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.
45
"Also, the kingdom of heaven is like a man looking for fine pearls.
46
When he found a very valuable pearl, he went and sold everything he had and bought it.
47
"Also, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was put into the lake and caught many different kinds of fish.
48
When it was full, the fishermen pulled the net to the shore. They sat down and put all the good fish in baskets and threw away the bad fish.