Matthew 13:27-52

27So the farmer's servants came to speak to him. “Master, you planted only good seeds in your field but now many weeds are also growing there. How did this happen?” they asked him.

28The farmer said to his servants, “A bad person who does not like me has done this.” So the servants then asked the farmer, “Do you want us to go and pull up the weeds?”

29The farmer replied, “No, I do not want you to do that. If you pull up the weeds, you may also pull up some of the good wheat plants.

30Let the good plants and the weeds grow up together. At harvest time, I will tell the workers to cut down the weeds first. Then they will tie them together and burn them. Then they will cut the wheat and bring it into my building. I will store it there.” ’

31Jesus told the people another story. He said, ‘I will tell you again what the kingdom of heaven is like. It is like a very small seed of the plant called mustard. A man took this seed and he planted it in his field.

32It is the smallest seed that there is. But when it starts to grow, it will become bigger than the largest bush. It will become a tree. The wild birds will come and they will build their nests among the branches of that tree.’

33Jesus told the people another story. He said, ‘The kingdom of heaven is also like this. It is like how yeast works. A woman took the yeast and she mixed it into three large bowls of flour. Then the yeast went through all the flour so that it grew big.’

34Jesus told the crowds of people all these things. But he only used stories to teach them.

35So what God's prophet had said long ago now became true: ‘I will use stories when I speak to them. And I will teach them secret things. People have never learned these things before, since the world began.’

36Then Jesus told the crowds of people to go away. He went into the house where he was staying. His disciples also went into the house with him. They said to him, ‘Explain to us the story about the weeds that were growing in the field.’

37Jesus replied, ‘The Son of Man is like the farmer who planted the good seed in the field.

38The field is like the world. The good seeds are like the people who belong to God's kingdom. The weeds are like the people who belong to the Devil.

39The Devil is the bad person who planted the weed seeds in the field. The time for harvest is like the end of time. God's angels are the workers who cut the plants down.

40In the story, the workers cut down the weeds and they burned them in the fire. When this world comes to an end, it will happen like that.

41The Son of Man will send his workers, who are his angels. They will remove from his kingdom everything that causes sin. They will take away everyone who does evil things.

42The angels will throw those bad people into the great fire. There the people will cry and they will bite their teeth together.

43The people who obeyed God will shine like the sun. They will be in the kingdom of their Father. You have ears, so listen well to what I say!’

44‘I can tell you again what the kingdom of heaven is like,’ Jesus said. ‘The kingdom of heaven is like some valuable things that a man buried in a field. Another man found it, but then he covered it over again with dirt. The second man was very happy and he went away. He sold everything that he had. Then he went and bought the field with the valuable things in it.’

45‘I will tell you again what the kingdom of heaven is like,’ Jesus said. ‘A trader looks for beautiful stones that he can buy.

46One day he found a very valuable stone that someone wanted to sell. So he went away and he sold everything that he had. Then he went and he bought that very valuable stone.’

47Jesus also said, ‘I can tell you again what the kingdom of heaven is like. Some men had nets to catch fish in. They threw their nets into the lake and they caught many different kinds of fish.

48When the net was full of fish, the men pulled it up onto the shore. Then they sat down. Some of the fish were good to eat, and they put these fish into baskets. Some of the fish were not good to eat, and they threw these fish away.

49This is what will happen when the world's time comes to an end. God will send his angels. They will put wicked people in one place. And they will put God's righteous people in a separate place.

50The angels will throw the wicked people into the great fire. There those people will weep and they will bite their teeth together.’

51Then Jesus asked his disciples, ‘Have you understood all these things?’ They replied, ‘Yes, we have.’

52Jesus said to them, ‘Some teachers of God's Law have now learned about the kingdom of heaven. These men are like the master of a house who takes things out of the room where he keeps them. Some of the valuable things he brings out are new and some of them are old.’