²⁴ Jesus told the people another story. He said, `The kingdom of heaven is like this. A man sowed good seed in his field.

²⁵ While people were sleeping, a bad man came and sowed weeds among the good seed. Then he went away.

²⁶ The good seed grew and the plants gave more seeds. Then the weeds grew too.

²⁷ The servants came and said to the man who owned the field, "Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How did the weeds get here?"

²⁸ `He answered them, "A bad man has done this." They asked him, "Do you want us to go and pull up the weeds?"

²⁹ ` "No," said the man. "If you pull up the weeds, then the good plants will come up with them.

³⁰ Let them both grow together until the harvest time. When it is time to cut it, I will say to the men who cut it, `Cut the weeds first. Tie them in bundles to be burned. Then put the grain into my storehouse.' " '

³¹ Jesus told the people another story. He said, `The kingdom of heaven is like this. A man took a mustard seed and planted it in his field.

³² A mustard seed is the smallest of all seeds. But the plant that grows from it is bigger than other plants. It is like a tree. It is so big that birds come and live in the branches.'

³³ Jesus told them another story. He said, `The kingdom of heaven is like this. A woman took yeast and mixed it with many cups of flour. The yeast went all through the flour.'

³⁴ Jesus told the people all these things in stories. He did not tell them anything without a story.

³⁵ What the prophet of God said long ago, came true. He said, `I will use stories. I will tell things that have been secret since the world was made.'

³⁶ Then Jesus left the people and went into the house. His disciples came to him. They said, `Tell us the meaning of the story about the weeds in the field.'

³⁷ Jesus answered, `The person who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.

³⁸ The field is the world. The good seed means the people who belong to the kingdom. The weeds mean those who belong to the bad one.

³⁹ The bad man who planted the weeds is the devil. The harvest time is the end of this world. The men who cut the harvest are angels.

⁴⁰ The weeds are gathered and burned in a fire. That is the way it will be at the end of the world.

⁴¹ The Son of Man will send his angels. They will gather everything that is bad and the people who do bad things. They will take them out of his kingdom.

⁴² They will put them into the big fire. There they will cry and make a noise with their teeth.

⁴³ Then the people who are right with God will shine like the sun in their Father's kingdom. Everyone who has ears, listen.'

⁴⁴ `The kingdom of heaven is like this. Something worth a lot of money is buried in a field. A man found it and covered it again. He was so glad that he went and sold everything he had. Then he bought that field.'

⁴⁵ `The kingdom of heaven is like this. A trader was looking for fine stones called pearls.

⁴⁶ He found a pearl that was worth a lot of money. Then he went and sold everything he had and bought it.'

⁴⁷ `The kingdom of heaven is like this. A fish net was thrown into the sea. It caught all kinds of fish.

⁴⁸ When it was full, the men pulled it to the land. They sat down and picked out the good fish into baskets. But they threw the bad fish away.

⁴⁹ That is the way it will be at the end of the world. The angels will come and take the bad people away from the good people.

⁵⁰ They will put the bad people into the never-ending hell fire. There they will cry and make a noise with their teeth.'

⁵¹ Jesus asked, `Have you understood all these stories?' The disciples said, `Yes.'

⁵² Then Jesus said to them, `So anyone who knows the law and has learned about the kingdom of heaven, is like the headman of a house. He can bring both new things and old things out of what he has stored up.'

⁵³ When Jesus had finished telling these stories, he went away from there.