Daily Bible GNT March 11 Scroll

The Parable of the Weeds

Matthew 13 ²⁴Jesus told them another parable: "The Kingdom of heaven is like this. A man sowed good seed in his field. ²⁵One night, when everyone was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. ²⁶When the plants grew and the heads of grain began to form, then the weeds showed up. ²⁷The man's servants came to him and said, 'Sir, it was good seed you sowed in your field; where did the weeds come from?' ²⁸'It was some enemy who did this,' he answered. 'Do you want us to go and pull up the weeds?' they asked him. ²⁹'No,' he answered, 'because as you gather the weeds you might pull up some of the wheat along with them. ³⁰Let the wheat and the weeds both grow together until harvest. Then I will tell the harvest workers to pull up the weeds first, tie them in bundles and burn them, and then to gather in the wheat and put it in my barn.'"

The Parable of the Mustard Seed
(Mark 4.30-32; Luke 13.18, 19)

³¹Jesus told them another parable: "The Kingdom of heaven is like this. A man takes a mustard seed and sows it in his field. ³²It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it grows up, it is the biggest of all plants. It becomes a tree, so that birds come and make their nests in its branches."

The Parable of the Yeast
(Luke 13.20, 21)

³³Jesus told them still another parable: "The Kingdom of heaven is like this. A woman takes some yeast and mixes it with a bushel of flour until the whole batch of dough rises."

Jesus' Use of Parables
(Mark 4.33, 34)

³⁴Jesus used parables to tell all these things to the crowds; he would not say a thing to them without using a parable. ³⁵He did this to make come true what the prophet had said,

"I will use parables when I speak to them;

I will tell them things unknown since the creation of the world."

Jesus Explains the Parable of the Weeds

³⁶When Jesus had left the crowd and gone indoors, his disciples came to him and said, "Tell us what the parable about the weeds in the field means."

³⁷Jesus answered, "The man who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man; ³⁸the field is the world; the good seed is the people who belong to the Kingdom; the weeds are the people who belong to the Evil One; ³⁹and the enemy who sowed the weeds is the Devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvest workers are angels. ⁴⁰Just as the weeds are gathered up and burned in the fire, so the same thing will happen at the end of the age: ⁴¹the Son of Man will send out his angels to gather up out of his Kingdom all those who cause people to sin and all others who do evil things, ⁴²and they will throw them into the fiery furnace, where they will cry and gnash their teeth. ⁴³Then God's people will shine like the sun in their Father's Kingdom. Listen, then, if you have ears!

The Parable of the Hidden Treasure

⁴⁴"The Kingdom of heaven is like this. A man happens to find a treasure hidden in a field. He covers it up again, and is so happy that he goes and sells everything he has, and then goes back and buys that field.

The Parable of the Pearl

⁴⁵"Also, the Kingdom of heaven is like this. A man is looking for fine pearls, ⁴⁶and when he finds one that is unusually fine, he goes and sells everything he has, and buys that pearl.

The Parable of the Net

⁴⁷"Also, the Kingdom of heaven is like this. Some fishermen throw their net out in the lake and catch all kinds of fish. ⁴⁸When the net is full, they pull it to shore and sit down to divide the fish: the good ones go into the buckets, the worthless ones are thrown away. ⁴⁹It will be like this at the end of the age: the angels will go out and gather up the evil people from among the good ⁵⁰and will throw them into the fiery furnace, where they will cry and gnash their teeth.

New Truths and Old

⁵¹"Do you understand these things?" Jesus asked them.

"Yes," they answered.

⁵²So he replied, "This means, then, that every teacher of the Law who becomes a disciple in the Kingdom of heaven is like a homeowner who takes new and old things out of his storage room."

Jesus Is Rejected at Nazareth
(Mark 6.1-6; Luke 4.16-30)

⁵³When Jesus finished telling these parables, he left that place ⁵⁴and went back to his hometown. He taught in the synagogue, and those who heard him were amazed. "Where did he get such wisdom?" they asked. "And what about his miracles? ⁵⁵Isn't he the carpenter's son? Isn't Mary his mother, and aren't James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas his brothers? ⁵⁶Aren't all his sisters living here? Where did he get all this?" ⁵⁷And so they rejected him.

Jesus said to them, "A prophet is respected everywhere except in his hometown and by his own family." ⁵⁸Because they did not have faith, he did not perform many miracles there.

Laws of Holiness and Justice

Leviticus 19 The LORD told Moses ²to say to the community of Israel, "Be holy, because I, the LORD your God, am holy. ³Each of you must respect your mother and your father, and must keep the Sabbath, as I have commanded. I am the LORD your God.

⁴"Do not abandon me and worship idols; do not make gods of metal and worship them. I am the LORD your God.

⁵"When you kill an animal for a fellowship offering, keep the regulations that I have given you, and I will accept the offering. ⁶The meat must be eaten on the day the animal is killed or on the next day. Any meat left on the third day must be burned, ⁷because it is ritually unclean, and if anyone eats it, I will not accept the offering. ⁸Any who eat it will be guilty of treating as ordinary what is dedicated to me, and they will no longer be considered my people.

⁹"When you harvest your fields, do not cut the grain at the edges of the fields, and do not go back to cut the heads of grain that were left. ¹⁰Do not go back through your vineyard to gather the grapes that were missed or to pick up the grapes that have fallen; leave them for poor people and foreigners. I am the LORD your God.

¹¹"Do not steal or cheat or lie. ¹²Do not make a promise in my name if you do not intend to keep it; that brings disgrace on my name. I am the LORD your God.

