Judgment on Judah’s Enemies
1 Gather together, yes, gather,
O shameless nation,
2 before the decree takes effect1
—before the day passes away like chaff—
before there comes upon you
the burning anger of the Lord,
before there comes upon you
the day of the anger of the Lord.
3 vSeek the Lord, all you whumble of the land,
who do his just commands;2
seek righteousness; seek humility;
perhaps you may be hidden
on the day of the anger of the Lord.
4 xFor yGaza shall be deserted,
and Ashkelon shall become a desolation;
Ashdod’s people shall be driven out at noon,
and Ekron shall be uprooted.
5 Woe to you inhabitants of the seacoast,
you nation of the zCherethites!
The word of the Lord is against you,
O Canaan, land of the Philistines;
and I will destroy you auntil no inhabitant is left.
6 And you, O seacoast, shall be pastures,
with meadows3 for shepherds
and folds for flocks.
7 The seacoast shall become the possession
of the bremnant of the house of Judah,
on which they shall graze,
and in the houses of Ashkelon
they shall lie down at evening.
For the Lord their God will be mindful of them
and crestore their fortunes.
8 “I have heard the taunts of dMoab
and the revilings of the eAmmonites,
how they have taunted my people
and made boasts against their territory.
9 Therefore, as I live,” declares the Lord of hosts,
the God of Israel,
“Moab shall become flike Sodom,
and the Ammonites like Gomorrah,
a land possessed by nettles and salt pits,
and a waste forever.
The remnant of my people shall plunder them,
and the survivors of my nation shall possess them.”
10 This shall be their lot in return for their gpride,
because they taunted and boasted
against the people of the Lord of hosts.
11 The Lord will be awesome against them;
for he will famish all the gods of the earth,
and to him shall bow down,
each in its place,
all the lands of the nations.
12 You also, O Cushites,
shall be slain by my sword.
13 And he will stretch out his hand against the north
and destroy Assyria,
and he will make Nineveh a desolation,
a dry waste like the desert.
14 Herds shall lie down in her midst,
all kinds of beasts;4
even the owl and the hedgehog5
shall lodge in her capitals;
a voice shall hoot in the window;
devastation will be on the threshold;
for her cedar work will be laid bare.
15 This is the hexultant city
that lived securely,
that said in her heart,
i“I am, and there is no one else.”
What a desolation she has become,
a lair for wild beasts!
jEveryone who passes by her
hisses and shakes his fist.
The Parable of the Weeds
24 He put another parable before them, saying, r“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, 25 but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds1 among the wheat and went away. 26 So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. 27 And the servants2 of the master of the house came and said to him, s‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ 28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ 29 But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, t“Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”
The Mustard Seed and the Leaven
31 uHe put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. 32 It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, vso that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”
33 wHe told them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.”
Prophecy and Parables
34 xAll these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable. 35 This was yto fulfill what was spoken by the prophet:3
z“I will open my mouth in parables;
I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.”
The Parable of the Weeds Explained
36 Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us athe parable of the weeds of the field.” 37 He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the bsons of the cevil one, 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The dharvest is the eend of the age, and the reapers are angels. 40 Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, 42 and throw them into the ffiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the grighteous will hshine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.
