Matthew 13:41-49

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.