38
The field is the world, and the good seed represents the people of the Kingdom. The weeds are the people who belong to the evil one.
39
The enemy who planted the weeds among the wheat is the devil. The harvest is the end of the world, and the harvesters are the angels.
40
“Just as the weeds are sorted out and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the world.
41
The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will remove from his Kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil.
42
And the angels will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
43
Then the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s Kingdom. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand!
44
“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field.
45
“Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant on the lookout for choice pearls.
46
When he discovered a pearl of great value, he sold everything he owned and bought it!
47
“Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a fishing net that was thrown into the water and caught fish of every kind.
48
When the net was full, they dragged it up onto the shore, sat down, and sorted the good fish into crates, but threw the bad ones away.