The Parable of the Sower
(Mark 4:1–9; Luke 8:4–8)

1The same daye wente Iesus out of ye house, and sat by the see syde, 2& moch people resorted vnto him: so yt he wete in to a shyppe and satt him downe, and all the people stode vpo the shore.

3And he spake many thinges vnto the in symilitudes, sayenge: Beholde, The sower wente forth to sowe: 4and as he sowed, some fell by the waye syde: Then came the foules, & ate it vp. 5Some fell vpon stony grounde, & anone it spronge vp, because it had no depth of earth: 6But whan the Sonne arose, it caught heate: and for so moch as it had no rote, it withred awaye. 7Some fell amoge the thornes, & the thornes grewe vp, and choked it. 8Some fell vpo good groude, & gaue frute: some an hundreth folde, some sixtie folde, some thirtie folde. 9Who so hath eares to heare, let hi heare.

The Purpose of Jesus’ Parables
(Isaiah 6:1–13; Mark 4:10–12; Luke 8:9–10)

10And the disciples came vnto him, and sayde: Why speakest thou to the by parables? 11He answered and sayde vnto the: Vnto you it is geuen to knowe the mystery of the kingdome of heauen, but vnto them it is not geuen. 12For whoso hath, vnto him shal be geue, and he shal haue abundaunce. But who so hath not, from him shalbe taken awaye, eue that he hath. 13Therfore speake I vnto the by parables, for with seynge eyes they se not, & with hearinge eares they heare not, for they vnderstonde it not.

14And in them is fulfilled ye prophecie of Esay, which sayeth: Ye shal heare in dede, and shal not vnderstonde: and with seinge eyes shal ye se, and not perceaue.

15For ye hert of this people is waxed grosse, & their eares are thick of hearige, & their eyes haue they closed, lest they shulde once se wt ye eyes, & heare wt the eares, & vnderstode wt the hert, & turne, that I might heale them.

16But blessed are youre eyes, for they se: & youre eares, for they heare. 17Verely I saye vnto you: Many prophetes & righteous men haue desyred to se ye thinges that ye se, and haue not sene the: and to heare the thinges that ye heare, and haue not herde the.

The Parable of the Sower Explained
(Mark 4:13–20; Luke 8:11–15)

18Heare ye therfore the parable of the sower. 19Whan one heareth ye worde of the kyngdome, and vnderstondeth it not, the euell man cometh, and plucketh it awaye that is sowne in his hert: & this is he yt is sowne by the waye syde. 20But he yt is sowne in the stonye grounde, is this: wha one heareth the worde, & anone with ioye receaueth it: 21neuertheles he hath no rote i him, but endureth for a season: wha trouble & persecucion aryseth because of the worde, immediatly he his offended. 22As for him that is sowne amonge ye thornes, this is he: Wha one heareth the worde, & the carefulnes of this worlde, & the disceatfulnes of riches choke the worde, & so he becometh vnfrutefull. 23But he yt is sowne in the good grounde, is this: whan one heareth the worde, and vnderstondeth it, and bringeth forth frute: and some geueth an hudreth folde, some sixtie folde, and some thirtie folde.

The Parable of the Weeds
(Ezekiel 17:1–10)

24Another parable put he forth vnto the, & sayde: The kyngdome of heaue is like vnto a man, yt sowed good sede in his felde. 25But whyle me slepte, there came an enemye, and sowed tares amonge ye wheate, & wente his waye. 26Now wha the blade was sproge vp & brought forth frute, the ye tares appeared also. 27Then came the seruautes to ye housholder, & sayde vnto him: Syr, sowdest not thou good sede in yi felde? Fro whece the hath it tares? 28He sayde vnto the: that hath the enemye done. The sayde ye seruautes: wilt thou then yt we go & wede the out? 29He sayde: No, lest whyle ye wede out ye tares, ye plucke vp the wheate also wt the. 30Let the both growe together tyll the haruest, and in tyme of haruest I wil saye vnto the reapers: Gather ye tares first, & bynde the in sheeues to be bret: but gather the wheate in to my barne.

