26. But when the shoots had sprung up and produced fruit, the weeds also appeared.
27. “So the servants of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? Then where did the weeds come from?’
28. “He said to them, ‘An enemy did this.’“The servants said to him, ‘Will you then have us go and gather them up?’
29. “But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the weeds, you pull up also the wheat with them.
30. Let both grow together until the harvest, and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers: Gather up the weeds first and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.’ ”
31. He told them another parable, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field.
32. This indeed is the least of all seeds, but when it has grown, it is the greatest among herbs and is a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in its branches.”
33. He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast which a woman took and mixed in sixty pounds of meal until it had leavened the whole batch.”
34. Jesus said all these things to the crowds in parables. And without a parable He did not speak to them,
35. to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying: “I will open My mouth in parables;I will say things which have been kept secret since the foundation of the world.”
36. Then Jesus sent the crowds away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.”
37. He answered, “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man,
38. the field is the world, and the good seed are the sons ofthe kingdom. But the weeds are the sons of the evil one.
39. The enemy who sowed them is thedevil, the harvest is the end of the world, and the reapers are the angels.
40. “Therefore as the weeds are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of this world.
41. The Son of Man shall send out His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who do evil,
42. and will throw them into a fiery furnace. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.