# Matthew 13.24-30

<!-- type: passage | created: 2026-06-01 | updated: 2026-06-01 -->

**Book:** [Matthew](/codex/matthew-the-apostle/) · NASB95

## Immediate context (±2 verses)

**ASV** ([ASV](/codex/asv/))
> 22. <span class="rl-speech">And he that was sown among the thorns, this is he that heareth the word; and the care of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.</span> 23. <span class="rl-speech">And he that was sown upon the good ground, this is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; who verily beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.</span>
>
> **24. <span class="rl-speech">Another parable set he before them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man that sowed good seed in his field:</span> 25. <span class="rl-speech">but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares also among the wheat, and went away.</span> 26. <span class="rl-speech">But when the blade sprang up and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.</span> 27. <span class="rl-speech">And the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? whence then hath it tares?</span> 28. And he said unto them, <span class="rl-speech">An enemy hath done this. And the servants say unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?</span> 29. But he saith, <span class="rl-speech">Nay; lest haply while ye gather up the tares, ye root up the wheat with them.</span> 30. <span class="rl-speech">Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather up first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn.</span>**
>
> 31. <span class="rl-speech">Another parable set he before them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field:</span> 32. <span class="rl-speech">which indeed is less than all seeds; but when it is grown, it is greater than the herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the heaven come and lodge in the branches thereof.</span> (Matthew 13:22-32, ASV)

**WEB** ([WEB](/codex/web/))
> 22. <span class="rl-speech">What was sown among the thorns, this is he who hears the word, but the cares of this age and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.</span> 23. <span class="rl-speech">What was sown on the good ground, this is he who hears the word, and understands it, who most certainly bears fruit, and produces, some one hundred times as much, some sixty, and some thirty.”</span>
>
> **24. <span class="rl-speech">He set another parable before them, saying, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field,</span> 25. <span class="rl-speech">but while people slept, his enemy came and sowed darnel weeds also among the wheat, and went away.</span> 26. <span class="rl-speech">But when the blade sprang up and produced fruit, then the darnel weeds appeared also.</span> 27. <span class="rl-speech">The servants of the householder came and said to him, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where did these darnel weeds come from?’</span> 28. <span class="rl-speech">“He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ “The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and gather them up?’</span> 29. “But he said, <span class="rl-speech">‘No, lest perhaps while you gather up the darnel weeds, you root up the wheat with them.</span> 30. <span class="rl-speech">Let both grow together until the harvest, and in the harvest time I will tell the reapers, “First, gather up the darnel weeds, and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”</span>**
>
> 31. <span class="rl-speech">He set another parable before them, saying, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field;</span> 32. <span class="rl-speech">which indeed is smaller than all seeds. But when it is grown, it is greater than the herbs, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in its branches.”</span> (Matthew 13:22-32, WEB)

**KJV** ([KJV](/codex/kjv/))
> 22. <span class="rl-speech">He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.</span> 23. <span class="rl-speech">But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.</span>
>
> **24. <span class="rl-speech">Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:</span> 25. <span class="rl-speech">But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.</span> 26. <span class="rl-speech">But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.</span> 27. <span class="rl-speech">So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?</span> 28. He said unto them, <span class="rl-speech">An enemy hath done this.</span> The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? 29. But he said, <span class="rl-speech">Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.</span> 30. <span class="rl-speech">Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.</span>**
>
> 31. <span class="rl-speech">Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field:</span> 32. <span class="rl-speech">Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.</span> (Matthew 13:22-32, KJV)

**YLT** ([YLT](/codex/ylt/))
> 22. <span class="rl-speech">'And that sown toward the thorns, this is he who is hearing the word, and the anxiety of this age, and the deceitfulness of the riches, do choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.</span> 23. <span class="rl-speech">'And that sown on the good ground: this is he who is hearing the word, and is understanding, who indeed doth bear fruit, and doth make, some indeed a hundredfold, and some sixty, and some thirty.'</span>
>
> **24. Another simile he set before them, saying: 'The reign of the heavens was likened to a man sowing good seed in his field, 25. and, while men are sleeping, his enemy came and sowed darnel in the midst of the wheat, and went away, 26. and when the herb sprang up, and yielded fruit, then appeared also the darnel. 27. 'And the servants of the householder, having come near, said to him, Sir, good seed didst thou not sow in thy field? whence then hath it the darnel? 28. And he saith to them, <span class="rl-speech">A man, an enemy, did this; and the servants said to him, Wilt thou, then, [that] having gone away we may gather it up?</span> 29. 'And he said, <span class="rl-speech">No, lest, gathering up the darnel, ye root up with it the wheat,</span> 30. <span class="rl-speech">suffer both to grow together till the harvest, and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather up first the darnel, and bind it in bundles, to burn it, and the wheat gather up into my storehouse.'</span>**
>
> 31. <span class="rl-speech">Another simile he set before them, saying: 'The reign of the heavens is like to a grain of mustard, which a man having taken, did sow in his field,</span> 32. <span class="rl-speech">which less, indeed, is than all the seeds, but when it may be grown, is greatest of the herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the heaven do come and rest in its branches.'</span> (Matthew 13:22-32, YLT)

## Setting

- **Speaker:** _TBD_
- **Audience:** _TBD_
- **Location:** _TBD_
- **Time period:** _TBD_

## Theological reading

_Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added._

## Key words

_Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap._

- _TBD_
- _TBD_
- _TBD_
- _TBD_

<!-- BACKLINKS:START -->
## Quoted in

**Arguments and defeaters:**

- [Atheism Cannot Justify Compassion](/codex/atheism-cannot-justify-compassion/)
- [Atheism Moral Neutrality Failure](/codex/atheism-moral-neutrality-failure/)
- [Christians Not Under Mosaic Law](/codex/christians-not-under-mosaic-law/)
- [No True Scotsman Charge Defeater](/codex/no-true-scotsman-charge-defeater/)

**Concepts:**

- [Hypocrisy](/codex/hypocrisy/)
- [Inquisition](/codex/inquisition/)
- [Jesus Said](/codex/jesus-said/), via [Matthew 13](/codex/matthew-13/)

**Lexicon:**

- [G2962 - kyrios](/codex/g2962-kyrios/), via [Matthew 13.27](/codex/matthew-13-27/)

<!-- BACKLINKS:END -->
---

_Scripture quotations taken from the **New American Standard Bible®** (NASB), Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by **The Lockman Foundation**. Used by permission. All rights reserved. [www.lockman.org](https://www.lockman.org)_

## Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the **most literal English translations available** (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the **public domain in the United States**, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

- **[ASV](/codex/asv/)** (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
- **[WEB](/codex/web/)** (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
- **[KJV](/codex/kjv/)** (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
- **[YLT](/codex/ylt/)** (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See [Bibles](/codex/bibles/) for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.