²⁵ But while people were sleeping, his enemy came, sowed weeds among the wheat, and left. ²⁶ When the plants sprouted and produced grain, then the weeds also appeared. ²⁷ The landowner’s servants^(A) 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 pull them up?’ the servants asked him.

²⁹ “‘No,’ he said. ‘When you pull 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 collect the wheat in my barn.’”

The Parables of the Mustard Seed and of the Leaven

³¹ He^(B) presented another parable to them: “The kingdom of heaven^(C) 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 garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the sky come and nest in its branches.”^(D)

³³ He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven^[a] that a woman took and mixed into fifty pounds^[b] of flour until all of it was leavened.”^(E)

Using Parables Fulfills Prophecy

³⁴ Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables, and he did not tell them anything without a parable,^{(F) 35} so that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled:

Jesus Interprets the Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds

³⁶ Then he left the crowds and went into the house. His disciples approached him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”^(H)

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 children of the kingdom. The weeds are the children of the evil one,^{(I) 39} and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.^{(J) 40} Therefore, just as the weeds are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age.^{(K) 41} The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather from his kingdom all who cause sin^[e] and those guilty of lawlessness.^{[f](L) 42} They will throw them into the blazing furnace^(M) where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.^{(N) 43} Then the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s kingdom. Let anyone who has ears^[g] listen.^(O)