57 Bible Verses about Parables

And say, This is what the Lord has said: A great eagle with great wings, full of long feathers of different colours, came to Lebanon, and took the top of the cedar:

This is what the Lord said to me: Go and get yourself a linen band and put it round you and do not put it in water.

Let me make a song about my loved one, a song of love for his vine-garden. My loved one had a vine-garden on a fertile hill:

What was your mother? Like a she-lion among lions, stretched out among the young lions she gave food to her little ones. And one of her little ones came to growth under her care, and became a young lion, learning to go after beasts for his food; and he took men for his meat.

And make a comparison for this uncontrolled people, and say to them, This is what the Lord has said: Put on the cooking-pot, put it on the fire and put water in it:

And his disciples put questions to him about the point of the story. And he said, To you is given knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God; but to the others, they are given in stories, so that seeing, they may not see, and though they give hearing, the sense will not be clear to them.

And the disciples came and said to him, Why do you say things to them in the form of stories? And he said to them in answer, To you is given the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. Because whoever has, to him will be given, and he will have more; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. read more.
For this reason I put things into the form of stories; because they see without seeing, and give ear without hearing, and the sense is not clear to them. And for them the words of Isaiah have come true, Though you give ear, you will not get knowledge; and seeing, you will see, but the sense will not be clear to you: For the heart of this people has become fat and their ears are slow in hearing and their eyes are shut; for fear that they might see with their eyes and give hearing with their ears and become wise in their hearts and be turned again to me, so that I might make them well. But a blessing be on your eyes, because they see; and on your ears, because they are open. For truly, I say to you that prophets and upright men had a desire to see the things which you see, and saw them not; and to have knowledge of the words which have come to your ears, and they had it not.

And when he was by himself, those who were round him with the twelve put questions to him about the purpose of the stories. And he said to them, To you is given the secret of the kingdom of God, but to those who are outside, all things are given in the form of stories; So that seeing they may see, and it will not be clear to them; and hearing it, they will not get the sense; for fear that they may be turned again to me and have forgiveness.

He who has ears, let him give ear to what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give of the fruit of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.

And he said to him, Truly I say to you, Today you will be with me in Paradise.

How he was taken up into Paradise, and words came to his ears which may not be said, and which man is not able to say.

Give ear, O my people, to my law; let your ears be bent down to the words of my mouth. Opening my mouth I will give out a story, even the dark sayings of old times;

All these things Jesus said to the people in the form of stories; and without a story he said nothing to them: That it might come true which was said by the prophet, Opening my mouth, I will give out stories; I will give knowledge of things kept secret from before all time.

And with a number of such stories he gave them his teaching, as they were able to take it: And without a story he said nothing to them: but privately to his disciples he made all things clear.

And he gave them another story, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like a man who put good seed in his field: But while men were sleeping, one who had hate for him came and put evil seeds among the grain, and went away. But when the green stem came up and gave fruit, the evil plants were seen at the same time. read more.
And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, Sir, did you not put good seed in your field? how then has it evil plants? And he said, Someone has done this in hate. And the servants say to him, Is it your pleasure that we go and take them up? But he says, No, for fear that by chance while you take up the evil plants, you may be rooting up the grain with them. Let them come up together till the getting in of the grain; and then I will say to the workers, Take up first the evil plants, and put them together for burning: but put the grain into my store-house.

Then he went away from the people, and went into the house; and his disciples came to him, saying, Make clear to us the story of the evil plants in the field. And he made answer and said, He who puts the good seed in the earth is the Son of man; And the field is the world; and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom; and the evil seeds are the sons of the Evil One; read more.
And he who put them in the earth is Satan; and the getting in of the grain is the end of the world; and those who get it in are the angels. As then the evil plants are got together and burned with fire, so will it be in the end of the world. The Son of man will send out his angels, and they will take out of his kingdom everything which is a cause of error, and all those who do wrong, And will put them into the fire; there will be weeping and cries of sorrow. Then will the upright be shining as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him give ear.

And Jehoash, king of Israel, sent to Amaziah, king of Judah, saying, The thorn-tree in Lebanon sent to the cedar in Lebanon, saying, Give your daughter to my son for a wife: and a beast from the woodland in Lebanon went by, crushing the thorn under his feet.

And Joash, king of Israel, sent to Amaziah, king of Judah, saying, The thorn-tree in Lebanon sent to the cedar in Lebanon, saying, Give your daughter to my son for a wife: and a beast from the woodland in Lebanon went by, crushing the thorn under his feet.

A man went out to put in seed, and while he was doing it, some was dropped by the wayside and it was crushed under foot, and was taken by the birds of heaven. And some went on the rock, and when it came up it became dry and dead because it had no water. And some went among thorns, and the thorns came up with it and it had no room for growth. read more.
And some falling on good earth, came up and gave fruit a hundred times as much. And with these words he said in a loud voice, He who has ears, let him give ear. And his disciples put questions to him about the point of the story. And he said, To you is given knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God; but to the others, they are given in stories, so that seeing, they may not see, and though they give hearing, the sense will not be clear to them. Now this is the point of the story: The seed is the word of God. Those by the side of the road are those who have given hearing; then the Evil One comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not have faith and get salvation. And those on the rock are those who with joy give hearing to the word; but having no root, they have faith for a time, and when the test comes they give up. And those which went among thorns are those who have given hearing, and go on their way, but they are overcome by cares and wealth and the pleasures of life, and they give no fruit. And those in the good earth are those who, having given ear to the word, keep it with a good and true heart, and in quiet strength give fruit.

