‹He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?›
‹But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.›
‹Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.›
Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, ‹The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field:›
‹Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.›
Another parable spake he unto them; ‹The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.›
All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them:
That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.
Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field.
