[1] 1204 And he set forth to them another parable, and said, The kingdom of heaven is [2] like a man who sowed good seed in his field; 1205 but when men slept, his enemy came [3] and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away. 1206 And when the blade sprang up [4] 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 good p. 70 [5] [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 go [6] and separate it? 1209 He said unto them, Perhaps, 1210 when ye separate the tares, ye would [7] 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 of [10] God like? and to what shall I liken it? and in what parable shall I set it forth? 1214 It [11] 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 things [12] 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 of [15] 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.
[16] 1220 And Jesus spake all that to the multitudes by way of parables, according as they [17] 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 foundations 1222 of the world.
[18] 1223 But he explained to his disciples privately everything.
[19] 1224 Then Jesus left 1225 the multitudes, and came to the house. And his disciples came unto him, and said unto him, Explain unto us that parable about the tares [20] [Arabic, p. 67] and the field. 1226 He answered and said unto them, He that sowed good seed is [21] the Son of man; 1227 and the field is the world; and the good seed are the children of the [22] kingdom; 1228 and the tares are the children of the evil one; and the enemy that sowed them 1229 is Satan; and the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. [23] 1230 And as the tares are separated and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of [24] this world. 1231 The Son of man shall send his angels, and separate from his kingdom [25] all things that injure, 1232 and all the doers of iniquity, and they shall cast them into the [26] 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.
[27] 1234 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.
[28] 1235 And again the kingdom of heaven is like a man that is a merchant seeking excellent [29] pearls; 1236 and when he found one pearl of great price, he went and sold everything that he had, and bought it.
[30] 1237 And again the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was cast 1238 into the sea, and [31] 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 angels [33] 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.
[34] 1242 Jesus said unto them, Have ye understood all these things? They said unto [35] [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. [38] 1246 And when the sabbath came, Jesus began to teach in the synagogue; and many of [39] 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 p. 71 given to this man, that there should happen at his hands such as these mighty works? 1247 [40] 1248 Is not this a carpenter, son of a carpenter? and is not his mother called Mary? and [41] 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 haply 1252 say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal first thyself: and all that [43] 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 among [44] his brethren: 1254 for a prophet is not despised, save in his own city, and among his own [45] 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 back [46] 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 was [47] 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. 1258 [48] 1259 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 marvelled [50] 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, that [52] they might cast him from its summit: 1264 but he passed through among them and went away.
[53] 1265 And he went about in the villages which were around Nazareth, and taught in their synagogues.
The word (if not a corruption of that used in the Brit. Mus. text of Ibn-at-Tayyib’s Commentary, and in § 43, 46 where, however, according to Ciasca’s foot-note, it was not the word first written by the scribe) is Syriac. Perhaps it means the ends of the earth (see P. Smith, Thes. Syr.). Still a third word is used in § 47, 42.
70:1223 70:1224 70:1225 70:1226 70:1227 70:1228 70:1229 70:1230 70:1231 70:1232 70:1233 70:1234 70:1235 70:1236 70:1237 70:1238 70:1239 70:1240 70:1241 70:1242 70:1243 70:1244 70:1245 70:1246 71:1247 71:1248 71:1249 71:1250 71:1251 71:1252 71:1253 71:1254 71:1255 71:1256 71:1257 71:1258Of the Syriac versions Cur. and Sin. are wanting. Pesh. has Aramæan.
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