And he gave them teaching in the form of a story, saying, A man went out to put seed in the earth; And while he did so, some seeds were dropped by the wayside, and the birds came and took them for food: And some of the seed went among the stones, where it had not much earth, and straight away it came up because the earth was not deep: read more.
And when the sun was high, it was burned; and because it had no root it became dry and dead. And some seeds went among thorns, and the thorns came up and they had no room for growth: And some, falling on good earth, gave fruit, some a hundred, some sixty, some thirty times as much. He who has ears, let him give ear. And the disciples came and said to him, Why do you say things to them in the form of stories? And he said to them in answer, To you is given the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. Because whoever has, to him will be given, and he will have more; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. For this reason I put things into the form of stories; because they see without seeing, and give ear without hearing, and the sense is not clear to them. And for them the words of Isaiah have come true, Though you give ear, you will not get knowledge; and seeing, you will see, but the sense will not be clear to you: For the heart of this people has become fat and their ears are slow in hearing and their eyes are shut; for fear that they might see with their eyes and give hearing with their ears and become wise in their hearts and be turned again to me, so that I might make them well. But a blessing be on your eyes, because they see; and on your ears, because they are open. For truly, I say to you that prophets and upright men had a desire to see the things which you see, and saw them not; and to have knowledge of the words which have come to your ears, and they had it not. Give ear, then, to the story of the man who put the seed in the earth. When the word of the kingdom comes to anyone, and the sense of it is not clear to him, then the Evil One comes, and quickly takes away that which was put in his heart. He is the seed dropped by the wayside. And that which went on the stones, this is he who, hearing the word, straight away takes it with joy; But having no root in himself, he goes on for a time; and when trouble comes or pain, because of the word, he quickly becomes full of doubts. And that which was dropped among the thorns, this is he who has the word; and the cares of this life, and the deceits of wealth, put a stop to the growth of the word and it gives no fruit. And the seed which was put in good earth, this is he who gives ear to the word, and gets the sense of it; who gives fruit, some a hundred, some sixty, some thirty times as much.

And so whoever is not ready to give up all he has may not be my disciple.

For which of you, desiring to put up a tower, does not first give much thought to the price, if he will have enough to make it complete? For fear that if he makes a start and is not able to go on with it to the end, all who see it will be laughing at him, And saying, This man made a start at building and is not able to make it complete.

Your mother was in comparison like a vine, planted by the waters: she was fertile and full of branches because of the great waters. And she had a strong rod for a rod of authority for the rulers, and it became tall among the clouds and it was seen lifted up among the number of its branches. But she was uprooted in burning wrath, and made low on the earth; the east wind came, drying her up, and her branches were broken off; her strong rod became dry, the fire made a meal of it. read more.
And now she is planted in the waste land, in a dry and unwatered country. And fire has gone out from her rod, causing the destruction of her branches, so that there is no strong rod in her to be the ruler's rod of authority. This is a song of grief, and it was for a song of grief.

And he took some of the seed of the land, planting it in fertile earth, placing it by great waters; he put it in like a willow-tree. And its growth went on and it became a vine, low and widely stretching, whose branches were turned to him and its roots were under him: so it became a vine, putting out branches and young leaves. And there was another eagle with great wings and thick feathers: and now this vine, pushing out its roots to him, sent out its branches in his direction from the bed where it was planted, so that he might give it water. read more.
He had it planted in a good field by great waters so that it might put out branches and have fruit and be a strong vine. Say, This is what the Lord has said: Will it do well? will he not have its roots pulled up and its branches cut off, so that all its young leaves may become dry and it may be pulled up by its roots? And if it is planted will it do well? will it not become quite dry at the touch of the east wind, drying up in the bed where it was planted?

No man, when the light has been lighted, puts it in a secret place, or under a vessel, but on its table, so that those who come in may see the light. The light of the body is the eye: when your eye is true, all your body is full of light; but when it is evil, your body is dark. So take care that the light which is in you is not dark. read more.
If, then, all your body is light, with no part of it dark, it will be completely full of light, as when a flame with its bright shining gives you light.

And he said to them, When the light comes in, do people put it under a vessel, or under the bed, and not on its table?

When the strong man armed keeps watch over his house, then his goods are safe:

But no one is able to go into the house of the strong man and take his goods, without first putting cords round the strong man, and then he will take his goods.

Let me make a song about my loved one, a song of love for his vine-garden. My loved one had a vine-garden on a fertile hill: And after working the earth of it with a spade, he took away its stones, and put in it a very special vine; and he put up a watchtower in the middle of it, hollowing out in the rock a place for the grape-crushing; and he was hoping that it would give the best grapes, but it gave common grapes. And now, you people of Jerusalem and you men of Judah, be the judges between me and my vine-garden. read more.
Is there anything which might have been done for my vine-garden which I have not done? why then, when I was hoping for the best grapes did it give me common grapes? And now, this is what I will do to my vine-garden: I will take away the circle of thorns round it, and it will be burned up; its wall will be broken down and the beasts of the field will go through it; And I will make it waste; its branches will not be touched with the knife, or the earth worked with the spade; but blackberries and thorns will come up in it: and I will give orders to the clouds not to send rain on it. For the vine-garden of the Lord of armies is the people of Israel, and the men of Judah are the plant of his delight: and he was looking for upright judging, and there was blood; for righteousness, and there was a cry for help.

In that day it will be said, A vine-garden of delight, make a song about it. I, the Lord, am watching it; I will give it water at all times: I will keep it night and day, for fear that any damage comes to it.

Who is the true and wise servant, whom his lord has put over those in his house, to give them their food at the right time? A blessing on that servant, who will be doing so when his lord comes. Truly, I say to you, he will put him over all he has. read more.
But if that evil servant says in his heart, My lord is a long time in coming; And is cruel to the other servants, taking his pleasure with those who are overcome with wine; The lord of that servant will come in a day when he is not looking for him, and in an hour of which he has no knowledge, And will have him cut in two, and will give him a part in the fate of the false ones: there will be weeping and cries of sorrow.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net, which was put into the sea and took in every sort of fish: When it was full, they took it up on the sands; and seated there they put the good into vessels, but the bad they put away. So will it be in the end of the world: the angels will come and take out the bad from the good, read more.
And will put them into the fire: there will be weeping and cries of sorrow.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a trader searching for beautiful jewels. And having come across one jewel of great price, he went and gave all he had in exchange for it.

