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Matthew 13:39-42

The enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. As therefore the darnel weeds are gathered up and burned with fire; so will it be at the end of this age. The 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, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.

World English Bible · Public Domain
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Matthew 13:39-42 sits inside this longer paragraph.

He answered them, “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, the 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. The enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. As therefore the darnel weeds are gathered up and burned with fire; so will it be at the end of this age. The 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, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

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Parallel Translations

  • WEB World English Bible

    The enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels.

    As therefore the darnel weeds are gathered up and burned with fire; so will it be at the end of this age.

    The 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,

    and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.

  • TYNDALE Tyndale New Testament (1534)

    And the enemye that soweth the is the devell. The harvest is the end of the worlde. And the repers be the angels.

    For even as the tares are gaddred and bret in the fyre: so shall it be in the ende of this worlde.

    The sonne of man shall send forth his angels and they shall gather out of his kyngdome all thinges that offende and them which do iniquite

    and shall cast them into a furnes of fyre. There shalbe waylynge and gnasshing of teth.

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  • GNV Geneva Bible (1599)

    And the enemie that soweth them, is the deuill, and the haruest is the end of the worlde, and the reapers be the Angels.

    As then the tares are gathered and burned in ye fire, so shall it be in the end of this world.

    The Sonne of man shall send forth his Angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which doe iniquitie,

    And shall cast them into a fornace of fire. There shalbe wailing and gnashing of teeth.

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Examined in Scripture Analysis

Contradictions (1)

Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.

  • Does hell exist?

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Cross-references (59)

  • Matthew 24:31 (v41) He will send out his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together his chosen ones from the four winds, from one…
  • Matthew 13:49 (vv39, 41) So will it be in the end of the world. The angels will come and separate the wicked from among the righteous,
  • Matthew 13:50 (v42) and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.”
  • Revelation 14:15-19 (v39) Another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, “Send your sickle, and reap; for the hour to…
  • Matthew 25:31 (v39) “But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory.
Show all 57 cross-references
  • Joel 3:13 (v39) Put in the sickle; for the harvest is ripe. Come, tread, for the wine press is full, the vats overflow, for their wickedness is great.”
  • Matthew 8:12 (v42) but the children of the Kingdom will be thrown out into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
  • Matthew 18:7 (v41) “Woe to the world because of occasions of stumbling! For it must be that the occasions come, but woe to that person through whom the…
  • Luke 16:23-24 (v42) In Hades, he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far off, and Lazarus at his bosom. He cried and said, ‘Father Abraham,…
  • 2 Peter 2:1-2 (v41) But false prophets also arose among the people, as false teachers will also be among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies,…
  • Revelation 20:10 (v42) The devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet are also. They will be…
  • Revelation 20:14-15 (v42) Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. If anyone was not found written in the book…
  • Revelation 21:27 (v41) There will in no way enter into it anything profane, or one who causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the…
  • Revelation 19:20 (vv39, 42) The beast was taken, and with him the false prophet who worked the signs in his sight, with which he deceived those who had received the…
  • Matthew 13:39 (v40) The enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels.
  • Matthew 13:25 (v39) but while people slept, his enemy came and sowed darnel weeds also among the wheat, and went away.
  • Matthew 24:3 (v39) As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? What is the sign of…
  • 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10 (v39) and to give relief to you who are afflicted with us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire,…
  • Revelation 12:9 (v39) The great dragon was thrown down, the old serpent, he who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was thrown…
  • Revelation 13:14 (v39) He deceives my own people who dwell on the earth because of the signs he was granted to do in front of the beast, saying to those who dwell…
  • Psalms 21:9 (v42) You will make them as a fiery furnace in the time of your anger. Yahweh will swallow them up in his wrath. The fire shall devour them.
  • Daniel 3:6 (v42) Whoever doesn’t fall down and worship shall be cast into the middle of a burning fiery furnace the same hour.”
  • Mark 9:43-49 (v42) If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having your two hands to go…
  • Romans 2:8-9 (v41) but to those who are self-seeking, and don’t obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, will be wrath, indignation, oppression, and anguish…
  • Romans 2:16 (v41) in the day when God will judge the secrets of men, according to my Good News, by Jesus Christ.
  • Ephesians 6:11-12 (v39) Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our wrestling is not against flesh and…
  • Hebrews 1:6-7 (v41) When he again brings in the firstborn into the world he says, “Let all the angels of God worship him.” Of the angels he says, “He makes his…
  • Hebrews 1:14 (v41) Aren’t they all serving spirits, sent out to do service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?
  • Hebrews 9:26 (v39) or else he must have suffered often since the foundation of the world. But now once at the end of the ages, he has been revealed to put…
  • 1 Peter 5:8 (v39) Be sober and self-controlled. Be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
  • Revelation 5:11-12 (v41) I saw, and I heard something like a voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders. The number of them was…
  • Revelation 14:10 (v42) he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is prepared unmixed in the cup of his anger. He will be tormented with fire and…
  • Daniel 3:15-17 (v42) Now if you are ready whenever you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music to fall down and…
  • Daniel 3:21-22 (v42) Then these men were bound in their pants, their tunics, and their mantles, and their other clothes, and were cast into the middle of the…
  • Daniel 7:10 (v39) A fiery stream issued and came out from before him. Thousands of thousands ministered to him. Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before…
  • Matthew 3:12 (v42) His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing floor. He will gather his wheat into the barn, but the…
  • Matthew 7:22-23 (v41) Many will tell me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, in your name cast out demons, and in your name do many mighty…
  • Matthew 13:28 (v39) “He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ “The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and gather them up?’
  • Matthew 22:13 (v42) Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and throw him into the outer darkness. That is where the…
  • Matthew 25:41 (v42) Then he will say also to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his…
  • Matthew 28:20 (v39) teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
  • Luke 13:26-27 (v41) Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ He will say, ‘I tell you, I don’t know…
  • Luke 13:28 (v42) There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in God’s Kingdom, and yourselves being…
  • Romans 16:17-18 (v41) Now I beg you, brothers, look out for those who are causing the divisions and occasions of stumbling, contrary to the doctrine which you…
  • 2 Corinthians 2:17 (v39) For we are not as so many, peddling the word of God. But as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God, we speak in Christ.
  • 2 Corinthians 11:3 (v39) But I am afraid that somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve in his craftiness, so your minds might be corrupted from the simplicity that is…
  • 2 Corinthians 11:13-15 (v39) For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as Christ’s apostles. And no wonder, for even Satan masquerades as an…
  • Ephesians 2:2 (v39) in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works…
  • 2 Thessalonians 2:8-11 (v39) Then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will kill with the breath of his mouth, and destroy by the manifestation of his…
  • Jude 1:14 (v39) About these also Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord came with ten thousands of his holy ones,
  • Revelation 20:2-3 (v39) He seized the dragon, the old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole inhabited earth, and bound him for a thousand…
  • Revelation 20:7-10 (v39) And after the thousand years, Satan will be released from his prison, and he will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four…
  • Revelation 21:8 (v42) But for the cowardly, unbelieving, sinners, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their part is in…
  • Zephaniah 1:3 (v41) I will sweep away man and animal. I will sweep away the birds of the sky, the fish of the sea, and the heaps of rubble with the wicked. I…
  • Matthew 8:20 (v41) Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”
  • Mark 13:27 (v41) Then he will send out his angels, and will gather together his chosen ones from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of…
  • Revelation 9:2 (v42) He opened the pit of the abyss, and smoke went up out of the pit, like the smoke from a burning furnace. The sun and the air were darkened…

