9 Bible Verses about Old Testament Parables

The trees went forth once to anoint a king over them; and they said unto the olive tree, Reign you over us. But the olive tree said unto them, Should I leave my fatness, with which by me they honor God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees? And the trees said to the fig tree, Come you, and reign over us.read more.
But the fig tree said unto them, Should I forsake my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to be promoted over the trees? Then said the trees unto the vine, Come you, and reign over us. And the vine said unto them, Should I leave my wine, which cheers God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees? Then said all the trees unto the bramble, Come you, and reign over us. And the bramble said unto the trees, If in truth you anoint me king over you, then come and put your trust in my shadow: and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon.

And the LORD sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor. The rich man had a great many flocks and herds: But the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own food, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter.read more.
And there came a traveler unto the rich man, and he refused to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to prepare for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man's lamb, and prepared it for the man that was come to him.

And Jehoash the king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, Give your daughter to my son to wife: and there passed by a wild beast that was in Lebanon, and trod down the thistle.

Now will I sing to my well-beloved a song of my beloved regarding his vineyard. My well-beloved has a vineyard on a very fruitful hill: And he dug it, and gathered out its stones, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress in it: and he expected that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, between me and my vineyard.read more.
What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? why, when I expected that it should bring forth grapes, it brought forth wild grapes? And now; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it shall be eaten up; and break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down: And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor dug; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for justice, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.

Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel; And say, Thus says the Lord GOD; A great eagle with great wings, longwinged, full of feathers, which had various colors, came unto Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar: He cropped off the top of its young twigs, and carried it into a land of trade; he set it in a city of merchants.read more.
He took also of the seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitful field; he placed it by great waters, and set it as a willow tree. And it grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned toward him, and its roots were under him: so it became a vine, and brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs. There was also another great eagle with great wings and many feathers: and, behold, this vine did bend her roots toward him, and shot forth her branches toward him, that he might water it by the bed of its planting. It was planted in a good soil by great waters, that it might bring forth branches, and that it might bear fruit, that it might be a splendid vine. Say, Thus says the Lord GOD; Shall it prosper? shall he not pull up its roots, and cut off its fruit, so that it withers? it shall wither in all its leaves of spring, not requiring great power or many people to pluck it up by its roots. Yea, behold, being planted, shall it prosper? shall it not utterly wither, when the east wind touches it? it shall wither in the bed where it grew.

Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother: And they committed harlotries in Egypt; they committed harlotries in their youth: there were their breasts pressed, and there they handled the breasts of their virginity. And the names of them were Oholah the elder, and Oholibah her sister: and they were mine, and they bore sons and daughters. Thus were their names; Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem Oholibah.read more.
And Oholah played the harlot when she was mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbors, Who were clothed with blue, captains and rulers, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding upon horses. Thus she committed her harlotries with them, with all them that were the chosen men of Assyria, and with all on whom she doted: with all their idols she defiled herself. Neither left she her harlotries brought from Egypt: for in her youth they lay with her, and they handled the breasts of her virginity, and poured their harlotry upon her. Therefore I have delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, upon whom she doted. These uncovered her nakedness: they took her sons and her daughters, and slew her with the sword: and she became a byword among women; for they had executed judgment upon her. And when her sister Oholibah saw this, she was more corrupt in her lust than she, and in her harlotries more than her sister in her harlotries. She doted upon the Assyrians her neighbors, captains and rulers clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding upon horses, all of them desirable young men. Then I saw that she was defiled, that they took both the same way, And that she increased her harlotries: for when she saw men portrayed upon the wall, the images of the Chaldeans portrayed in vermilion, Girded with belts upon their waists, exceeding in flowing turbans upon their heads, all of them princes to look to, after the manner of the Babylonians of Chaldea, the land of their nativity: And as soon as she saw them with her eyes, she doted upon them, and sent messengers unto them into Chaldea. And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their harlotry, and she was polluted with them, and her mind was alienated from them. So she uncovered her harlotries, and uncovered her nakedness: then my mind was alienated from her, like my mind was alienated from her sister. Yet she multiplied her harlotries, in calling to remembrance the days of her youth, in which she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt. For she doted upon her paramours, whose flesh is as the flesh of donkeys, and whose issue is like the issue of horses. Thus you called to remembrance the lewdness of your youth, in handling of your breasts by the Egyptians for the sake of the bosom of your youth. Therefore, O Oholibah, thus says the Lord GOD; Behold, I will raise up your lovers against you, from whom your mind is alienated, and I will bring them against you on every side; The Babylonians, and all the Chaldeans, Pekod, and Shoa, and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them: all of them desirable young men, captains and rulers, great lords and renowned, all of them riding upon horses. And they shall come against you with chariots, wagons, and wheels, and with an assembly of people, who shall set against you buckler and shield and helmet round about: and I commit set judgment unto them, and they shall judge you according to their judgments. And I will set my jealousy against you, and they shall deal furiously with you: they shall take away your nose and your ears; and your remnant shall fall by the sword: they shall take your sons and your daughters; and your survivors shall be devoured by the fire. They shall also strip you out of your clothes, and take away your fine jewels. Thus will I make your lewdness to cease from you, and your harlotry brought from the land of Egypt: so that you shall not lift up your eyes unto them, nor remember Egypt anymore. For thus says the Lord GOD; Behold, I will deliver you into the hand of them whom you hate, into the hand of them from whom your mind is alienated: And they shall deal with you hatefully, and shall take away all the fruit of your labor, and shall leave you naked and bare: and the nakedness of your harlotries shall be uncovered, both your lewdness and your harlotries. I will do these things unto you, because you have played the harlot after the nations, and because you are polluted with their idols. You have walked in the way of your sister; therefore will I give her cup into your hand. Thus says the Lord GOD; You shall drink of your sister's cup deep and large: you shall be laughed to scorn and had in derision; it contains much. You shall be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of horror and desolation, with the cup of your sister Samaria. You shall even drink it and drain it out, and you shall break its sherds, and tear your own breasts: for I have spoken it, says the Lord GOD. Therefore thus says the Lord GOD; Because you have forgotten me, and cast me behind your back, therefore bear you also your lewdness and your harlotries. The LORD said moreover unto me; Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? yea, declare unto them their abominations; That they have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands, and with their idols have they committed adultery, and have also caused their sons, whom they bore unto me, to pass for them through the fire, to devour them. Moreover this they have done unto me: they have defiled my sanctuary in the same day, and have profaned my sabbaths. For when they had slain their children for their idols, then they came the same day into my sanctuary to profane it; and, lo, thus have they done in the midst of my house. And furthermore, that you have sent for men to come from afar, unto whom a messenger was sent; and, lo, they came: for whom you did wash yourself, painted your eyes, and decked yourself with ornaments, And sat upon a stately bed, and a table prepared before it, upon which you have set my incense and my oil. And a voice of a multitude being at ease was with her: and with the men of the common sort were brought Sabeans from the wilderness, who put bracelets upon their wrists, and beautiful crowns upon their heads. Then said I unto her that had grown old in adulteries, Will they now commit harlotries with her, and she with them? Yet they went in unto her, as they go in unto a woman that plays the harlot: so went they in unto Oholah and unto Oholibah, the lewd women. And the righteous men, they shall judge them after the manner of adulteresses, and after the manner of women that shed blood; because they are adulteresses, and blood is on their hands.

And utter a parable unto the rebellious house, and say unto them, Thus says the Lord GOD; Set on a pot, set it on, and also pour water into it: Gather its pieces into it, even every good piece, the thigh, and the shoulder; fill it with the choice bones. Take the choice of the flock, and burn also the bones under it, and make it boil well, and let them seethe its bones in it.read more.
Therefore thus says the Lord GOD; Woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose scum is in it, and whose scum has not gone out of it! bring it out piece by piece; let no lot fall upon it. For her blood is in the midst of her; she set it upon the top of a rock; she poured it not upon the ground, to cover it with dust; That it might cause fury to come up to take vengeance; I have set her blood upon the top of a rock, that it should not be covered. Therefore thus says the Lord GOD; Woe to the bloody city! I will even make the pile for fire great. Heap on wood, kindle the fire, consume the flesh, and spice it well, and let the bones be burned. Then set it empty upon its coals, that the bronze of it may be hot, and may burn, and that the filthiness of it may be melted in it, that the scum of it may be consumed. She has wearied herself with lies, and her great scum went not forth out of her: her scum shall be in the fire. In your filthiness is lewdness: because I have purged you, and you were not purged, you shall not be purged from your filthiness any more, till I have caused my fury to rest upon you. I the LORD have spoken it: it shall come to pass, and I will do it; I will not go back, neither will I spare, neither will I relent; according to your ways, and according to your doings, shall they judge you, says the Lord GOD.

Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from mount Sinai, which brings forth to bondage, which is Hagar.

Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from which also he received him in a figure.