in parables;

And I will utter secrets which were before the foundations¹²²² of the world.

¹⁸¹²²³ But he explained to his disciples privately everything.

¹⁹¹²²⁴ Then Jesus left¹²²⁵ the multitudes, and came to the house. And his disciples came unto him, and said unto him, Explain unto us that parable about the tares²⁰ [Arabic, p. 67] and the field.¹²²⁶ He answered and said unto them, He that sowed good seed is²¹ the Son of man;¹²²⁷ and the field is the world; and the good seed are the children of the²² kingdom;¹²²⁸ and the tares are the children of the evil one; and the enemy that sowed them¹²²⁹ is Satan; and the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.²³¹²³⁰ And as the tares are separated and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of²⁴ this world.¹²³¹ The Son of man shall send his angels, and separate from his kingdom²⁵ all things that injure,¹²³² and all the doers of iniquity, and they shall cast them into the²⁶ furnace of fire: and there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.¹²³³ Then the righteous shall shine as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whosoever hath ears that hear, let him hear.

²⁷¹²³⁴ And again the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hid in a field: that which a man found and hid; and, for his pleasure in it, went and sold all that he had, and bought that field.

²⁸¹²³⁵ And again the kingdom of heaven is like a man that is a merchant seeking excellent²⁹ pearls;¹²³⁶ and when he found one pearl of great price, he went and sold everything that he had, and bought it.

³⁰¹²³⁷ And again the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was cast¹²³⁸ into the sea, and³¹ gathered of every kind:¹²³⁹ and when it was filled, they drew it up on to the shore of the sea, and sat down to select; and the good of them they threw into the vessels,³² and the bad they threw outside.¹²⁴⁰ Thus shall it be in the end of the world: the angels³³ shall go forth,¹²⁴¹ and separate the wicked from among the good, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

³⁴¹²⁴² Jesus said unto them, Have ye understood all these things? They said unto³⁵ [Arabic, p. 68] him, Yea, our Lord.¹²⁴³ He said unto them, Therefore every scribe that becometh a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a man that is a householder, who bringeth out of his treasures the new and the old.

[36, 37]¹²⁴⁴ And when Jesus had finished all these parables, he removed thence, and came to his city;¹²⁴⁵ and he taught them in their synagogues, so that they were perplexed.³⁸¹²⁴⁶ And when the sabbath came, Jesus began to teach in the synagogue; and many of³⁹ those that heard marvelled, and said, Whence came these things to this man? And many envied him and gave no heed to him, but said, What is this wisdom that is given to this man, that there should happen at his hands such as these mighty works?^1247401248 Is not this a carpenter, son of a carpenter? and is not his mother called Mary? and⁴¹ his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?¹²⁴⁹ And his sisters, all of them,⁴² lo, are they not all with us?¹²⁵⁰ Whence hath this man all these things? And they were in doubt concerning him.¹²⁵¹ And Jesus knew their opinion, and said unto them, Will ye haply¹²⁵² say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal first thyself: and all that⁴³ we have heard that thou didst in Capernaum, do here also in thine own city?¹²⁵³ And he said, Verily I say unto you, A prophet is not received in his own city, nor among⁴⁴ his brethren:¹²⁵⁴ for a prophet is not despised, save in his own city, and among his own⁴⁵ kin, and in his own house.¹²⁵⁵ Verily I say unto you, In the days of Elijah the prophet, there were many widows among the children of Israel, when the heaven held back⁴⁶ three years and six months,¹²⁵⁶ and there was a great famine in all the land; and Elijah [Arabic, p. 69] was not sent to one of them, save to Zarephath of Sidon, to a woman that was⁴⁷ a widow.¹²⁵⁷ And many lepers were among the children of Israel in the days of Elisha the prophet; but not one of them was cleansed, save Naaman the Nabathæan.^1258481259 And he was not able to do there many mighty works,¹²⁶⁰ because of their unbelief;⁴⁹ except that he laid his hand upon a few of the sick, and healed them.¹²⁶¹ And he marvelled⁵⁰ at their lack of faith.¹²⁶² And when those who were in the synagogue heard,⁵¹ they were all filled with wrath; and they rose up,¹²⁶³ and brought him forth outside the city, and brought him to the brow of the hill upon which their city was built, that⁵² they might cast him from its summit:¹²⁶⁴ but he passed through among them and went away.

⁵³¹²⁶⁵ And he went about in the villages which were around Nazareth, and taught in their synagogues.