And he got the people together and said to them, Give ear, and let my words be clear to you: Not that which goes into the mouth makes a man unclean, but that which comes out of the mouth. Then the disciples came and said to him, Did you see that the Pharisees were troubled when these words came to their ears? read more.
But he said in answer, Every plant which my Father in heaven has not put in the earth, will be taken up by the roots. Let them be: they are blind guides. And if a blind man is guiding a blind man, the two will go falling into a hole together. Then Peter said to him, Make the story clear to us.

For this reason the kingdom of heaven is like a king, who went over his accounts with his servants. And at the start, one came to him who was in his debt for ten thousand talents. And because he was not able to make payment, his lord gave orders for him, and his wife, and his sons and daughters, and all he had, to be given for money, and payment to be made. read more.
So the servant went down on his face and gave him worship, saying, Lord, give me time to make payment and I will give you all. And the lord of that servant, being moved with pity, let him go, and made him free of the debt. But that servant went out, and meeting one of the other servants, who was in debt to him for one hundred pence, he took him by the throat, saying, Make payment of your debt. So that servant went down on his face, requesting him and saying, Give me time and I will make payment to you. And he would not: but went and put him into prison till he had made payment of the debt. So when the other servants saw what was done they were very sad, and came and gave word to their lord of what had been done. Then his lord sent for him and said, You evil servant; I made you free of all that debt, because of your request to me: Was it not right for you to have mercy on the other servant, even as I had mercy on you? And his lord was very angry, and put him in the hands of those who would give him punishment till he made payment of all the debt. So will my Father in heaven do to you, if you do not everyone, from your hearts, give forgiveness to his brother.

Give ear to another story. A master of a house made a vine garden, and put a wall round it, and made a place for crushing out the wine, and made a tower, and let it out to field-workers, and went into another country. And when the time for the fruit came near, he sent his servants to the workmen, to get the fruit. And the workmen made an attack on his servants, giving blows to one, putting another to death, and stoning another. read more.
Again, he sent other servants more in number than the first: and they did the same to them. But after that he sent his son to them, saying, They will have respect for my son. But when the workmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is he who will one day be the owner of the property; come, let us put him to death and take his heritage. And they took him and, driving him out of the vine-garden, put him to death. When, then, the lord of the vine-garden comes, what will he do to those workmen? They say to him, He will put those cruel men to a cruel death, and will let out the vine-garden to other workmen, who will give him the fruit when it is ready. Jesus says to them, Did you never see in the Writings, The stone which the builders put on one side, the same has been made the chief stone of the building: this was the Lord's doing, and it is a wonder in our eyes? For this reason I say to you, The kingdom of God will be taken away from you, and will be given to a nation producing the fruits of it. Any man falling on this stone will be broken, but he on whom it comes down will be crushed to dust. And when his stories came to the ears of the chief priests and the Pharisees, they saw that he was talking of them.

Now take an example from the fig-tree: when her branch has become soft and puts out its leaves, you are certain that the summer is near; Even so, when you see all these things, you may be certain that he is near, even at the doors. Truly I say to you, This generation will not come to an end till all these things are complete.

He put another story before them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and put in his field: Which is smaller than all seeds; but when it has come up it is greater than the plants, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of heaven come and make their resting-places in its branches.

But how does it seem to you? A man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go and do work today in the vine-garden. And he said in answer, I will not: but later, changing his decision, he went. And he came to the second and said the same. And he made answer and said, I go, sir: and went not. read more.
Which of the two did his father's pleasure? They say, The first. Jesus said to them, Truly I say to you, that tax-farmers and loose women are going into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you had no faith in him, but the tax-farmers and the loose women had faith in him: and you, when you saw it, did not even have regret for your sins, so as to have faith in him.

For it is as when a man, about to take a journey, got his servants together, and gave them his property. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one; to everyone as he was able; and he went on his journey. Straight away he who had been given the five talents went and did trade with them, and made five more. read more.
In the same way he who had been given the two got two more. But he who was given the one went away and put it in a hole in the earth, and kept his lord's money in a secret place. Now after a long time the lord of those servants comes, and makes up his account with them. And he who had the five talents came with his other five talents, saying, Lord, you gave into my care five talents: see, I have got five more. His lord said to him, Well done, good and true servant: you have been true in a small thing, I will give you control over great things: take your part in the joy of your lord. And he who had the two talents came and said, Lord, you gave into my care two talents: see, I have got two more. His lord said to him, Well done, good and true servant: you have been true in a small thing, I will give you control over great things: take your part in the joy of your lord. And he who had had the one talent came and said, Lord, I had knowledge that you are a hard man, getting in grain where you have not put seed, and making profits for which you have done no work: And I was in fear, and went away, and put your talent in the earth: here is what is yours. But his lord in answer said to him, You are a bad and unready servant; if you had knowledge that I get in grain where I did not put seed, and make profits for which I have done no work, Why, then, did you not put my money in the bank, and at my coming I would have got back what is mine with interest? Take away, then, his talent and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has will be given, and he will have more: but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And put out the servant who is of no profit into the outer dark: there will be weeping and cries of sorrow.

The legs of one who has no power of walking are hanging loose; so is a wise saying in the mouth of the foolish.

