Eze 20:49, Mat 13:10-15, 34-35, 21:28-33, 22:1-14, Mar 4:2, 11-13, 33-34 | ESV | STEP | Then I said , Ah , Lord God ! They are saying of me, Is he not a maker of parables ?

10 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” 11 And he answered them, ^c“To you it has been given to know ^dthe secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12 ^eFor to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, ^feven what he has will be taken away. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables, because ^gseeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, ^hnor do they understand. 14 Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says:

ⁱ“‘“You will indeed hear but never understand,
and you will indeed see but never perceive.”
15 For this people’s heart has grown dull,
and with their ears ^jthey can barely hear,
and ^ktheir eyes they have closed,
lest they should see with their eyes
and hear with their ears
and ^lunderstand with their heart
and ^mturn, and I would heal them.’

Matthew 13:34-35

Prophecy and Parables

34 ⁿAll these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable. 35 This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet: ^{▼▼Some manuscripts Isaiah the prophet}

^p“I will open my mouth in parables;
^qI will utter what has been hidden ^rsince the foundation of the world.”

Matthew 21:28-33

The Parable of the Two Sons

28 ^s“What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in ^tthe vineyard today.’ 29 And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he ^uchanged his mind and went. 30 And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, ^vthe tax collectors and ^wthe prostitutes go into ^xthe kingdom of God before you. 32 For John came to you ^yin the way of righteousness, and ^zyou did not believe him, but ^aathe tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward ^abchange your minds and believe him.

The Parable of the Tenants

33 ^ac“Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted ^ada vineyard ^aeand put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and ^afleased it to tenants, and ^agwent into another country.

Matthew 22:1-14

The Parable of the Wedding Feast

1 And again Jesus ^ahspoke to them in parables, saying, 2 ^ai“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave ^aja wedding feast for his son, 3 and ^aksent his servants ^{▼▼Greek bondservants; also verses 4, 6, 8, 10} to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. 4 ^amAgain he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my ^andinner, ^aomy oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.”’ 5 But ^apthey paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, 6 while the rest seized his servants, ^aqtreated them shamefully, and ^arkilled them. 7 The king was angry, and he sent his troops and ^asdestroyed those murderers and burned their city. 8 Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not ^atworthy. 9 Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’ 10 And those servants went out into the roads and ^augathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests.

11 “But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there ^ava man who had no wedding garment. 12 And he said to him, ^aw‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. 13 Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and ^axcast him into the outer darkness. In that place ^aythere will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14 For many are ^azcalled, but few are ^bachosen.”

Mark 4:2

2 And ^bbhe was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them:

Mark 4:11-13

11 And he said to them, ^bc“To you has been given ^bdthe secret of the kingdom of God, but for ^bethose outside everything is in parables, 12 ^bfso that

“'they ^bgmay indeed see but not perceive,
and may indeed hear but not understand,
lest they ^bhshould turn and be forgiven.'”
13 ^biAnd he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?

Mark 4:33-34

33 ^bjWith many such parables he spoke ^bkthe word to them, ^blas they were able to hear it. 34 He did not speak to them ^bmwithout a parable, but ^bnprivately to his own disciples he ^boexplained everything.