Jesus Begins His Ministry

^14 (A)Now after John was arrested, Jesus ^(B)came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, ¹⁵ and saying, ^(C)“The time is fulfilled, and ^(D)the kingdom of God is at hand;^{[a] (E)}repent and believe in the gospel.”

The Parable of the Seed Growing

²⁶ And he said, ^(A)“The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. ²⁷ He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; ^(B)he knows not how. ²⁸ The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. ²⁹ But when the grain is ripe, at once ^(C)he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

The Mustard Seed and the Leaven

³¹ He put another parable before them, saying, ^(A)“The kingdom of heaven is like ^(B)a 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. ^(C)“The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in ^(D)three measures of flour, till it was ^(E)all leavened.”