The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king, who made a feast when his son was married, And sent out his servants to get in the guests to the feast: and they would not come. Again he sent out other servants, with orders to say to the guests, See, I have made ready my feast: my oxen and my fat beasts have been put to death, and all things are ready: come to the feast. read more.
But they gave no attention, and went about their business, one to his farm, another to his trade: And the rest put violent hands on his servants, and did evil to them, and put them to death. But the king was angry; and he sent his armies, and those who had put his servants to death he gave to destruction, burning down their town with fire. Then he said to his servants, The feast is ready but the guests were not good enough. Go then to the cross-roads, and get all those whom you see to come to the bride-feast. And those servants went out into the streets, and got together all those whom they came across, bad and good: and the feast was full of guests. But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man who had not on a guest's robe; And he says to him, Friend, how came you in here not having a guest's robe? And he had nothing to say. Then the king said to the servants, Put cords round his hands and feet and put him out into the dark; there will be weeping and cries of sorrow. For out of all to whom the good news has come, only a small number will get salvation.

For the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a house, who went out early in the morning to get workers into his vine-garden. And when he had made an agreement with the workmen for a penny a day, he sent them into his vine-garden. And he went out about the third hour, and saw others in the market-place doing nothing; read more.
And he said to them, Go into the vine-garden with the others, and whatever is right I will give you. And they went to work. Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did the same. And about the eleventh hour he went out and saw others doing nothing; and he says to them, Why are you here all the day doing nothing? They say to him, Because no man has given us work. He says to them, Go in with the rest, into the vine-garden. And when evening came, the lord of the vine-garden said to his manager, Let the workers come, and give them their payment, from the last to the first. And when those men came who had gone to work at the eleventh hour, they were given every man a penny. Then those who came first had the idea that they would get more; and they, like the rest, were given a penny. And when they got it, they made a protest against the master of the house, Saying, These last have done only one hour's work, and you have made them equal to us, who have undergone the hard work of the day and the burning heat. But he in answer said to one of them, Friend, I do you no wrong: did you not make an agreement with me for a penny? Take what is yours, and go away; it is my pleasure to give to this last, even as to you. Have I not the right to do as seems good to me in my house? or is your eye evil, because I am good? So the last will be first, and the first last.

Everyone, then, to whom my words come and who does them, will be like a wise man who made his house on a rock; And the rain came down and there was a rush of waters and the winds were driving against that house, but it was not moved; because it was based on the rock. And everyone to whom my words come and who does them not, will be like a foolish man who made his house on sand; read more.
And the rain came down and there was a rush of waters and the winds were driving against that house; and it came down and great was its fall.

Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins, the friends of the bride, who took their lights, and went out with the purpose of meeting the husband. And five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For the foolish, when they took their lights, took no oil with them. read more.
But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lights. Now the husband was a long time in coming, and they all went to sleep. But in the middle of the night there is a cry, The husband comes! Go out to him. Then all those virgins got up, and made ready their lights. And the foolish said to the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lights are going out. But the wise made answer, saying, There may not be enough for us and you; it would be better for you to go to the traders and get oil for yourselves. And while they went to get oil, the master came; and those who were ready went in with him to the feast: and the door was shut. After that the other virgins came, saying, Lord, Lord, let us in. But he made answer and said, Truly I say to you, I have no knowledge of you. Keep watch, then, because you are not certain of the day or of the hour.

One day the trees went out to make a king for themselves; and they said to the olive-tree, Be king over us. But the olive-tree said to them, Am I to give up my wealth of oil, by which men give honour to God, and go waving over the trees? Then the trees said to the fig-tree, You come and be king over us. read more.
But the fig-tree said to them, Am I to give up my sweet taste and my good fruit and go waving over the trees? Then the trees said to the vine, You come and be king over us. But the vine said to them, Am I to give up my wine, which makes glad God and men, to go waving over the trees? Then all the trees said to the thorn, You come and be king over us. And the thorn said to the trees, If it is truly your desire to make me your king, then come and put your faith in my shade; and if not, may fire come out of the thorn, burning up the cedars of Lebanon.

And the Lord sent Nathan to David. And Nathan came to him and said, There were two men in the same town: one a man of great wealth, and the other a poor man. The man of wealth had great numbers of flocks and herds; But the poor man had only one little she-lamb, which he had got and taken care of: from its birth it had been with him like one of his children; his meat was its food, and from his cup it took its drink, resting in his arms, and it was like a daughter to him. read more.
Now a traveller came to the house of the man of wealth, but he would not take anything from his flock or his herd to make a meal for the traveller who had come to him, but he took the poor man's lamb and made it ready for the man who had come.

And the king said to her, What is your trouble? And her answer was, Truly I am a widow, and my husband is dead. And I had two sons, and the two of them had a fight in the field, and there was no one to come between them, and one with a blow put the other to death. And now all the family is turned against me, your servant, saying, Give up him who was the cause of his brother's death, so that we may put him to death in payment for the life of his brother, whose life he took; and we will put an end to the one who will get the heritage: so they will put out my last burning coal, and my husband will have no name or offspring on the face of the earth.

And now it is my fear of the people which has made me come to say these words to my lord the king: and your servant said, I will put my cause before the king, and it may be that he will give effect to my request.

And when the king went by, crying out to him he said, Your servant went out into the fight; and a man came out to me with another man and said, Keep this man: if by any chance he gets away, your life will be the price of his life, or you will have to give a talent of silver in payment.

And the Lord sent Nathan to David. And Nathan came to him and said, There were two men in the same town: one a man of great wealth, and the other a poor man.

But be certain of this, that if the master of the house had had knowledge of the time when the thief was coming, he would have been watching, and would not have let his house be broken into.

The kingdom of heaven is like a secret store of wealth in a field, which a man came across and put back again; and in his joy he goes and gives all he has, to get that field.

