“The kingdom of heaven is like a man that owned some land. The man grew grapes on his land. One morning, the man went out very early to hire some other people to work in his field.
Then Jesus told the people another story: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman mixes into a big bowl of flour to make bread. The yeast makes all the dough (bread) rise.”
“Tell me what you think about this: There was a man that had two sons. The man went to the first son and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem! You kill the prophets. {\cf2\super [361]} You kill with rocks those men that God sent to you. Many, many times I wanted to help your people. I wanted to gather your people together like a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. But you did not let me.
“At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten girls that went to wait for the bridegroom. {\cf2\super [383]} They brought their lamps with them.
“\{The kingdom of heaven is\} like a man leaving home to travel to another place for a visit. Before the man left, he talked with his servants. The man told his servants to take care of the things he owned while he was gone.
This is like a man that goes on a trip and leaves his house. The man lets his servants take care of the house. He gives each servant a special job to do. One servant has the work of guarding the door. The man tells this servant to always be ready. This is the same as I am now telling you.
So, my dear brothers and sisters, stand strong. Don’t let anything change you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord. You know that your work in the Lord is never wasted.