The Parable of the Weeds Among the Wheat

24 He put before them another parable, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while hisj people were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed darnelk in the midst of the wheat and went away. 26 So when the ⌊wheat⌋l sprouted and yielded grain, then the darnel appeared also. 27 So the slaves of the master of the house came and* said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have darnel?’ 28 And he said to them, ‘An enemy has done this!’ So the slaves said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and* gather them?’ 29 But he said, “No, lest when you* gather the darnel you uproot the wheat together with it. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the season of the harvest I will tell the reapers, “First gather the darnel and tie it into bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my storehouse.” ’ ”

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

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⌋m 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.”

The Parable of the Yeast

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.”

Parables Fulfill Prophecy

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.”n o