¹⁸“Listen to what the story about the farmer means. ¹⁹Someone hears the word about the kingdom but doesn’t understand it. The evil one comes at once and snatches away what was planted in him. This is what the seed planted along the road illustrates. ²⁰The seed planted on rocky ground ⸤is the person who⸥ hears the word and accepts it at once with joy. ²¹Since he doesn’t have any root, he lasts only a little while. When suffering or persecution comes along because of the word, he immediately falls ⸤from faith⸥. ²²The seed planted among thornbushes ⸤is another person who⸥ hears the word. But the worries of life and the deceitful pleasures of riches choke the word so that it can’t produce anything. ²³But the seed planted on good ground ⸤is the person who⸥ hears and understands the word. This type produces crops. They produce one hundred, sixty, or thirty times as much as was planted.”

A Story about Weeds in the Wheat

²⁴Jesus used another illustration. He said, “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who planted good seed in his field. ²⁵But while people were asleep, his enemy planted weeds in the wheat field and went away. ²⁶When the wheat came up and formed kernels, weeds appeared.

²⁷“The owner’s workers came to him and asked, ‘Sir, didn’t you plant good seed in your field? Where did the weeds come from?’

²⁸“He told them, ‘An enemy did this.’

“His workers asked him, ‘Do you want us to pull out the weeds?’

²⁹“He replied, ‘No. If you pull out the weeds, you may pull out the wheat with them. ³⁰Let both grow together until the harvest. When the grain is cut, I will tell the workers to gather the weeds first and tie them in bundles to be burned. But I’ll have them bring the wheat into my barn.’ ”

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