The Parable of the Mustard Seed
(Mark 4:30–34; Luke 13:18–19)

31Another parable put he forth vnto the, and sayde: The kyngdome of heauen is like vnto a grane of mustarde sede, which a man toke, and sowed it in his felde. 32Which is the leest amonge all sedes. But whan it is growne, it is the greatest amonge herbes, and is a tre: so that the byrdes vnder the heauen come and dwell in the braunches of it.

The Parable of the Leaven
(Luke 13:20–21)

33Another parable spake he vnto the: The kyngdome of heaue is like vnto leue, which a woman toke, and myxte it amonge thre peckes of meele, tyll all was leuended.

I Will Open My Mouth in Parables
(Psalm 78:1–72)

34All soch thinges spake Iesus vnto ye people by parables, & without parables spake he nothinge vnto the:

35yt the thinge might be fulfilled, which was spoke by ye prophet, sayenge: I wil open my mouth in parables, and wil speake out the secretes from the begynnynge of the worlde.

The Parable of the Weeds Explained
(Zephaniah 1:1–6)

36Then sent Iesus the people awaye, and came home. And his disciples came vnto hi, and sayde: Declare vnto us ye parable of ye tares of ye felde. 37Iesus answered, and sayde vnto them: He that soweth the good sede, is the sonne of man: 38the felde is the worlde: ye good sede are the childre of the kyngdome: The tares are the children of wickednes: 39ye enemye that soweth the, is the deuell: ye haruest is the ende of the worlde: ye reapers are ye angels. 40For like as ye tares are weded out, and brent in the fyre, eue so shal it go in ye ende of this worlde. 41The sonne of man shal sende forth his angels, & they shal gather out of his kingdome all thinges yt offende, & the yt do iniquyte, 42& shal cast the in to a fornace of fyre, there shalbe waylinge and gnasshinge of teth. 43The shal the righteous shyne as the Sonne, in the kyngdome of their father. Who so hath eares to heare, let him heare.

The Parables of the Treasure and the Pearl

44Agayne, the kingdome of heauen is like vnto a treasure hyd in the felde, which a ma founde and hid it, and for ioye therof he wete & solde all yt he had, and bought yt felde.

45Agayne, the kyngdome of heauen is like vnto a marchaut, yt sought good pearles: 46& wha he had founde a precious pearle, he wete and solde all that he had, & bought it.

The Parable of the Net

47Agayne, ye kyngdome of heaue is like vnto a nett cast in to ye see, wherwith are take all maner of fyshes: 48& wha it is ful, me drawe it out vnto ye shore, & sytt & gather ye good i to the vessels, but cast the bad awaye. 49So shal it be also in ye ende of ye worlde. The angels shal go out, & seuer the bad fro the righteous, 50& shal cast the in to a fornace of fyre, there shalbe waylinge & gnasshinge of teth.

51And Iesus sayde vnto them: Haue ye vnderstode all these thinges? They sayde: Yee LORDE. 52Then sayde he vnto the: Therfore euery scribe taught vnto ye kingdome of heauen, is like an houssholder, which bryngeth out of his treasure thinges new and olde.

The Rejection at Nazareth
(Mark 6:1–6; Luke 4:16–30)

53And it came to passe wha Iesus had ended these parables, he departed thence, 54and came in to his owne coutre, and taught the in their synagoges: in so moch, that they were astonnyed and sayde: Whece cometh soch wyssdome & power vnto him? 55Is not this the carpeters sonne? Is not his mother called Mary? and his brethre Iames & Ioses, and Symon and Iude? 56And are not all his sisters here with us? Whence hath he the all these thinges? 57And they were offended at him. But Iesus sayde vnto the: A prophet is nowhere lesse sett by, the at home & amonge his owne. 58And he dyd not many miracles there, because of their vnbeleue.