Matthew 13

‘A farmer went to sow seeds. He was a sower. ₄When he sowed, some of the seeds fell onto the path in the wheat_field. The birds came and they ate the seeds. ₅Some other seeds fell onto rocky_ground. The ground was not deep, and the seeds started growing fast. ₆But when the sun came up and it became hot, it burnt the plants and they dried up, because they did not have deep roots.

₇Some of the seeds fell among weeds. The weeds grew faster than the plants and stopped the plants from growing.

₈But some seeds fell into good ground. The plants came up and grew and there was a lot of wheat. One plant had 100 times more grains_of_wheat, another plant had 60 times more grains and another plant had 30 times more grains than the sower had sowed. ₉If anyone can understand what I say, he must do what I tell him.’

‘God has helped you to understand the secret that He is God in heaven who rules over all. But the people who do not belong to Me do not understand that. ₁₂If someone understands the message of God, even just a little, then God will help him to understand it better. But if someone does not understand it, then God will not help that person and he will not understand anything. ₁₃I talk to the people in parables, because I want them to look and look but to see nothing. They will listen and listen, but they will not understand anything. ₁₄The prophet Isaiah talked about them. He wrote:

‘Listen, I will tell you what the parable of the sower means. ₁₉Some people hear the message that God rules over all, but they do not understand the message. For them it is like when the seeds were sown onto the path. The devil comes and he takes away the words that God has sown in the hearts of those people. ₂₀Some seeds fell where the ground was not deep and where there were rocks under the ground. This is like when people are happy when they hear the message of God and they believe it immediately. ₂₁But they are like grass that does not have deep roots, and does not live for a long time. They hear the message and they believe it, but when the people oppress them and they suffer because they believe, then they stop believing.

₂₂Some seeds fell into weeds. This is like when people hear the message of God but they also worry about the things in this world. They think only about how they can get rich. The message does not turn their lives to God. They are like plants that have no fruit. ₂₃Some seeds fell into good ground. This is like when people hear the message and they believe it and it turns their lives to God. There is fruit in their lives. Some people have 100 times more fruit than the seeds that the sower sowed, some people have 60 times more and some people have 30 times more.’

‘Where God in heaven rules, it is like when a man went to sow seeds in the ground. ₂₅One night his enemy came. He waited until all the people were sleeping. Then he sowed weed seeds among the wheat seeds and he went away. ₂₆The wheat plants started to grow and the heads_of_wheat came out, but the weeds also started to grow. ₂₇The servants of the man then came and said to him: “Sir, you have sown good seeds in the ground. Where do these weeds come from?” ₂₈The man said to them: “My enemy has sown these weeds.” The workers asked the man: “Can we pull out the weeds?” ₂₉The man said to them: “No, if you pull out the weeds now, then maybe you will also pull out some of the wheat plants. ₃₀The weeds and the wheat must grow together until the wheat is ripe. Then we will cut it off. I will tell the workers to take out the weeds first, and tie them up and burn them in a fire. Then they must cut off the wheat and bring it all to my store.” ’

‘Where God in heaven rules, it is like a man who plants a mustard_seed in his ground. ₃₂A mustard_seed is the smallest seed on earth, but when the plant starts to grow, it becomes bigger than all the other plants in the garden. It becomes a tree. The birds come and make their nests in its branches.’

‘Where God in heaven rules over all, it is like a woman who takes a little bit of yeast and mixes it with 3 seahs of flour. The flour then becomes dough and the yeast makes all the dough become bigger and bigger.’

‘The person who sows the good seeds is I, the Son of man. ₃₈The wheat_field is the world. The good seeds are the good people who belong to God. He rules over them. The weeds are the bad people who belong to the devil. He rules over them. ₃₉The enemy who sows the weeds is the devil. The time when the wheat is ripe, and the workers come to cut it off, is the end of the world.

The workers, who will cut the wheat and tie it together, are the angels. ₄₀They will take out the weeds and throw them into the fire. This is what will happen when the world ends. ₄₁The Son of man will send his angels and they will come and take out all the sinners and people who have done wrong. ₄₂The angels will throw all those sinners in the fire where they will cry and bite on their teeth in pain. ₄₃But God's people will shine like the sun where God their Father rules over all. If anyone understands what I say, then he must do what I say.’

‘Where God in heaven rules over all, it is like when someone finds a treasure under the ground in a field. He immediately buries it again. He is very happy and he goes and sells everything that he has to get enough money to buy that field.

₄₅Where God in heaven rules over all, it is also like a man who looks for beautiful pearls to buy them. ₄₆When he sees a beautiful and expensive pearl, he sells everything that he has to get enough money and he goes to buy that pearl.’

₄₇‘Where God in heaven rules over all, it is like when fishermen put their fishing nets into the sea to catch all kinds of fish. ₄₈When the fishing net is full of fish, they pull it out onto the beach. Then they sit down and take out all the good fish and keep them, but they throw away the bad fish that they can not eat. ₄₉That is how it will be at the end of the world. The angels will come and they will take away all the bad people. They will separate them from the people of God. ₅₀The angels will throw all the bad people into the fire where they will cry and bite on their teeth in pain.’

‘Every teacher_of_the_Laws who becomes a disciple of God in heaven, who rules over all, is like someone who has a house and takes out new things and old things in his store room when he needs it.’