Now there was a certain man of great wealth, who was dressed in fair clothing of purple and delicate linen, and was shining and glad every day. And a certain poor man, named Lazarus, was stretched out at his door, full of wounds, Desiring the broken bits of food which came from the table of the man of wealth; and even the dogs came and put their tongues on his wounds. read more.
And in time the poor man came to his end, and angels took him to Abraham's breast. And the man of wealth came to his end, and was put in the earth. And in hell, being in great pain, lifting up his eyes he saw Abraham, far away, and Lazarus on his breast. And he gave a cry and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus, so that he may put the end of his finger in water and put it on my tongue, for I am cruelly burning in this flame. But Abraham said, Keep in mind, my son, that when you were living, you had your good things, while Lazarus had evil things: but now, he is comforted and you are in pain. And in addition, there is a deep division fixed between us and you, so that those who might go from here to you are not able to do so, and no one may come from you to us. And he said, Father, it is my request that you will send him to my father's house; For I have five brothers; and let him give them an account of these things, so that they may not come to this place of pain. But Abraham said, They have Moses and the prophets; let them give ear to what they say. And he said, No, father Abraham, but if someone went to them from the dead, their hearts would be changed. And he said to him, If they will not give attention to Moses and the prophets, they will not be moved even if someone comes back from the dead.

Or what king, going to war with another king, will not first take thought if he will be strong enough, with ten thousand men, to keep off him who comes against him with twenty thousand? Or while the other is still a great distance away, he sends representatives requesting conditions of peace. And so whoever is not ready to give up all he has may not be my disciple.

And Jesus, answering him, said, A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he got into the hands of thieves, who took his clothing and gave him cruel blows, and when they went away, he was half dead. And by chance a certain priest was going down that way: and when he saw him, he went by on the other side. And in the same way, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, went by on the other side. read more.
But a certain man of Samaria, journeying that way, came where he was, and when he saw him, he was moved with pity for him, And came to him and put clean linen round his wounds, with oil and wine; and he put him on his beast and took him to a house and took care of him. And the day after he took two pennies and gave them to the owner of the house and said, Take care of him; and if this money is not enough, when I come again I will give you whatever more is needed. Which of these three men, in your opinion, was neighbour to the man who came into the hands of thieves? And he said, The one who had mercy on him. And Jesus said, Go and do the same.

Then he said to the people, When you see a cloud coming up in the west, straight away you say, There will be rain; and so it is. And when you see a south wind blowing, you say, There will be heat; and so it is. O false ones! the face of the earth and the heaven is clear to you; how is it that the signs of these times are not as clear to you? read more.
And why are you, in your hearts, unable to be judges of what is right?

For salt is good, but if the taste goes from it, of what use is it? It is no good for the land or for the place of waste; no one has a use for it. He who has ears, let him give ear.

And he said to them, in a story, The land of a certain man of great wealth was very fertile: And he said to himself, What is to be done? for I have no place in which to put all my fruit. And he said, This I will do: I will take down my store-houses and make greater ones, and there I will put all my grain and my goods. read more.
And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have a great amount of goods in store, enough for a number of years; be at rest, take food and wine and be happy. But God said to him, You foolish one, tonight I will take your soul from you, and who then will be the owner of all the things which you have got together? So that is what comes to the man who gets wealth for himself, and has not wealth in the eyes of God.

So he said, A certain man of high birth went into a far-away country to get a kingdom for himself, and to come back. And he sent for ten of his servants and gave them ten pounds and said to them, Do business with this till I come. But his people had no love for him, and sent representatives after him, saying, We will not have this man for our ruler. read more.
And when he came back again, having got his kingdom, he gave orders for those servants to whom he had given the money to come to him, so that he might have an account of what business they had done. And the first came before him, saying, Lord, your pound has made ten pounds. And he said to him, You have done well, O good servant: because you have done well in a small thing you will have authority over ten towns. And another came, saying, Your pound has made five pounds. And he said, You will be ruler over five towns. And another came, saying, Lord, here is your pound, which I put away in a cloth; Because I was in fear of you, for you are a hard man: you take up what you have not put down, and get in grain where you have not put seed. He said to him, By the words of your mouth you will be judged, you bad servant. You had knowledge that I am a hard man, taking up what I have not put down and getting in grain where I have not put seed; Why then did you not put my money in a bank, so that when I came I would get it back with interest? And he said to the others who were near, Take the pound away from him, and give it to the man who has ten. And they say to him, Lord, he has ten pounds. And I say to you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And as for those who were against me, who would not have me for their ruler, let them come here, and be put to death before me.

It is as when a man who is in another country for a time, having gone away from his house, and given authority to his servants and to everyone his work, gives the porter an order to keep watch. So you are to keep watch: because you are not certain when the master of the house is coming, in the evening, or in the middle of the night, or at the cock's cry, or in the morning; For fear that, coming suddenly, he sees you sleeping. read more.
And what I say to you, I say to all, Keep watch.

But the unclean spirit, when he is gone out of a man, goes through dry places looking for rest, and getting it not.

And he said, A certain man had two sons: And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me that part of your property which will be mine. And he made division of his goods between them. And not long after, the younger son got together everything which was his and took a journey into a far-away country, and there all his money went in foolish living. read more.
And when everything was gone, there was no food to be had in that country, and he was in need. And he went and put himself into the hands of one of the people of that country, and he sent him into his fields to give the pigs their food. And so great was his need that he would have been glad to take the pigs' food, and no one gave him anything. But when he came to his senses, he said, What numbers of my father's servants have bread enough, and more, while I am near to death here through need of food! I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, Father, I have done wrong, against heaven and in your eyes: I am no longer good enough to be named your son: make me like one of your servants. And he got up and went to his father. But while he was still far away, his father saw him and was moved with pity for him and went quickly and took him in his arms and gave him a kiss. And his son said to him, Father, I have done wrong, against heaven and in your eyes: I am no longer good enough to be named your son. But the father said to his servants, Get out the first robe quickly, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet: And get the fat young ox and put it to death, and let us have a feast, and be glad. For this, my son, who was dead, is living again; he had gone away from me, and has come back. And they were full of joy. Now the older son was in the field: and when he came near the house, the sounds of music and dancing came to his ears. And he sent for one of the servants, questioning him about what it might be. And he said to him, Your brother has come; and your father has had the young ox put to death because he has come back safely. But he was angry and would not go in; and his father came out and made a request to him to come in. But he made answer and said to his father, See, all these years I have been your servant, doing your orders in everything: and you never gave me even a young goat so that I might have a feast with my friends: But when this your son came, who has been wasting your property with bad women, you put to death the fat young ox for him. And he said to him, Son, you are with me at all times, and all I have is yours. But it was right to be glad and to have a feast; for this your brother, who was dead, is living again; he had gone away and has come back.

