23. As for what was planted on good soil, this refers to those who hear and understand, and bear fruit and produce—in one case a yield of one hundred to one, in another case a yield of sixty to one, and in another case a yield of thirty to one."
24. Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like someone who planted good seed in his field.
25. While people were sleeping, an enemy came and planted weeds among the wheat and went away.
26. When the stalks sprouted and bore grain, then the weeds also appeared.
27. “The servants of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Master, didn’t you plant good seed in your field? Then how is it that it has weeds?’
28. “‘An enemy has done this,’ he answered. “The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us to go and gather them?’
29. "But the landowner said, ‘No, because if you gather the weeds, you’ll pull up the wheat along with them.
30. Let both grow side by side until the harvest. And at harvesttime I’ll say to the harvesters, "First gather the weeds and tie them together in bundles to be burned. But bring the wheat into my barn." ’"
31. He told another parable to them: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and planted in his field.
32. It’s the smallest of all seeds. But when it’s grown, it’s the largest of all vegetable plants. It becomes a tree so that the birds in the sky come and nest in its branches."
33. He told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast, which a woman took and hid in a bushel of wheat flour until the yeast had worked its way through all the dough."
34. Jesus said all these things to the crowds in parables, and he spoke to them only in parables.
35. This was to fulfill what the prophet spoke: I’ll speak in parables; I’ll declare what has been hidden since the beginning of the world.
36. Jesus left the crowds and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field."
37. Jesus replied, "The one who plants the good seed is the Human One.
38. The field is the world. And the good seeds are the followers of the kingdom. But the weeds are the followers of the evil one.