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Matthew 13:31–35

The Mustard Seed and the Leaven

31 He put another parable before them, saying, zThe kingdom of heaven is like aa grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. 32 It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”

33 He told them another parable. bThe kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in cthree measures of flour, till it was dall leavened.”

Prophecy and Parables

34 eAll these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable. 35 This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet:5

f“I will open my mouth in parables;

gI will utter what has been hidden hsince the foundation of the world.”

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Matthew 13:31–35 — The New International Version (NIV)

31 He told them another parable: The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. 32 Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”

33 He told them still another parable: The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.”

34 Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable. 35 So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet:

“I will open my mouth in parables,

I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world.”

Matthew 13:31–35 — King James Version (KJV 1900)

31 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: 32 Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.

33 Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened. 34 All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them: 35 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.

Matthew 13:31–35 — New Living Translation (NLT)

31 Here is another illustration Jesus used: The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed planted in a field. 32 It is the smallest of all seeds, but it becomes the largest of garden plants; it grows into a tree, and birds come and make nests in its branches.”

33 Jesus also used this illustration: The Kingdom of Heaven is like the yeast a woman used in making bread. Even though she put only a little yeast in three measures of flour, it permeated every part of the dough.”

34 Jesus always used stories and illustrations like these when speaking to the crowds. In fact, he never spoke to them without using such parables. 35 This fulfilled what God had spoken through the prophet:

“I will speak to you in parables.

I will explain things hidden since the creation of the world.”

Matthew 13:31–35 — The New King James Version (NKJV)

31 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, 32 which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”

33 Another parable He spoke to them: The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened.”

34 All these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables; and without a parable He did not speak to them, 35 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:

“I will open My mouth in parables;

I will utter things kept secret from the foundation of the world.”

Matthew 13:31–35 — New Century Version (NCV)

31 Then Jesus told another story: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man planted in his field. 32 That seed is the smallest of all seeds, but when it grows, it is one of the largest garden plants. It becomes big enough for the wild birds to come and build nests in its branches.”

33 Then Jesus told another story: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and hid in a large tub of flour until it made all the dough rise.”

34 Jesus used stories to tell all these things to the people; he always used stories to teach them. 35 This is as the prophet said:

“I will speak using stories;

I will tell things that have been secret since the world was made.”

Matthew 13:31–35 — American Standard Version (ASV)

31 Another parable set he before them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: 32 which indeed is less than all seeds; but when it is grown, it is greater than the herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the heaven come and lodge in the branches thereof.

33 Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till it was all leavened.

34 All these things spake Jesus in parables unto the multitudes; and without a parable spake he nothing unto them: 35 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying,

I will open my mouth in parables;

I will utter things hidden from the foundation of the world.

Matthew 13:31–35 — 1890 Darby Bible (DARBY)

31 Another parable set he before them, saying, The kingdom of the heavens is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field; 32 which is less indeed than all seeds, but when it is grown is greater than herbs, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of heaven come and roost in its branches. 33 He spoke another parable to them: The kingdom of the heavens is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal until it had been all leavened. 34 All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, and without a parable he did not speak to them, 35 so that that should be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the world’s foundation.

Matthew 13:31–35 — GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

31 Jesus used another illustration. He said, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone planted in a field. 32 It’s one of the smallest seeds. However, when it has grown, it is taller than the garden plants. It becomes a tree that is large enough for birds to nest in its branches.” 

33 He used another illustration. “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman mixed into a large amount of flour until the yeast worked its way through all the dough.” 

34 Jesus used illustrations to tell the crowds all these things. He did not tell them anything without illustrating it with a story. 35 So what the prophet had said came true: 

“I will open my mouth to illustrate points. 

I will tell what has been hidden since the world was made.” 

Matthew 13:31–35 — The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

31 He presented another parable to them: The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. 32 It’s the smallest of all the seeds, but when grown, it’s taller than the vegetables and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the sky come and nest in its branches.”

33 He told them another parable: The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into 50 pounds of flour until it spread through all of it.”

34 Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables, and He would not speak anything to them without a parable, 35 so that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled:

I will open My mouth in parables;

I will declare things kept secret

from the foundation of the world.

Matthew 13:31–35 — The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

31 He put before them another parable: The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; 32 it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”

33 He told them another parable: The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.”

34 Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables; without a parable he told them nothing. 35 This was to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet:

“I will open my mouth to speak in parables;

I will proclaim what has been hidden from the foundation of the world.”

Matthew 13:31–35 — The Lexham English Bible (LEB)

31 He put before them another parable, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. 32 It is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it is grown it is larger than the garden herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the sky come and nest in its branches.”

33 He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and put into three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch was leavened.”

34 Jesus spoke all these things to the crowds in parables, and he was saying nothing to them without a parable, 35 in order that what was spoken through the prophet would be fulfilled, who said,

“I will open my mouth in parables;

I will proclaim what has been hidden since the creation.”

Matthew 13:31–35 — New International Reader’s Version (1998) (NIrV)

31 Jesus told the crowd another story. He said, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed. Someone took the seed and planted it in a field. 32 It is the smallest of all your seeds. But when it grows, it is the largest of all garden plants. It becomes a tree. Birds come and rest in its branches.”

33 Jesus told them still another story. “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast,” he said. “A woman mixed it into a large amount of flour. The yeast worked its way all through the dough.”

34 Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd by using stories. He did not say anything to them without telling a story. 35 So the words spoken by the prophet came true. He had said,

“I will open my mouth and tell stories.

I will speak about things that were hidden since the world was made.”

Matthew 13:31–35 — New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (NASB95)

31 He presented another parable to them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field;

32 and this is smaller than all other seeds, but when it is full grown, it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”

33 He spoke another parable to them, The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three pecks of flour until it was all leavened.”

34 All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, and He did not speak to them without a parable.

35 This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:

“I will open My mouth in parables;

I will utter things hidden since the foundation of the world.”


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