Matthew 9:15-17

15And Jesus said to them, ^a“Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? ^bThe days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and ^cthen they will fast. 16No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. 17Neither is new wine put into old ^dwineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.”

Matthew 12:43-45

Return of an Unclean Spirit

43“When ^ethe unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through ^fwaterless places seeking rest, but finds none. 44Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. 45Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and ^gthe last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this ^hevil generation.”

Matthew 13:3-11

3And ⁱhe told them many things in parables, saying: ^j“A sower went out to sow. 4And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. 5Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, 6but ^kwhen the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, ^lthey withered away. 7Other seeds fell among ^mthorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some ⁿa hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 ^oHe who has ears, ▼

▼Some manuscripts add here and in verse 43 to hear

let him hear.”

The Purpose of the Parables

10Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” 11And he answered them, ^q“To you it has been given to know ^rthe secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.

Matthew 20:1-16

Laborers in the Vineyard

1“For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius ▼

▼A  denarius was a day’s wage for a laborer

a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 4and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ 5So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. 6And ^tabout the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ 7They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ 8And ^uwhen evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his ^vforeman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ 9And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. 10Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. 11And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, 12saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and ^wthe scorching heat.’ 13But he replied to one of them, ^x‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14Take ^ywhat belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. 15 ^zAm I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or ^aado you begrudge my generosity?’ ▼

▼Or is your eye bad because I am good?

16So ^acthe last will be first, and the first last.”

Matthew 21:28-46

The Parable of the Two Sons

28 ^ad“What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in ^aethe vineyard today.’ 29And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he ^afchanged his mind and went. 30And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. 31Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, ^agthe tax collectors and ^ahthe prostitutes go into ^aithe kingdom of God before you. 32For John came to you ^ajin the way of righteousness, and ^akyou did not believe him, but ^althe tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward ^amchange your minds and believe him.

The Parable of the Tenants

33 ^an“Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted ^aoa vineyard ^apand put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and ^aqleased it to tenants, and ^arwent into another country. 34When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants ▼

▼Greek bondservants; also verses 35, 36

to the tenants ^atto get his fruit. 35 ^auAnd the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and ^avstoned another. 36 ^awAgain he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. 37Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ^ax‘This is the heir. Come, ^aylet us kill him and have his inheritance.’ 39And they took him and ^azthrew him out of the vineyard and killed him. 40 ^baWhen therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 41They said to him, ^bb“He will put those wretches to a miserable death and ^bclet out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”

42Jesus said to them, ^bd“Have you never read in the Scriptures:

^be“‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone; ▼

▼Greek  the head of the corner

this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’?
43Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God ^bgwill be taken away from you and given to a people ^bhproducing its fruits. 44And ^bithe one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and ^bjwhen it falls on anyone, it will crush him.” ▼

▼Some manuscripts omit verse 44

45When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. 46And ^blalthough they were seeking to arrest him, ^bmthey feared the crowds, because they held him to be ^bna prophet.

Mark 4:33-34

33 ^boWith many such parables he spoke ^bpthe word to them, ^bqas they were able to hear it. 34He did not speak to them ^brwithout a parable, but ^bsprivately to his own disciples he ^btexplained everything.

Luke 8:10

10he said, ^bu“To you it has been given to know ^bvthe secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so ^bwthat ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’