Another story he gave to them: The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took, and put in three measures of meal, till it was all leavened.

And no man puts a bit of new cloth on an old coat, for by pulling away from the old, it makes a worse hole.

And men do not put new wine into old wine-skins; or the skins will be burst and the wine will come out, and the skins are of no more use: but they put new wine into new wine-skins, and so the two will be safe.

And he gave teaching in the form of a story to the guests who came to the feast, when he saw how they took the best seats; saying to them, When you get a request to come to a feast, do not take the best seat, for a more important man than you may be coming, And then the giver of the feast will come to you and say, Give your place to this man; and you, with shame, will have to take the lowest seat. read more.
But when you come, go and take the lowest seat, so that when the giver of the feast comes, he may say to you, Friend, come up higher; and then you will have honour in the eyes of all the others who are there. For every man who gives himself a high place will be put down, but he who takes a low place will be lifted up.

And he made this story for some people who were certain that they were good, and had a low opinion of others: Two men went up to the Temple for prayer; one a Pharisee, and the other a tax-farmer. The Pharisee, taking up his position, said to himself these words: God, I give you praise because I am not like other men, who take more than their right, who are evil-doers, who are untrue to their wives, or even like this tax-farmer. read more.
Twice in the week I go without food; I give a tenth of all I have. The tax-farmer, on the other hand, keeping far away, and not lifting up even his eyes to heaven, made signs of grief and said, God, have mercy on me, a sinner. I say to you, This man went back to his house with God's approval, and not the other: for everyone who makes himself high will be made low and whoever makes himself low will be made high.

Or what woman, having ten bits of silver, if one bit has gone from her hands, will not get a light, and go through her house, searching with care till she sees it? And when she has it again, she gets her friends and neighbours together, saying, Be glad with me, for I have got back the bit of silver which had gone from me. Even so, I say to you, There is joy among the angels of God, when one sinner is turned away from his wrongdoing.

And he said, Two men were in debt to a certain man of business: one had a debt of five hundred pence, and the other of fifty. When they were unable to make payment, he made the two of them free of their debts. Which of them, now, will have the greater love for him? Simon, in answer, said, It seems he whose debt was greater. And he said, Your decision is right. read more.
And turning to the woman he said to Simon, You see this woman? I came into your house; you did not give me water for my feet: but she has been washing my feet with the drops from her eyes, and drying them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss: but she, from the time when I came in, has gone on kissing my feet. You put no oil on my head: but she has put perfume on my feet. And so I say to you, She will have forgiveness for her sins which are great in number, because of her great love: but he who has small need of forgiveness gives little love.

For no good tree gives bad fruit, and no bad tree gives good fruit. For every tree is judged by its fruit. Men do not get figs from thorns, or grapes from blackberry plants. The good man, out of the good store of his heart, gives good things; and the evil man, out of his evil store, gives evil: for out of the full store of the heart come the words of the mouth.

And why do you take note of the grain of dust in your brother's eye, but take no note of the bit of wood which is in your eye? How will you say to your brother, Brother, let me take the grain of dust out of your eye, when you yourself do not see the bit of wood in your eye? O false one! first take the wood out of your eye and then you will see clearly to take the dust out of your brother's eye.

And Jesus said to them, Will the friends of the newly-married man be sad as long as he is with them? But the days will come when he will be taken away from them, and then will they go without food.

And he said, Such is the kingdom of God, as if a man put seed in the earth, And went to sleep and got up, night and day, and the seed came to growth, though he had no idea how. The earth gives fruit by herself; first the leaf, then the head, then the full grain. read more.
But when the grain is ready, he quickly sends men to get it cut, because the time for cutting has come.

And Ahijah took his new robe in his hands, parting it violently into twelve. And he said to Jeroboam, Take ten of the parts, for this is what the Lord has said: See, I will take the kingdom away from Solomon by force, and will give ten tribes to you; (But one tribe will be his, because of my servant David, and because of Jerusalem, the town which, out of all the tribes of Israel, I have made mine,)

So you are to say this word to them: This is the word of the Lord, the God of Israel: Every skin bottle will be full of wine; and they will say to you, Is it not quite clear to us that every skin bottle will be full of wine? Then you are to say to them, The Lord has said, I will make all the people of this land, even the kings seated on David's seat, and the priests and the prophets and all the people of Jerusalem, overcome with strong drink. I will have them smashed against one another, fathers and sons together, says the Lord: I will have no pity or mercy, I will have no feeling for them to keep me from giving them to destruction.

And when the king went by, crying out to him he said, Your servant went out into the fight; and a man came out to me with another man and said, Keep this man: if by any chance he gets away, your life will be the price of his life, or you will have to give a talent of silver in payment. But while your servant was turning this way and that, he was gone. Then the king of Israel said to him, You are responsible; you have given the decision against yourself. Then he quickly took the head-band from his eyes; and the king of Israel saw that he was one of the prophets.

Let your ears be open to my voice; give attention to what I say. Is the ploughman for ever ploughing? does he not get the earth ready and broken up for the seed? When the face of the earth has been levelled, does he not put in the different sorts of seed, and the grain in lines, and the barley in its place, and the spelt at the edge? read more.
For his God is his teacher, giving him the knowledge of these things. For the fitches are not crushed with a sharp instrument, and a cart-wheel is not rolled over the cummin; but the grain of the fitches is hammered out with a stick, and of the cummin with a rod. Is the grain for bread crushed? He does not go on crushing it for ever, but he lets his cart-wheels and his horses go over it without crushing it. This comes from the Lord of armies, purposing wonders, and wise in all his acts.

