The Parables of the Mustard Seed and of the Yeast

31 He(A) presented another parable to them: “The kingdom of heaven(B) 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 vegetables 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 yeast that a woman took and mixed into 50 pounds(a) of flour until it spread through all of it.”(b)(D)

Using Parables Fulfills Prophecy

34 Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables, and He would not speak anything to them 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.(F)(c)

Footnotes:

a. Matthew 13:33: Lit 3 sata; about 40 quarts
b. Matthew 13:33: Or until all of it was leavened

Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers.