Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

³⁰ “What shall we say God’s kingdom is like?” he said. “What picture shall we give of it? ³¹ It’s like a grain of mustard seed. When it’s sown on the ground, it’s the smallest of all the seeds on the earth. ³² But when it’s sown, it springs up and becomes the biggest of all shrubs. It grows large branches, so that ‘the birds of the air make their nests’ within its shade.”

³³ He used to tell them a lot of parables like this, speaking the word as much as they were able to hear. ³⁴ He never spoke except in parables. But he explained everything to his own disciples in private.