And he said to them, Which of you, having a friend, would go to him in the middle of the night and say to him, Friend, let me have three cakes of bread; Because a friend of mine has come to me on a journey, and I have nothing to put before him; And he, from inside the house, would say in answer, Do not be a trouble to me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; it is not possible for me to get up and give to you? read more.
I say to you, Though he will not get up and give to him, because he is his friend, still, if he keeps on making his request, he will get up and give him as much as he has need of. And I say to you, Make requests, and they will be answered; what you are searching for, you will get; when you give the sign, the door will be open to you.

And he made a story for them, the point of which was that men were to go on making prayer and not get tired; Saying, There was a judge in a certain town, who had no fear of God or respect for man: And there was a widow in that town, and she kept on coming to him and saying, Give me my right against the man who has done me wrong. read more.
And for a time he would not: but later, he said to himself, Though I have no fear of God or respect for man, Because this widow is a trouble to me, I will give her her right; for if not, I will be completely tired out by her frequent coming. And the Lord said, Give ear to the words of the evil judge. And will not God do right in the cause of his saints, whose cries come day and night to his ears, though he is long in doing it? I say to you that he will quickly do right in their cause. But when the Son of man comes, will there be any faith on earth?

And he made up this story for them: A certain man had a fig-tree in his garden, and he came to get fruit from it, and there was no fruit. And he said to the gardener, See, for three years I have been looking for fruit from this tree, and I have not had any: let it be cut down; why is it taking up space? And he said, Lord, let it be for this year, and I will have the earth turned up round it, and put animal waste on it, to make it fertile: read more.
And if, after that, it has fruit, it is well; if not, let it be cut down.

And another time he said to the disciples, There was a certain man of great wealth who had a servant; and it was said to him that this servant was wasting his goods. And he sent for him and said, What is this which is said about you? give me an account of all you have done, for you will no longer be the manager of my property. And the servant said to himself, What am I to do now that my lord takes away my position? I have not enough strength for working in the fields, and I would be shamed if I made requests for money from people in the streets. read more.
I have come to a decision what to do, so that when I am put out of my position they will take me into their houses. And sending for every one who was in debt to his lord he said to the first, What is the amount of your debt to my lord? And he said, A hundred measures of oil. And he said, Take your account straight away and put down fifty. Then he said to another, What is the amount of your debt? And he said, A hundred measures of grain. And he said to him, Take your account and put down eighty. And his lord was pleased with the false servant, because he had been wise; for the sons of this world are wiser in relation to their generation than the sons of light.

I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener. He takes away every branch in me which has no fruit, and every branch which has fruit he makes clean, so that it may have more fruit. You are clean, even now, through the teaching which I have given you. read more.
Be in me at all times as I am in you. As the branch is not able to give fruit of itself, if it is not still on the vine, so you are not able to do so if you are not in me. I am the vine, you are the branches: he who is in me at all times as I am in him, gives much fruit, because without me you are able to do nothing.

Truly I say to you, He who does not go through the door into the place where the sheep are kept, but gets in by some other way, is a thief and an outlaw. He who goes in by the door is the keeper of the sheep. The porter lets him in; and the sheep give ear to his voice; he says over the names of the sheep, and takes them out. read more.
When he has got them all out, he goes before them, and the sheep go after him, for they have knowledge of his voice. They will not go after another who is not their keeper, but will go from him in flight, because his voice is strange to them. In this Jesus was teaching them in the form of a story: but what he said was not clear to them.

And he made a story for them, saying, What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if one of them gets loose and goes away, will not let the ninety-nine be in the waste land by themselves, and go after the wandering one, till he sees where it is? And when he has got it again, he takes it in his arms with joy. read more.
And when he gets back to his house, he sends for his neighbours and friends, saying to them, Be glad with me, for I have got back my sheep which had gone away. I say to you that even so there will be more joy in heaven when one sinner is turned away from his wrongdoing, than for ninety-nine good men, who have no need of a change of heart.

And he was in need of food: but while they were getting it ready, a deep sleep came on him; And he saw the heavens opening, and a vessel coming down, like a great cloth let down on the earth, In which were all sorts of beasts and birds. read more.
And a voice came to him, saying, Come, Peter; take them for food. But Peter said, No, Lord; for I have never taken food which is common or unclean. And the voice came to him a second time, What God has made clean, do not you make common. And this was done three times: and then the vessel was taken back into heaven.

And the king said to her, What is your trouble? And her answer was, Truly I am a widow, and my husband is dead. And I had two sons, and the two of them had a fight in the field, and there was no one to come between them, and one with a blow put the other to death. And now all the family is turned against me, your servant, saying, Give up him who was the cause of his brother's death, so that we may put him to death in payment for the life of his brother, whose life he took; and we will put an end to the one who will get the heritage: so they will put out my last burning coal, and my husband will have no name or offspring on the face of the earth. read more.
And the king said to the woman, Go to your house and I will give orders about this. And the woman of Tekoa said to the king, My lord, O king, may the sin be on me and on my family, and may the king and the seat of his kingdom be clear of sin! And the king said, If anyone says anything to you, make him come to me, and he will do you no more damage. Then she said, Let the king keep in mind the Lord your God, so that he who gives punishment for blood may be kept back from further destruction and that no one may send death on my son. And he said, By the living Lord, not a hair of your son's head will come to the earth. Then the woman said, Will the king let his servant say one word more? And he said, Say on.

Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but others of wood and earth, and some which are honoured and some without honour. If a man makes himself clean from these, he will be a vessel for honour, made holy, ready for the master's use, ready for every good work.