57 distinct cross-references across this passage (59 total citations).

Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)

Explain this passage (12 sources)

Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.

John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv39–42 39 The enemy that sowed them is the devil;…

39 The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.

Ver. 39. The enemy that sowed them, &c.] As Esther said, "The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman," so Satan. Why then have men so much to do with him? The Jews, as often as they hear mention of Haman in their synagogues, they do with their fists and hammers beat upon the benches and boards, as if they did knock upon Haman’s head. We have those also that can bid defiance to the devil, spit at his name, curse him, haply; {a} but in the meantime listen to his illusions, entertain him into their hearts by obeying his lusts. These are singularly foolish. For it is as if one should be afraid of the name of fire, and yet not fear to be burnt with the flame thereof.

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{a} Martinus Papae exactor ex Anglia pulsus, cum a Rege salvum conductum peteret, respondit, Rex, Diabolus te ad inferos ducat et perducat, ad mare tamen ei conmeatum dedit. Revius.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On v40 As in the common practice of men, when they…
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv39–42 The Son of man shall send forth his angels,....…
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On v41 They shall gather all things that offend - Whatever…
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v40 Mat 13:40-43. As the tares are gathered — At…
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv39, 41, 42 The enemy that sowed them is the devil--emphatically "His…
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv40–42 40. End of this world — The end of…
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv39, 41, 42 (39) The enemy that sowed them is the devil.—Here,…
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv39–42 The enemy that sowed them (o speirav); contrast ver.…
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On vv39, 41 Satan. Br. diabolos, accuser. See note, Mat 16:23; Gen…
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v40 Connecting Statement:
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv40–41 13:40-42 The harvest of judgment, which began with the…
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