Mark 4:30-34

Parable of the Mustard Seed

30 ¹And He said, "How shall we ²picture the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it?

31 "It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is smaller than all the seeds that are upon the soil,

32 yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and forms large branches; so that ³THE BIRDS OF THE AIR can NEST UNDER ITS SHADE."

33 With many such parables He was speaking the word to them, so far as they were able to hear it;

34 and He did not speak to them ⁴without a parable; but He was ⁵explaining everything privately * to His own disciples.

Cross References

• 1. Mark 4:30-32: {Matthew 13:31, 32; Luke 13:18, 19}
• 2. Matthew 13:24
• 3. Ezekiel 17:23; Psalms 104:12; Ezekiel 31:6; Daniel 4:12
• 4. Matthew 13:34; John 10:6; John 16:25
• 5. Luke 24:27

Footnotes

• [a] Lit "compare"
• [b] Or "sky"