'Parable' in the Bible

I will incline my ear and consent to a proverb;On the lyre I will unfold my riddle.

I will open my mouth in a parable [to instruct using examples];I will utter dark and puzzling sayings of old [that contain important truth]—

Like the legs which are useless to the lame,So is a proverb in the mouth of a fool [who cannot learn from its wisdom].

that you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon, and say,“How the oppressor has ceased [his insolence],And how the fury has ceased!

“Son of man, ask a riddle and tell a parable to the house of Israel,

Speak a parable against the rebellious house [of Judah] and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God,“Put on a pot; put it on and also pour water into it;

“On that day they shall take up a [taunting, deriding] parable against youAnd wail with a doleful and bitter song of mourning and say,‘We are completely destroyed!God exchanges the inheritance of my people;How He removes it from me!He divides our fields to the rebellious [our captors].’

“Listen then to the [meaning of the] parable of the sower:

Jesus gave them another parable [to consider], saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field.

He told them another parable, “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and worked into three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.”

All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables, and He said nothing to them without [using] a parable.

Then He left the crowds and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him saying, “Explain [clearly] to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”

“Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard and put a wall around it and dug a wine press in it, and built a tower, and rented it out to tenant farmers and went on a journey [to another country].

He said to them, “The mystery of the kingdom of God has been given to you [who have teachable hearts], but those who are outside [the unbelievers, the spiritually blind] get everything in parables,

Then He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand and grasp the meaning of all the parables?

And He said, “How shall we picture the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use to illustrate and explain it?

and He did not say anything to them without [using] a parable; He did, however, explain everything privately to His own disciples.

When Jesus had left the crowd and gone into the house, His disciples asked Him about the parable.

And they were looking for a way to seize Him, but they were afraid of the crowd; for they knew that He spoke this parable in reference to [and as a charge against] them. And so they left Him and went away.

When a large crowd was gathering together, and people from city after city were coming to Him, He spoke [to them] using a parable:

Now His disciples began asking Him what this parable meant.

“Now [the meaning of] the parable is this: The seed is the word of God [concerning eternal salvation].

Then He told them a parable, saying, “There was a rich man whose land was very fertile and productive.

Peter said, “Lord, are You addressing this parable to us [disciples], or to everyone else as well?”

Then He began telling them this parable: “A certain man had a fig tree that had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it, but did not find any;

Now Jesus began telling a parable to the invited guests when He noticed how they had been selecting the places of honor at the table, saying to them,

So He told them this parable:

Now Jesus was telling the disciples a parable to make the point that at all times they ought to pray and not give up and lose heart,

He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves and were confident that they were righteous [posing outwardly as upright and in right standing with God], and who viewed others with contempt:

While they were listening to these things, Jesus went on to tell a parable, because He was near Jerusalem, and they assumed that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately [as soon as He reached the city].

Then He began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard and leased it to tenant farmers, and went on a journey for a long time [to another country].

The scribes and the chief priests tried to [find a way to] arrest Him at that very hour, but they were afraid of the people; because they understood that He spoke this parable against them.

Then He told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees;

Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what He was talking about.

for this [first or outer tabernacle] is a symbol [that is, an archetype or paradigm] for the present time. Accordingly both gifts and sacrifices are offered which are incapable of perfecting the conscience and renewing the [inner self of the] worshiper.