27. The landowner’s slaves came to him and said, ‘Master, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Then where did the weeds come from? ’
28. “ ‘An enemy did this! ’ he told them.“ ‘So, do you want us to go and gather them up? ’ the slaves asked him.
29. “ ‘No,’ he said. ‘When you gather up the weeds, you might also uproot the wheat with them.
30. Let both grow together until the harvest. At harvest time I’ll tell the reapers: Gather the weeds first and tie them in bundles to burn them, but store the wheat in my barn.’ ”
31. He presented another parable to them: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field.
32. It’s the smallest of all the seeds, but when grown, it’s taller than the vegetables and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the sky come and nest in its branches.”
33. He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into 50 pounds of flour until it spread through all of it.”
34. Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables, and He would not speak anything to them without a parable,
35. so that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled:I will open My mouth in parables;I will declare things kept secretfrom the foundation of the world.
36. Then He dismissed the crowds and went into the house. His disciples approached Him and said, “Explain the parable of the weeds in the field to us.”
37. He replied: “The One who sows the good seed is the Son of Man;
38. the field is the world; and the good seed — these are the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one,
39. and the enemy who sowed them is the Devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.
40. Therefore, just as the weeds are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age.
41. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather from His kingdom everything that causes sin and those guilty of lawlessness.
42. They will throw them into the blazing furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.