8th Sunday after Pentecost

²⁴He set another parable before them, saying, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field, ²⁵but while people slept, his enemy came and sowed darnel weeds also among the wheat, and went away. ²⁶But when the blade sprang up and produced fruit, then the darnel weeds appeared also. ²⁷The servants of the householder came and said to him, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where did these darnel weeds come from?’ ²⁸“He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ “The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and gather them up?’ ²⁹“But he said, ‘No, lest perhaps while you gather up the darnel weeds, you root up the wheat with them. ³⁰Let both grow together until the harvest, and in the harvest time I will tell the reapers, “First, gather up the darnel weeds, and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’ ”

³⁶Then Jesus sent the multitudes away, and went into the house. His disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the darnel weeds of the field.” ³⁷He answered them, “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, ³⁸the field is the world; and the good seed, these are the children of the Kingdom; and the darnel weeds are the children of the evil one. ³⁹The enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. ⁴⁰As therefore the darnel weeds are gathered up and burned with fire; so will it be at the end of this age. ⁴¹The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather out of his Kingdom all things that cause stumbling, and those who do iniquity, ⁴²and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth. ⁴³Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

¹²So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. ¹³For if you live after the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. ¹⁴For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are children of God. ¹⁵For you didn’t receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” ¹⁶The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God; ¹⁷and if children, then heirs: heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified with him. ¹⁸For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which will be revealed toward us. ¹⁹For the creation waits with eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. ²⁰For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but because of him who subjected it, in hope ²¹that the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of decay into the liberty of the glory of the children of God. ²²For we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now. ²³Not only so, but ourselves also, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for adoption, the redemption of our body. ²⁴For we were saved in hope, but hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for that which he sees? ²⁵But if we hope for that which we don’t see, we wait for it with patience.