30 Again he said, “What could we liken God’s kingdom to? Or what parable could we explain it with? 31 It’s like planting a mustard seed in the ground—a very small seed. 32 But when it’s planted and grows up, it forms a large bush with many branches so that birds can nest in its shade.”

33 ⇔And so as much as they could handle it, Yeshua shared the good message with them via many similar word pictures. 34 He never spoke without those illustrations, but he explained all of them to his close followers.

31 Another one of his parables went like this: “The heavenly kingdom is like a mustard seed that a man planted in his field. 32 Even though it’s a very small seed, it grows larger than most garden plants, and becomes such a large bush that birds even come and nest in its branches.”

33 In another parable, Yeshua said, “The heavenly kingdom is like yeast, which a woman took and hid in a month’s worth of flour, and eventually all of it rose.”

34 Yeshua told all these things to the crowds in the form of parables. In fact he said nothing that wasn’t a parable,

18 So he told them, “What is God’s kingdom similar to? What can I use to describe it? 19 It’s like a mustard seed, which a person might take and throw into their garden and then it grows in a bush and the birds make their nests in its branches.”