¹³"Do not rob or take advantage of anyone. Do not hold back the wages of someone you have hired, not even for one night. ¹⁴Do not curse the deaf or put something in front of the blind so as to make them stumble over it. Obey me; I am the LORD your God.

¹⁵"Be honest and just when you make decisions in legal cases; do not show favoritism to the poor or fear the rich. ¹⁶Do not spread lies about anyone, and when someone is on trial for his life, speak out if your testimony can help him. I am the LORD.

¹⁷"Do not bear a grudge against others, but settle your differences with them, so that you will not commit a sin because of them. ¹⁸Do not take revenge on others or continue to hate them, but love your neighbors as you love yourself. I am the LORD.

¹⁹"Obey my commands. Do not crossbreed domestic animals. Do not plant two kinds of seed in the same field. Do not wear clothes made of two kinds of material.

²⁰"If a slave woman is the recognized concubine of a man and she has not been paid for and freed, then if another man has sexual relations with her, they will be punished, but not put to death, since she is a slave. ²¹The man shall bring a ram to the entrance of the Tent of my presence as his repayment offering, ²²and with it the priest shall perform the ritual of purification to remove the man's sin, and God will forgive him.

²³"When you come into the land of Canaan and plant any kind of fruit tree, consider the fruit ritually unclean for the first three years. During that time you must not eat it. ²⁴In the fourth year all the fruit shall be dedicated as an offering to show your gratitude to me, the LORD. ²⁵But in the fifth year you may eat the fruit. If you do all this, your trees will bear more fruit. I am the LORD your God.

²⁶"Do not eat any meat with blood still in it. Do not practice any kind of magic. ²⁷Do not cut the hair on the sides of your head or trim your beard ²⁸or tattoo yourselves or cut gashes in your body to mourn for the dead. I am the LORD.

²⁹"Do not disgrace your daughters by making them temple prostitutes; if you do, you will turn to other gods and the land will be full of immorality. ³⁰Keep the Sabbath, and honor the place where I am worshiped. I am the LORD.

³¹"Do not go for advice to people who consult the spirits of the dead. If you do, you will be ritually unclean. I am the LORD your God.

³²"Show respect for old people and honor them. Reverently obey me; I am the LORD.

³³"Do not mistreat foreigners who are living in your land. ³⁴Treat them as you would an Israelite, and love them as you love yourselves. Remember that you were once foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.

³⁵"Do not cheat anyone by using false measures of length, weight, or quantity. ³⁶Use honest scales, honest weights, and honest measures. I am the LORD your God, and I brought you out of Egypt. ³⁷Obey all my laws and commands. I am the LORD."

Proverbs 29 If you get more stubborn every time you are corrected, one day you will be crushed and never recover.

²Show me a righteous ruler and I will show you a happy people. Show me a wicked ruler and I will show you a miserable people.

³If you appreciate wisdom, your parents will be proud of you.

It is a foolish waste to spend money on prostitutes.

⁴When the king is concerned with justice, the nation will be strong, but when he is only concerned with money, he will ruin his country.

⁵If you flatter your friends, you set a trap for yourself.

⁶Evil people are trapped in their own sins, while honest people are happy and free.

⁷A good person knows the rights of the poor, but wicked people cannot understand such things.

⁸People with no regard for others can throw whole cities into turmoil. Those who are wise keep things calm.

⁹When an intelligent person brings a lawsuit against a fool, the fool only laughs and becomes loud and abusive.

¹⁰Bloodthirsty people hate anyone who's honest, but righteous people will protect the life of such a person.

¹¹Stupid people express their anger openly, but sensible people are patient and hold it back.

¹²If a ruler pays attention to false information, all his officials will be liars.

¹³A poor person and his oppressor have this in common--the LORD gave eyes to both of them.

¹⁴If a king defends the rights of the poor, he will rule for a long time.

¹⁵Correction and discipline are good for children. If they have their own way, they will make their mothers ashamed of them.

¹⁶When evil people are in power, crime increases. But the righteous will live to see the downfall of such people.

¹⁷Discipline your children and you can always be proud of them. They will never give you reason to be ashamed.

¹⁸A nation without God's guidance is a nation without order. Happy are those who keep God's law!

¹⁹You cannot correct servants just by talking to them. They may understand you, but they will pay no attention.

²⁰There is more hope for a stupid fool than for someone who speaks without thinking.

²¹If you give your servants everything they want from childhood on, some day they will take over everything you own.

²²People with quick tempers cause a lot of quarreling and trouble.

²³Arrogance will bring your downfall, but if you are humble, you will be respected.

²⁴A thief 's partner is his own worst enemy. He will be punished if he tells the truth in court, and God will curse him if he doesn't.

²⁵It is dangerous to be concerned with what others think of you, but if you trust the LORD, you are safe.

²⁶Everybody wants the good will of the ruler, but only from the LORD can you get justice.

²⁷The righteous hate the wicked, and the wicked hate the righteous.

This reading is from The Holy Bible, Today's English Version, Second Edition copyright © American Bible Society, 1992;
Old Testament copyright © American Bible Society, 1976, 1992; New Testament © American Bible Society, 1966, 1971, 1976, 1992.

These daily Bible readings from the Good News Translation (GNT), formerly the Today's English Version (TEV), are published by BibleNetUSA. The web site and BibleCard® designs are by iCreative. All BibleCard® images are copyrighted by iCreative. All rights reserved.