Jesus tells a story about weeds in a farmer's field
24 Then Jesus told the people another story. He said, ‘This is what the kingdom of heaven is like: A farmer planted some good wheat seeds in his field. 25 But one night, when everyone was sleeping, a bad person came to the farmer's field. He did not like the farmer. This bad person planted seeds of weeds among the good wheat seeds. Then the bad person went away again. 26 The good seeds grew and the plants began to make new grain. But when this happened, the weeds also grew.
27 So the farmer's servants came to him. They asked him, “Master, you planted only good seeds in your field but now many weeds are also growing there. How did this happen?”
28 The 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?”
29 The 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. 30 Let the good plants and the weeds grow up together. At harvest time, I will tell the workers to cut down the weeds first. They will tie them together and burn them. Then they will cut the wheat and they will store it in my building.” ’
Jesus tells a story about a small seed that makes a big tree
31 Jesus 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. 32 It 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.’
Jesus tells a story about yeast in flour
33 Jesus 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.’
13:33People put yeast into flour and water to make bread. The yeast grows in the flour and it causes the bread to become bigger.
34 Jesus told the crowds of people all these things. But he only used stories to teach them. 35 So what God's prophet had said long ago now became true:
‘I will use stories when I speak to them.
I will teach them secret things.
People have never learned these things before, since the world began.’
Jesus explains his story about the weeds in a farmer's field
36 Then 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.’
37 Jesus replied, ‘The Son of Man is like the farmer who planted the good seed in the field. 38 The 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. 39 The 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.
40 In 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. 41 The 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. 42 The angels will throw those wicked people into the great fire. There the people will weep and they will bite their teeth together. 43 The people who obeyed God will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. You have ears, so listen well to what I say!’
13:42Biting their teeth together may have shown that they were angry. Or it may have shown they were in much pain. Also in verse 50.
The kingdom of heaven is more valuable than everything else
44 Jesus said, ‘I can tell you what the kingdom of heaven is like. It 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.
13:44At that time, people often hid their valuable things in the ground. The kingdom of God is very valuable.
45 I will tell you again what the kingdom of heaven is like. A trader was looking for beautiful pearls that he could buy. 46 One day he found a very valuable pearl that someone wanted to sell. So he went away and he sold everything that he had. Then he bought that very valuable pearl.’
Jesus tells a story about nets with fish in them
47 Jesus 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. 48 When 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. 49 This 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. 50 The angels will throw the wicked people into the great fire. There those people will weep and they will bite their teeth together.’
51 Then Jesus asked his disciples, ‘Have you understood all these things?’
They replied, ‘Yes, we have understood.’
52 Jesus 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 brings things out of the room where he keeps them. Some of those valuable things are new and some of them are old.’
