Matthew 13:34-35
Jesus spoke all these things to the crowds in parables. He did not tell them anything without using a parable. / So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet: “I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden since the foundation of the world.”

Psalm 78:2
I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the beginning,

Mark 4:33-34
With many such parables Jesus spoke the word to them, to the extent that they could understand. / He did not tell them anything without using a parable. But privately He explained everything to His own disciples.

Hosea 12:10
I spoke through the prophets and multiplied their visions; I gave parables through the prophets.

Isaiah 5:1-7
I will sing for my beloved a song of his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. / He dug it up and cleared the stones and planted the finest vines. He built a watchtower in the middle and dug out a winepress as well. He waited for the vineyard to yield good grapes, but the fruit it produced was sour! / “And now, O dwellers of Jerusalem and men of Judah, I exhort you to judge between Me and My vineyard. ...

Matthew 21:33-45
Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a tower. Then he rented it out to some tenants and went away on a journey. / When the harvest time drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his share of the fruit. / But the tenants seized his servants. They beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. ...

Judges 9:7-15
When this was reported to Jotham, he climbed to the top of Mount Gerizim, raised his voice, and cried out: “Listen to me, O leaders of Shechem, and may God listen to you. / One day the trees set out to anoint a king for themselves. They said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us.’ / But the olive tree replied, ‘Should I stop giving my oil that honors both God and man, to hold sway over the trees?’ ...

Luke 8:10
He replied, “The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that, ‘though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.’

Isaiah 6:9-10
And He replied: “Go and tell this people, ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’ / Make the hearts of this people calloused; deafen their ears and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

Matthew 13:10-13
Then the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Why do You speak to the people in parables?” / He replied, “The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. / Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. ...

2 Samuel 12:1-4
Then the LORD sent Nathan to David, and when he arrived, he said, “There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor. / The rich man had a great number of sheep and cattle, / but the poor man had nothing except one small ewe lamb that he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food and drank from his cup; it slept in his arms and was like a daughter to him. ...

John 10:6
Jesus spoke to them using this illustration, but they did not understand what He was telling them.

Jeremiah 13:1-11
This is what the LORD said to me: “Go and buy yourself a linen loincloth and put it around your waist, but do not let it touch water.” / So I bought a loincloth in accordance with the word of the LORD, and I put it around my waist. / Then the word of the LORD came to me a second time: ...

Matthew 13:24-30
Jesus put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. / But while everyone was asleep, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and slipped away. / When the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the weeds also appeared. ...

1 Kings 20:35-43
Meanwhile, by the word of the LORD, one of the sons of the prophets said to his companion, “Strike me, please!” But the man refused to strike him. / Then the prophet said to him, “Because you have not obeyed the voice of the LORD, as soon as you depart from me a lion will kill you.” And when he left, a lion found him and killed him. / Then the prophet found another man and said, “Strike me, please!” So the man struck him and wounded him, ...