The Rabbi presented a parable to his students, saying, "The malchut shamayim [kingdom of heaven] may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed darnel among the wheat, and went away. [Darnel is a poisonous weed (Lolium temulentum) that resembles wheat and parasitizes wheat fields.]  But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the darnel became evident also.

The servants of the landowner came and said to him, 'Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have darnel?' And he said to them, 'An enemy has done this!' The slaves said to him, 'Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?' But he said, 'No; for while you are gathering up the darnel, you may uproot the wheat with them. Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn."'"

The Rabbi explained, "The one who sows the good seed is the promised Son of Man, and the field is the entire world; and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the darnel are the sons of the evil one; and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the current age; and the reapers are angels. So just as the darnel are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age.  The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and all those who do evil, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

 

This is the teaching of the Rabbi.