Matthew 13:24-34

24 Jesus used another illustration. He said, "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who planted good seed in his field.

25 But while people were asleep, his enemy planted weeds in the wheat field and went away.

26 When the wheat came up and formed kernels, weeds appeared.

27 "The owner's workers came to him and asked, 'Sir, didn't you plant good seed in your field? Where did the weeds come from?'

28 "He told them, 'An enemy did this.' "His workers asked him, 'Do you want us to pull out the weeds?'

29 "He replied, 'No. If you pull out the weeds, you may pull out the wheat with them.

30 Let both grow together until the harvest. When the grain is cut, I will tell the workers to gather the weeds first and tie them in bundles to be burned. But I'll have them bring the wheat into my barn.'"

31 Jesus used another illustration. He said, "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone planted in a field.

32 It's one of the smallest seeds. However, when it has grown, it is taller than the garden plants. It becomes a tree that is large enough for birds to nest in its branches."

33 He used another illustration. "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman mixed into a large amount of flour until the yeast worked its way through all the dough."

34 Jesus used illustrations to tell the crowds all these things. He did not tell them anything without illustrating it with a story.