Chapter

Matthew 13:49

ESV So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous
NIV This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous
NASB So it will be at the end of the age: the angels will come forth and remove the wicked from among the righteous,
CSB So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out, separate the evil people from the righteous,
NLT That is the way it will be at the end of the world. The angels will come and separate the wicked people from the righteous,
KJV So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just,
NKJV So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just,

What does Matthew 13:49 mean?

Jesus explains the meaning behind His parable about the fishermen sorting out their catch of every kind of fish (Matthew 13:47–48). He is making the same point He did in the earlier parable of the wheat and the weeds (Matthew 13:24–30; 36–43), only this time with fishing instead of farming.

The fishermen who sit on the beach throwing out the bad fish and saving the good ones represent the work of the angels at the "end of the age." Jesus is describing the judgment that will come when He returns to set up His political kingdom on the earth. That judgment will begin with the angels sorting and separating the righteous from the evil on the earth. As the rest of Matthew's gospel and the New Testament will show, those who are with Jesus, saved by faith in Him and His death for their sin on the cross, will be declared righteous. Those who have rejected Jesus will remain in their sin and their status as "evil."

In the following verse, Jesus once more declares that the work of the angels will be to throw the "bad fish," those who are evil, into hell.
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