The Parable of the Growing Seed

²⁶ He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like.^(A) A man scatters seed on the ground. ²⁷ Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. ²⁸ All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. ²⁹ As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”^(B)

The Parable of the Mustard Seed^(C)

³⁰ Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like,^(D) or what parable shall we use to describe it? ³¹ It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. ³² Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.”

The Parables of the Mustard Seed and the Yeast^(A)(B)

¹⁸ Then Jesus asked, “What is the kingdom of God^(C) like?^(D) What shall I compare it to? ¹⁹ It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree,^(E) and the birds perched in its branches.”^(F)

²⁰ Again he asked, “What shall I compare the kingdom of God to? ²¹ It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds^[a] of flour until it worked all through the dough.”^(G)