Wheat & Weeds

Matthew 13 ²⁴ Jesus then told them this story:

The kingdom of heaven is like what happened when a farmer scattered good seed in a field. ²⁵ But while everyone was sleeping, an enemy came and scattered weed seeds in the field and then left.

²⁶ When the plants came up and began to mature, the farmer’s servants could see the weeds. ²⁷ The servants came and asked, “Sir, didn’t you scatter good seed in your field? Where did these weeds come from?”

²⁸ “An enemy did this,” he replied.

His servants then asked, “Do you want us to go out and pull up the weeds?”

²⁹ “No!” he answered. “You might also pull up the wheat. ³⁰ Leave the weeds alone until harvest time. Then I’ll tell my workers to gather the weeds and tie them up and burn them. But I’ll order them to store the wheat in my barn.”

³⁶ After Jesus left the crowd and went inside, his disciples came to him and said, “Explain to us the story about the weeds in the wheat field.”

³⁷ Jesus answered:

The one who scattered the good seed is the Son of Man. ³⁸ The field is the world, and the good seeds are the people who belong to the kingdom. The weeds are those who belong to the evil one, ³⁹ and the one who scattered them is the devil. The harvest is the end of time, and angels are the ones who bring in the harvest.

⁴⁰ Weeds are gathered and burned. That’s how it will be at the end of time. ⁴¹ The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather from his kingdom everyone who does wrong or causes others to sin. ⁴² Then he will throw them into a flaming furnace, where people will cry and grit their teeth in pain. ⁴³  But everyone who has done right will shine like the sun in their Father’s kingdom. If you have ears, pay attention!

Sowing Seeds

Matthew 13 That same day Jesus left the house and went out beside Lake Galilee, where he sat down to teach. ²  Such large crowds gathered around him that he had to sit in a boat, while the people stood on the shore. ³ Then he taught them many things by using stories. He said:

A farmer went out to scatter seed in a field. ⁴ While the farmer was scattering the seed, some of it fell along the road and was eaten by birds. ⁵ Other seeds fell on thin, rocky ground and quickly started growing because the soil wasn’t very deep. ⁶ But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched and dried up, because they did not have deep roots. ⁷ Some other seeds fell where thornbushes grew up and choked the plants. ⁸ But a few seeds did fall on good ground where the plants produced 100 or 60 or 30 times as much as was scattered. ⁹ If you have ears, pay attention!

¹⁸ Now listen to the meaning of the story about the farmer:

¹⁹ The seeds that fell along the road are the people who hear the message about the kingdom, but don’t understand it. Then the evil one comes and snatches the message from their hearts. ²⁰ The seeds that fell on rocky ground are the people who gladly hear the message and accept it at once. ²¹ But they don’t have deep roots, and they don’t last very long. As soon as life gets hard or the message gets them in trouble, they give up.

²² The seeds that fell among the thornbushes are also people who hear the message. But they start worrying about the needs of this life and are fooled by the desire to get rich. So the message gets choked out, and they never produce anything. ²³ The seeds that fell on good ground are the people who hear and understand the message. They produce as much as 100 or 60 or 30 times what was planted.