THE PARABLES OF THE MUSTARD SEED AND OF THE LEAVEN

31 Hea presented another parable to them: “The kingdom of heavenb 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 garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the sky come and nest in its branches.”c

33 He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like leavenA that a woman took and mixed into fifty poundsB of flour until all of it was leavened.”d

USING PARABLES FULFILLS PROPHECY

34 Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables, and he did not tell them anything without a parable,e 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.C,D,f

JESUS INTERPRETS THE PARABLE OF THE WHEAT AND THE WEEDS

36 Then he left the crowds and went into the house. His disciples approached him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”g