Because if any man is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man looking at his natural face in a glass; For after looking at himself he goes away, and in a short time he has no memory of what he was like. But he who goes on looking into the true law which makes him free, being not a hearer without memory but a doer putting it into effect, this man will have a blessing on his acts.

And the Lord said, You had pity on the vine, for which you did no work and for the growth of which you were not responsible; which came up in a night and came to an end in a night; And am I not to have mercy on Nineveh, that great town, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons without the power of judging between right and left, as well as much cattle?

Now Jotham, on hearing of it, went to the top of Mount Gerizim, and crying out with a loud voice said to them, Give ear to me, you townsmen of Shechem, so that God may give ear to you.

You took a vine out of Egypt: driving out the nations, and planting it in their land. You made ready a place for it, so that it might take deep root, and it sent out its branches over all the land. The mountains were covered with its shade, and the great trees with its branches. read more.
It sent out its arms to the Sea, and its branches to the River. Why are its walls broken down by your hands, so that all who go by may take its fruit? It is uprooted by the pigs from the woods, the beasts of the field get their food from it. Come back, O God of armies: from heaven let your eyes be turned to this vine, and give your mind to it, Even to the tree which was planted by your right hand, and to the branch which you made strong for yourself. It is burned with fire; it is cut down: they are made waste by the wrath of your face.

Take up now a song of grief for the ruler of Israel, and say, What was your mother? Like a she-lion among lions, stretched out among the young lions she gave food to her little ones. And one of her little ones came to growth under her care, and became a young lion, learning to go after beasts for his food; and he took men for his meat. read more.
And the nations had news of him; he was taken in the hole they had made: and, pulling him with hooks, they took him into the land of Egypt. Now when she saw that her hope was made foolish and gone, she took another of her little ones and made him into a young lion. And he went up and down among the lions and became a young lion, learning to go after beasts for his food; and he took men for his meat. And he sent destruction on their widows and made waste their towns; and the land and everything in it became waste because of the loud sound of his voice. Then the nations came against him from the kingdoms round about: their net was stretched over him and he was taken in the hole they had made. They made him a prisoner with hooks, and took him to the king of Babylon; they put him in the strong place so that his voice might be sounding no longer on the mountains of Israel.

And the Lord sent Nathan to David. And Nathan came to him and said, There were two men in the same town: one a man of great wealth, and the other a poor man. The man of wealth had great numbers of flocks and herds; But the poor man had only one little she-lamb, which he had got and taken care of: from its birth it had been with him like one of his children; his meat was its food, and from his cup it took its drink, resting in his arms, and it was like a daughter to him. read more.
Now a traveller came to the house of the man of wealth, but he would not take anything from his flock or his herd to make a meal for the traveller who had come to him, but he took the poor man's lamb and made it ready for the man who had come. And David was full of wrath against that man; and he said to Nathan, By the living Lord, death is the right punishment for the man who has done this: And he will have to give back four times the value of the lamb, because he has done this and because he had no pity.

Because it is in the Writings, that Abraham had two sons, one by the servant-woman, and one by the free woman. Now the son by the servant-woman has his birth after the flesh; but the son by the free woman has his birth through the undertaking of God. Which things have a secret sense; because these women are the two agreements; one from the mountain of Sinai, giving birth to servants, which is Hagar. read more.
Now this Hagar is the mountain Sinai in Arabia, and is the image of the Jerusalem which now is: which is a servant with her children. But the Jerusalem on high is free, which is our mother. For it is in the Writings, You who have never given birth, be glad; give cries of joy, you who have had no birth-pains; for the children of her who has been given up by her husband are more than those of the woman who has a husband. Now we, brothers, as Isaac was, are the children of the undertaking of God. But as in those days he who had birth after the flesh was cruel to him who had birth after the Spirit, even so it is now. What then do the Writings say? Send away the servant-woman and her son; for the son of the servant-woman will not have a part in the heritage with the son of the free woman. So, brothers, we are not children of the servant-woman, but of the free woman.

And make a comparison for this uncontrolled people, and say to them, This is what the Lord has said: Put on the cooking-pot, put it on the fire and put water in it: And get the bits together, the fat tail, every good part, the leg and the top part of it: make it full of the best bones. Take the best of the flock, put much wood under it: see that its bits are boiling well; let the bones be cooked inside it.

If there is division in a kingdom, that kingdom will come to destruction;

And if there is division in a house, that house will come to destruction;

And he gave them teaching in the form of a story, saying, Is it possible for one blind man to be guide to another? will they not go falling together into a hole?

Be ready to do without the comforts of life, as one of the army of Christ Jesus. A fighting man, when he is with the army, keeps himself free from the business of this life so that he may be pleasing to him who has taken him into his army.

One day the trees went out to make a king for themselves; and they said to the olive-tree, Be king over us. But the olive-tree said to them, Am I to give up my wealth of oil, by which men give honour to God, and go waving over the trees? Then the trees said to the fig-tree, You come and be king over us. read more.
But the fig-tree said to them, Am I to give up my sweet taste and my good fruit and go waving over the trees? Then the trees said to the vine, You come and be king over us. But the vine said to them, Am I to give up my wine, which makes glad God and men, to go waving over the trees? Then all the trees said to the thorn, You come and be king over us. And the thorn said to the trees, If it is truly your desire to make me your king, then come and put your faith in my shade; and if not, may fire come out of the thorn, burning up the cedars of Lebanon.

And Jehoash, king of Israel, sent to Amaziah, king of Judah, saying, The thorn-tree in Lebanon sent to the cedar in Lebanon, saying, Give your daughter to my son for a wife: and a beast from the woodland in Lebanon went by, crushing the thorn under his feet.

And if a man takes part in a competition he does not get the crown if he has not kept the rules.

It is right for the worker in the fields to be the first to take of the fruit.