Matthew 13:24-34

Holman Christian Standard Bible

The Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds

²⁴ He presented another parable to them: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field.^{(A) 25} But while people were sleeping, his enemy came, sowed weeds^[a] among the wheat, and left. ²⁶ When the plants sprouted and produced grain, then the weeds also appeared. ²⁷ The landowner’s slaves^(B) came to him and said, ‘Master, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Then where did the weeds come from?’

²⁸ “‘An enemy did this!’ he told them.

“‘So, do you want us to go and gather them up?’ the slaves asked him.

²⁹ “‘No,’ he said. ‘When you gather up the weeds, you might also uproot the wheat with them. ³⁰ Let both grow together until the harvest. At harvest time I’ll tell the reapers: Gather the weeds first and tie them in bundles to burn them, but store the wheat in my barn.’”

The Parables of the Mustard Seed and of the Yeast

³¹ He^(C) presented another parable to them: “The kingdom of heaven^(D) is like a mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. ³² It’s the smallest of all the seeds, but when grown, it’s taller than the vegetables and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the sky come and nest in its branches.”^(E)

³³ He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into 50 pounds^[b] of flour until it spread through all of it.”^[c](F)

Using Parables Fulfills Prophecy

³⁴ Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables, and He would not speak anything to them without a parable,^(G)