34
Jesus used stories to tell all these things to the people; he always used stories to teach them.
35
This is as the prophet said: "I will speak using stories; I will tell things that have been secret since the world was made."
36
Then Jesus left the crowd and went into the house. His followers came to him and said, "Explain to us the meaning of the story about the weeds in the field."
37
Jesus answered, "The man who planted the good seed in the field is the Son of Man.
38
The field is the world, and the good seed are all of God's children who belong to the kingdom. The weeds are those people who belong to the Evil One.
39
And the enemy who planted the bad seed is the devil. The harvest time is the end of the world, and the workers who gather are God's angels.
40
"Just as the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the world.
41
The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all who cause sin and all who do evil.
42
The angels will throw them into the blazing furnace, where the people will cry and grind their teeth with pain.
43
Then the good people will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. You people who can hear me, listen.
44
"The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field. One day a man found the treasure, and then he hid it in the field again. He was so happy that he went and sold everything he owned to buy that field.