The Parable of the Weeds

Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven can be compared to a man
who sowed good seeds in his field. While everyone was asleep, his enemy came and sowed
weeds among the wheat and left.

When the plants sprouted and produced grain, the weeds appeared. Then the
servants of the owner came and said: ‘Sir, was it not good seeds that you sowed in your
field? Where did the weeds come from?’

He answered them: ‘This is the work of an enemy.’ They asked him: ‘Do you want us
to go and pull up the weeds?’ He told them: ‘No, when you pull up the weeds, you might
uproot the wheat with them. Let them just grow together until the harvest; and at harvest
time I will say to the workers: ‘Pull up the weeds first, tie them in bundles and burn them;
then, gather the wheat into my barn.’

-Matthew 13:4-30

The Treasure and the Pearl

The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field. The one who finds it
buries it again; and so happy is he, that he goes and sells everything he has in order to buy
that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a trader who is looking for fine pearls. Once
he has found a pearl of exceptional quality, he goes away, sells everything he has, and buys
it. -Matthew 13:44-46

Parable of the Fishing Net

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a big fishing net let down into the sea, in which
every kind of fish has been caught. When the net is full, it is dragged ashore. They then sit
down and gather the good fish in buckets, but throw the worthless ones away. That is how
it will be at the end of time; the angels will go out to separate the wicked from the just and
throw them into the blazing furnace, where they will weep and gnash their teeth.
-Matthew 13:47-50

The Mustard Seed

Jesus put another parable before them, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard
seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but once it has
fully grown, it is bigger than any other garden plant like a tree; the birds come and rest on its
branches.” -Matthew 13:31-32
 The Workers in the Vineyard

This story throws light on the kingdom of heaven. A landowner went out early in the
morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay the workers a salary of a silver
coin for the day and sent them to his vineyard.

He went out again at about nine in the morning, and seeing others idle in the square,
he said to them, “You, too, go to my vineyard, and I will pay you what is just.” So they went.

The owner went out at midday again at three in the afternoon, and did the same.
Finally he went at the last working hour-it was the eleventh- and he saw others standing
there. So he said to them, “Why do you stay idle the whole day?” They answered: “Because
no one has hired us.” The master said: “Go and work in the vineyard.”

When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager: “Call the
workers and pay them their wage, beginning with the last and ending with the first.” Those
who had come to work at the eleventh hour turned up and were given a denarius each (a
silver coin). When it was the turn of the first, they thought they would receive more. But
they, too, received a denarius each. So, on receiving it, they began to grumble against the
landowner.

They said: “These last hardly worked an hour; yet you have treated them the same
as us who have endured the day’s burden and heat.” The owner said to one of them:
“Friend, I have not been unjust to you. Did we not agree on a denarius a day? So take what
is yours and go. I want to give to the last the same as I give you. Don’t I have the right to do
as I please with my money? Why are you envious when I am kind?”

-Matthew 20:1-15

Parable of the Yeast

He told them another parable, “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman
took and buried in three measures of flour until the whole mass of dough began to rise.”
-Matthew 13:33